The Norwegian Consumer Council published a report in October 2017 called #WatchOut: Analysis of smartwatches for children, which identified critical security flaws, a false sense of security and consumer rights failings in all of the four devices analysed. Řystein Flagstad, Partner at Grette, provides an outline of the report’s findings. / read more

The ‘Dutch trilogy’ of piracy cases and the impact on the ‘value gap’ debate In the latest decision in what could be called the ‘Dutch trilogy’ of referrals from the Dutch courts involving copyright infringement online, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) has ruled on a case involving the infamous The Pirate Bay (‘TPB’) website, holding that the operation of a platform which allows users to locate and share copyright works, by indexing metadata relating to works and providing a search engine, constitutes copyright infringement. The contribution of the TPB case to EU case law in this area, alongside previous decisions in GS Media and Filmspeler, has developed a standard on whether a website communicates to the public. Ted Shapiro, Partner at Wiggin LLP,  discusses in detail the TPB case, its wider implications for online copyright, and what it means for the legislative debate around what is referred to as the ‘value gap.’ / read more

The Article 29 Working party (‘WP29’) issued a set of Guidelines on 26 November 2014, which bring together the opinions of the various EU data protection authorities (‘DPAs’) on the interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (‘CJEU’) ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling of May 2014. In its decision, the CJEU specifically recognised individuals’ right to request under certain conditions the removal, from a search engine’s results, of links to web pages infringing EU data protection laws. The WP29’s Guidelines contain 13 criteria to be used by DPAs when addressing complaints lodged by individuals following de-listing refusals by search engine operators. Carol A.F. Umhoefer and Caroline Chancé of DLA Piper assess the usefulness and scope of the Guidelines and their role in helping DPAs and search engines navigate the aftermath of the CJEU’s decision. / read more

The European Commission has taken some radical steps to ensure compliance by online providers of digital content following a 'sweep' of 330 websites that make available digital content across the EU. The sweep analysed areas such as contract terms and availability of contact information. James Gill and Bryony Compson, of Lewis Silkin LLP, examine the background to the sweep and its findings. / read more

Outrage around the world forced Google almost two years ago to promise it would delete all the information and data it had gathered through its Wi-Fi Street View cars. But at the end of last month it turned out that Google had broken its promise. / read more

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With the publication of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Final rule on Preserving the Open Internet on 26 September 2011¹, the debate over 'net neutrality' is raging in the US once again. Lawsuits brought by Verizon and MetroPCS against the FCC, which were rejected as premature by the courts prior to publication, may now be revived, and a Senate vote on whether to quash the rules (the House has already passed a resolution in April of this year 'disapproving' the rules) is anticipated. Meanwhile, in Europe, things are not nearly so heated. Whilst the Netherlands may have become the first country in Europe to approve legislation preventing mobile operators from blocking or charging extra for VoIP services, the rest of Europe and the European Commission are adopting a 'wait and see' approach. Ginny O'Flinn, a Senior Associate at Olswang LLP, examines recent EU and US developments, and discusses why network neutrality is set to be such a crucial issue. / read more

Cross border money transfers will be as easy to conduct as domestic transfers, after European banks launched the first Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment instrument, for credit transfers, on 28 January. / read more

We're happy to see Steve Jobs take on the responsibility that follows from Apple's role as one of the leading companies in the digital sphere and comment on the complaint issued by the Norwegian Consumer Council. It's really encouraging to see him put forward statements that resemble his previous statement from 2002 when he told the Wall Street Journal "If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own." / read more

Picture an internet world where rather than using a browser to go online, you log into the virtual world of your choice, meet with virtual friends, share favourite music and visual shows, visit some virtual shops, ordering goods to be delivered to your real world home. / read more