E-Commerce Law & Policy

Volume: 10 Issue: 6
(June 2008)

News

The French Court of Appeal will reconsider if eBay is protected as a 'technical intermediary', or if it is liable as a 'broker' under French law, after the internet auction company lodged an appeal against three 30 June Paris Tribunal de Commerce decisions ordering it to pay €38.9 million to LVMH for infringing content it hosted. / read more

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is proposing an application fee of $500,000 in order to deter speculative applicants for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), which refer to the ending of an internet address, typically '.com'. / read more

Advertised airfares must be all-inclusive following the approval by the European Parliament of the 'Aviation Third Package' Regulation (COM (2006) 396) on 9 July. The Regulation states that the advertised price must include all fares, charges, surcharges or fees and taxes. Optional price supplements, such as luggage, must be advertised on an 'opt-in' basis. / read more

Features

It is difficult to see how eBay will be able to defend itself against being found guilty of profiting from the sale of counterfeit goods, as the Paris Tribunal de Commerce has ripped apart its argument that it acts as a technical platform facilitating internet auctions. / read more

Government consults on simplifying consumer law
FSA encourages awareness of Unfair Terms Regulations
Recent developments at ICANN
Dates for your diary / read more

In the first instalment of a two-part article, Michael Vatis and David Retchless, of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, consider website immunity from legal action for infringing content under the Communications Decency Act, examining differing court interpretations of that immunity. The second part of this article will examine protections granted to websites hosting user-generated content in the European Union, under the E-Commerce Directive. / read more

ICANN recently announced that it is to allow applicants to create new generic top-level domains, which will allow e-commerce companies to tailor their web address to their area of business even more efficiently. Joel Vertes and Sarah Wright, of the Intellectual Property department at Olswang, examine the history of top-level domain expansion, detailing ICANN's plans for registration and cost of the new domains, and the appeal process when disputes occur. / read more

Child safety on the internet is moving to the top of the political agenda. Dan Barnett, an Associate in the Advertising, Technology and Media Group of Reed Smith, reviews the current legal position relating to age-verification in the e-commerce industry. / read more

The Office of Fair Trading's web sweep of the UK's top 600 retail sites focused on compliance with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000/2334, the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002/2013 and pricing transparency. The sweep revealed a high level of compliance, but uncovered a number of common shortcomings and Trading Standards will be following up with noncompliant retailers. Rohan Massey, a Partner in the Intellectual Property Media & Technology department at McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP, summarises the findings. / read more

eBay was recently fined a total of €38.5 million for the sale of luxury items on its auction site, in three separate decisions that could have implications for the defence - often used by ISPs - that third parties cannot be held responsible for infringing user-generated content. Dr. Christine Riefa, a Lecturer with Brunel University, examines how the French courts have interpreted eBay's protection as a 'technical intermediary' and a 'broker enabling auction sales' under French law. / read more

Childrens' privacy: Murray v Big Pictures
Trademarks: Wilson v Yahoo! UK and Overture Services
Online gambling: Calvert v William Hill Credit / read more

Recent Searches:
telephone   osborne clarke   communications bill   twitter   nominet   paypal   Developments in intermediary liability   Olswang   Burges   defamation  

Popular Searches:
markmonitor   ireland   Ireland   ireland   uspto   uspto   latss   latss   office of fair trading   office of fair trading  

About E-Commerce Law & Policy:

The monthly law journal giving authoratitive insights into all aspects of e-commerce law and regulations affecting online business, including domain names, Intellectual property, copyrights, online advertising, behavourial advertising, cloud computing, net neutrality, privacy, cybercrime, social media, trademarks, online sales, licensing and software / read more