E-Commerce Law & Policy

Volume: 12 Issue: 1
(January 2010)

News

The Digital Economy Bill (DEB) is making its legislative way through the UK Parliament, despite heavy criticism from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and industry representatives. The DEB - which imposes obligations on ISPs to reduce online copyright infringement - was examined by the House of Lords on 6 January. / read more

Online-only publications will have to subscribe to the UK Press Complaints Commission's (PCC) Editors' Code of Practice, the Press Standards Board of Finance ­ which determines the remit of the PCC ­ announced in a 14 December statement. "[Online publications] must be recognisable as UK based newspapers or magazines', read the statement, 'which, in printed form, would come within the jurisdiction of the PCC.' / read more

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, announced, in a 15 December speech, that the Australian Government will implement compulsory Internet Service Provider (ISP)-level filtering measures for content from pornographic, violent or crime-related sites. / read more

Features

Is 2010 going to be the year we start saying goodbye to ordinary books? Last Christmas the electronic reader, the digital counterpart of a conventional book, was the most popular present in the United States. On 26 December 2009 Amazon released a press statement saying that 'Kindle has become the most gifted item in Amazon's history'. / read more

ICANN prepares for launch of new Top Level Domain Names
Online publications to be subject to Press Complaints Commission
Article 29 Working Party opines on future of data protection as consultation closes
Dates for your diary / read more

New technologies have enabled internet users to circumvent the protection granted to online copyrighted materials. This growing issue has raised the question of striking a balance between authors' rights and user rights over protected content. Mark Watts, a Partner at Bristows, examines how various 'copyright' models coexist in the online world. / read more

In 2009, the UK Government introduced the Digital Economy Bill, which aims to reduce internet abuse and, in particular, copyright infringement. John Rhodes, an Associate at Simmons & Simmons, discusses what implications the new Bill will have and what the possible impact will be on internet service providers and internet users. / read more

Several publications triggered a debate in the media when they announced, in late 2009, that they were considering charging for access to online news articles. The argument is based on the idea that the media world might have to reconsider its traditional business models if it intends to survive on the internet platform. Helen Anderson, an Associate at Denton Wilde Sapte, looks into the legal, economic and cultural challenges brought on by the emergence of pay-per-view news content. / read more

A French court recently fined eBay $2.5 million for failing to prevent the sale of Louis Vuitton SA (LVMH) products on its website, after the online auction platform failed to comply with an injunction handed down in the previous year. Kirsten Gilbert, a Partner at Marks & Clerk Solicitors LLP, examines the case and the current treatment of intellectual property rights in the online domain. / read more

Despite harmonised legislation in Europe, the progress of cross-border trade has been slow to develop. William Earley and Moya Moore, of McCann FitzGerald, consider the barriers to cross-border e-commerce and the EU Commission's efforts to dismantle those barriers. / read more

We have had the Sony eBook Reader for a while in the UK, but after much anticipation, e-book readers seem to be heading towards a busy release cycle on UK shores. We can now order the Kindle from Amazon UK to be shipped to the UK, and Sony's Daily Edition Reader has been available since Christmas. These are exciting times - we are on the cusp of potentially explosive growth in the e-book market. But will that growth be in the area of pirated e-books, rather than legitimate ones? / read more

Fraud: United States v Cioffi
Distinctiveness: Joop! GmbH v OHIM
Reputation: Pago v Tirol Milch / read more

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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