E-Commerce Law & Policy

Volume: 12 Issue: 11
(November 2010)

News

The UK has indicated it will oppose a strict harmonisation of consumer protection legislation in Member States, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said on 19 October. "Minimum harmonisation...would enable Member States to apply their own rules. The UK would be free to regulate this matter internally in domestic law", the BIS said in the 'Negotiating Line for the Consumer Rights Directive' Report. The Response Report - the outcome of a consultation launched in July - makes clear the UK is not in favour of a stringent Consumer Rights Directive, which is currently being negotiated and will replace four existing Directives. / read more

The EU Commission has asked the Italian telecommunications regulator, AGCOM, to amend pricing levels for operators to access the incumbent's network. / read more

Measures in the UK Digital Economy Act (DEA) aimed at restraining copyright infringements should be reviewed, the High Court ruled on 10 November. Justice Williams granted a judicial review to examine whether the rules are compatible with EU privacy and e-commerce directives and whether they comply with the European technical standards directive. / read more

Features

The UK Government recently published its National Security Strategy, identifying cybercrime as one of the 'top four' threats to national security, along with terrorism, natural disasters and war. There is no doubt this official document indicates that spamming, scamming, hacking, spy-phishing, SMiShing, vishing (and the like) are very real threats for millions of individuals and organisations. / read more

UK
France
Germany
Turkey
UK / read more

Fifteen years ago, when the internet was in its infancy, businesses had to adapt their internet models to fit a legal framework designed for a very different world. Then came the E-Commerce Directive 2000 ('the Directive') - one of the first pieces of EU legislation specifically aimed at electronic businesses - not just internet sites - but all 'information society services' - broad enough to cover mobile, SMS and other forms of electronic business as well. / read more

Defamation online has proven very challenging to tackle, as the scale and levels on which material can be posted can potentially be extremely wide. Ashley Hurst, Senior Associate at Olswang LLP, discusses the steps to bear in mind to identify online defamation. / read more

The new UK Bribery Act will come into force next year and has already been hailed as one of the toughest pieces of legislation in the 'anti-bribery' arena. Robert Mitchell, Head of Enhanced Due Diligence Services at World-Check, explains what the new law entails and examines the differences and similarities with similar legislation in the United States. / read more

Ten years after the introduction of the E-Commerce Directive, online sales still present a challenge for businesses, especially in the case of cross-border sales. Duncan Calow and Annabel Ashby, of DLA Piper, discuss the most significant challenges and how the Digital Agenda hopes to address them. / read more

According to Charlie Abrahams, Vice President EMEA at MarkMonitor, "criminals online are finding new ways to eat into your profits". In this article, he discusses how the internet is both a threat and an opportunity for brand owners, and how criminals constantly find new ways of diverting online traffic to rogue sites. / read more

Facebook always seems to be pushing boundaries in terms of what is acceptable for privacy or advertising practices. 'Facebook Places', which allows users to pinpoint their exact geographical location to others, could also raise data protection issues. Richard Dickinson, Partner, and Alexander Watt, Associate, at Arnold & Porter LLP, examine to what extent Facebook Places raises regulatory concerns. / read more

Counterfeiting is a growing problem for the e-commerce industry. More sophisticated techniques and production systems make it much harder for customers to recognise counterfeit products and more difficult for brand owners to control the sales channels. George Salasidis, Founder and CEO of BrandGuard Ltd, identifies the key issues and explains what companies can do to minimise the damage to the business. / read more

Advertising: PCTI Agency v Vancouver Career College (Burnaby) Inc.
Liability: 'German YouTube case'
Copyright: Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd / 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