6 8 August 2004

News:

Yahoo! lost its latest round with the French Courts when the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on 23 August overturned a US District Court ruling that Yahoo! cannot be bound by the French court’s judgment to pay a daily fine for failing to block access to its US website.

The UK government has opted to leave the Courts to decide on what is meant by a ‘distance contract’ in the Regulations published at the beginning of August to implement the EU Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services Directive. The Regulations, which will govern the sale of pensions, mortgages and other products online, by telephone, fax or mail, were drafted following extensive consultation with the financial service industry.

Casino City, Inc., operator of www.CasinoCity.com, has launched a suit against the US Department of Justice to establish its First Amendment Right to advertise online sportsbooks and casinos.

Features:

The move from spin to plain speaking is all well and good. But the Treasury saying “It would be wrong to mislead by giving the impression that the issue is clearer that it is” is more like passing the buck in relation to the new Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004 than being honest.

Government launches Freedom of Information website

Information Commissioner publishes guidelines on how to protect personal privacy

Commission launches consultation on updating EU copyright and related rights legislation

UK-wide “Creative Industries Forum” on intellectual property issues launched

Report of Inquiry on Revision of the Computer Misuse Act published

International Telecommunication Union concludes meeting on the fight against spam

Dates for your diaries

In June 2004, 31 clauses in the standard contractual terms used by AOL’s French subsidiary in its online subscriber contract were held to be illegal by a French court. This article looks at what companies need to do to make sure they comply with EU laws in their B2C contracts.

BT has recently undertaken to carry out the mass filtering of websites containing child pornography, a decision which has renewed the debate surrounding the freedom of access to online data and information. This article examines the evolving role of ISPs as more than just net guardians but as censors of information.

The internet allows for seamless global communications and transactions but national laws do not. Transactions that in one country are perfectly legal in another can lead to a prison sentence. In this world, knowing where your customer is located is a matter of significant importance. This article looks at how the problems of geolocation can be addressed.

Jersey is within the British isles but outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area. This article looks at legislation designed to facilitate the free movement of data to Jersey.

This article considers the possible repercussions following the European Court ruling that the French restriction on TV advertising of alcoholic beverages is not contrary to EU law.

Creative Commons presents a new approach to copyright. This article looks at the impact of this approach upon rights holders.

In King v Lewis and others [2004] EWHC 168 (QB) the Court has held that the boxing promoter Don King is entitled to bring a libel claim in England against the boxer Lennox Lewis and others in respect of two articles posted on US websites, even though both Don King and Lennox Lewis are mainly resident in the US.