7 10 October 2005

News:

The battle for future control of the internet will resume at the World Summit on the Information Society which takes place in Tunis on 16-18 November.

The Chairman of the Gambling Commission has urged the Treasury to set tax rates to attract offshore remote gambling operators in to the UK.

The United Kingdom's September's e-retail sales were 38% higher than in September 2004 according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). IMRG estimated that 24 million people spent £1.6 billion online in September 2005.

Features:

The information revolution engendered by the internet is breath taking in its speed and global reach. Like many revolutions, it emerged unsuspected, growing and spreading leaping from one country to another driven by the energy of tens of thousands of unknown participants rather than by some conscious leadership.

DCMS sets record straight on London Olympics Bill.
Time called on old alcohol advertising regime.
CAP AdviceOnline.
Revision of the Television without Frontiers Directive.
Publishing Industry - Brief Review & Update.
WEEE Directive targets electrical and electronic waste.

The US Supreme Court handed down its decision in the landmark case MGM v Grokster (Metro Goldwyn Mayers Studio Inc., et al., v Grokster Ltd., et al., 545 U.S. (2005)) in June 2005. As most know by now, the claimants in the case were film and record companies and the respondents were two companies, Grokster and Streamcast, that distribute software-named Grokster and Morpheus-that allow users to swap files through Fast Track and Gnutella P2P networks.

Plans to update 'The TV Without Frontiers Directive' are causing concern. There is fear that the scope of regulation could lead to regulation of the internet through the back door. Victoria Gaskell and Howard Watt from Olswang analyses the arguments.

Recent comments by the US government and political stalemate at a United Nations summit have highlighted divergent international opinions relating to internet governance. Christopher Waugh seeks to give some historical perspective to the current situation, and examines some of the difficulties in determining the future governance of the internet

China's most popular search engine, Baidu.com, is now facing suit for copyright infringement brought by some of the world's largest recording companies. Alan Adcock and Carol Wang from Rouse & Co's Shanghai office analyse the latest developments.

The legality of deep-linking has been considered in Courts in a number of jurisdictions. Agence France Presse (AFP) is revisiting the issue with a claim against Google for what AFP claims is unauthorised links to AFP headlines. Dr. Thomas Hays, IP consultant to Lewis Silkin considers the impact of deep linking and attempts to prevent it.

Christopher Rees, Head of the Herbert Smith LLP Global ITC group and Dominic Callaghan, senior associate, provide an overview of the latest key developments in IT and eCommerce in the EU.

Trade Marks:

Government Employees Insurance Company v Google, Inc,. et al
Copyright: Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd v Sharman License Holdings Ltd
Disclosure: Hamburg Court of Appeal, 5 Civil Division 156/04