7 3 March 2005

News:

Internet Telephony companies have welcomed the US Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) decision to penalise a telecom network provider for blocking Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic.

Proposals for a new software patent regime, which received backing from EU Ministers on March 6, will meet substantial opposition in the European Parliament.

The music industry’s battle against file sharing has seen global successes with the conviction of an Arizona student for the illegal downloading of music, the freezing of the assets of both file sharing software company Kazza and its directors and the receipt of £50,000 by the BPI in out of court settlements from 23 people in the UK.

Features:

Convergence was not so long ago a hot topic of conversation. Now that convergence is becoming a reality the hype merchants are moving on.

EU Parliament adopts amendments to the Common Position on Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

EU Parliament demands withdrawal of draft Software Patents Directive

Amendments to Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/2334) to be finalised by mid-March

European Commission seeks views on VAT rules applicable to services supplied to private consumers

Directive on Re-use and Exploitation of Public Sector Information

I have been following with interest the current debate about “notice and takedown” procedures and the new proposals being put forward by the Digital Content Forum and the Publishers Association. eBay agrees that it would be useful for formal procedures, relating to the removal of unlawful content such as intellectual property right infringements, to be developed to ensure certainty for the service provider in relation to its rights and responsibilities.

In a case involving peer-to-peer file sharing software, the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to choose between competing interpretations of its seminal case on contributory copyright infringement. Its widely-anticipated decision will likely have far-reaching implications for the IT industry in the United States. Jonathan Band and Emmalena Quesada, from Morrison & Foerster’s Washington office, analyse the development of the case.

Mobile phones have the ubiquity, the demographics and the sheer sense of community and connectivity to make a great fit with music. Indeed, at last month’s Midem, the major music industry festival held in Cannes each year, the large corporate entities sponsoring the event were not EMI Records or Warner-Chappell Music Publishing but Imode, Siemens and Vodafone. As a result, mobile markets and technology were a key theme throughout the formal seminars and presentations, as well as the many private meetings and discussions being held along the Croisette. Duncan Calow, General Secretary of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, reports from Cannes

Global mobile subscription rates have reached record levels and are set to continue to grow. But mobile companies are still heavily reliant on voice mail revenues as the 3G boom remains a hope rather than a reality. Rhys Williams, a partner in Bird & Bird, looks at the challenges facing the industry and how far VoIP, wi-fi and other developments might eat into the mobile market.

The TV listings legislation reinforces the position of existing national terrestrial broadcasters by preventing satellite broadcasters from bidding against them for key sports rights. Stephen Hornsby, Head of the Sports Group at The Simkins Partnership, examines the logic of the legislation.

Implementation of the Capital Requirements Directive in the UK

The Consultation closes on 29 April 2005

European anti-spam drive

Submissions to the consultation must be made before 31 March 2005

Cross border “Terminated merchant” databases

Report on data protection both within and outside the EU

TAX: Robertson’s Electrical v C & E Commissioners

CONTRACT: O2 and Wanadoo