8 11 November 2006

News:

Universal Music Group's battle with MySpace, owned by News Corp subsidiary Fox Interactive Media, will be closely watched by the fast evolving Web 2.0 market. Universal Music Group's (UMG) complaint with the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, alleges that MySpace illegally encourages its users to share music and music videos on MySpace.com.

A UN-commissioned report assessing the accessibility of major websites has revealed that 97% have failed to meet international guidelines on eaccessibility.

The United States Supreme Court has approved rules governing civil litigation which require US companies to better manage electronic information which may be involved in corporate litigation.

Features:

Movie studios are keen to break into the movies on demand market, which will be delivered through services such as BT Vision.

Stricter regulation for internet pharmacies
Home Office consultation on organised and financial crime
Off-shore gaming groups put stake on clearer tax details
Internet sales of regulated football tickets banned
Council of Ministers bows to pressure on TWF proposals
Dates for your diary

Barrett v Rosenthal conferred broad immunity from defamation or other legal liability on persons posting third party material on the internet. Ashley Hurst and Louise Nagli, of the Media Litigation department, Olswang, explain how this decision, which means that plaintiffs may only pursue the originator of an online defamatory publication, has made the UK a more attractive proposition for a libel claimant.

An increase in sophistication in technological fraud led to concerns that eight offences of deception under the Theft Acts 1968-96, and the common law offence of conspiracy to defraud, were no longer fit for purpose. Samantha Thomas, a solicitor with asb law, explains how The Fraud Act, which received Royal Assent on 8 November, includes provisions to tackle technological fraud, while retaining conspiracy to defraud in order to catch offences that have yet to develop.

Google's purchase of YouTube raised eyebrows not only because of the $1.65 billion price, but also because of the risk of legal action by rights owners, due to copyrighted material republished on the site. Mark Owen, a partner with Harbottle & Lewis LLP, examines whether Google is protected under US 'safe harbor' provisions and whether YouTube is different from Grokster in that by using technology in a slightly different way, it falls on the right side of the law.

The rise in popularity of social networking sites and the Government's plans for a child database have raised concerns about whether there are sufficient protections in place to protect that data from misuse. Kiran Sandford, partner and head of IT Group, Mishcon de Reya, examines two reports that have highlighted the risks involved with profiling children, which could result in guidance being issued.

Google and Microsoft have growled at each other for years, since shortly after Google became the leading web-search engine. For all their similarities - young founders; rapid growth; dominance in their different, but related, markets; huge financial reserves - they have, for the most part, avoided direct competition, because their business models are different.

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

Copyright: CopiePresse/Google
Patents: Grant v Commissioner of Patents
Exclusion Clauses: Balmoral Group v Borealis et al