8 3 March 2006

News:

The European Commission, currently undertaking its `2006 Review of telecom rules', which looks at regulation across the EU, looks set to resist pressure from telecoms groups to impose charges on internet content providers.

The UK Court of Appeal decision which ruled that protections offered to cardholders on UK purchases should be extended to foreign transactions has been heralded as a `powerful judgment' for internet consumers.

The internet is set to overtake the national press in terms of advertising spend in the UK, according to an Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) report.

Features:

Somebody somewhere has to pay for the infrastructure that keeps the digital world in constant communication.

All Party Parliamentary Internet Group to publish its report on Digital Rights Management in April
Television Without Frontiers Directive
eu and .mobi see new dawn over domains
European Commission publishes evaluation on the protection EU law gives to databases
European Digital Library

Governments collect data from taxpayers - usually under statutory requirements - however they often fail to make this data commercially available to private enterprise. Henry Goodwin and Richard Graham of Bird & Bird examine the argument that wider access should be granted for the greater good.

The launch of Google Base represents the search engine's attempts to be the e-commerce platform of choice for retailers. However, as Dr Thomas Hays, IP and Competition Law Consultant at Lewis Silkin explains, the service raises potential conflicts with EU and UK competition laws.

A new long-term deal between ICANN and Verisign, raises concerns over monopolistic control of the `.com' domain. Catherine Stromdale, a solicitor with Wragge & Co. LLP, examines the agreement, the protests against and it implications.

A proposed French copyright law has attracted criticism from rights holders such as Apple, because it would require them to provide information on their DRM-protected content to third parties for interoperability purposes. John Enser, partner at Olswang examines the legislation and its implications.

China is often viewed as a market ripe for investment, however concerns regarding intellectual property protection have often been raised by companies looking to operate there. Luke Minford, an Executive based in Rouse & Co. International's Beijing office, assesses the state of IP protection in China and highlights the issues that companies should consider.

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.

Trademarks: Hamburg District Court, 312 O 253/05
Online Gambling: CFR BV v Ministers of Justice & Economic Affairs
Piracy: Cinepoly Records & Others Hong Kong High Court