9 5 May 2007

News:

The UK recorded music industry has been awarded over £41 million in damages against internet retailer CD WOW! for the illegal importation of CDs and DVDs into the UK from outside the EEA.

The European Parliament and Council of Ministers have agreed a text on the regulation of audiovisual services following 18 months of negotiations.

UK online retail spending in 2006 grew by 33.4% over 2005 to a record £10.9 billion, 13 times faster than the retail sector overall, according to a retail study.

Features:

Having already been found in contempt of court for breaching undertakings that it would not illegally import CDs into the UK, followed by a failure to co-operate with court orders for disclosure, it comes as no great surprise that CD WOW! has been ordered to pay damages.

European Parliament adopts Payment Services Directive (PSD)
EU Roaming Regulation seeks final approval
Select Committee recommends cyber-crime website
.eu celebrates first birthday as others call for the introduction of .safe
Best Current Practice on Law Enforcement Contact published
Dates for your diary

The evolution of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) into virtual worlds has created significant virtual economies as users purchase virtual properties using virtual currency to advance 'in world'. These transactions, which are thought to amount to over $1 billion annually, also raise interesting copyright issues for the property involved. Candidus Dougherty and Greg Lastowka of Rutgers School of Law in New Jersey, examine the issues.

The recent Court of Appeal decision in Johnson v The MDU has generated debate over what constitutes 'processing' under the Data Protection Act, in this instance concerning the analysis and selection of data for input into a computer. In this article, Tim Wright and Dominic Hodgkinson of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP examine the judgment and its implications.

The explosion in virtual worlds has raised some interesting questions about when taxation should apply. Does tax apply to a virtual transaction that takes place in a virtual currency, or does it apply when that income is converted into 'real world' currency? Graeme Nuttall, a partner with Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, examines these issues and the view of taxation authorities from around the world.

Courts in Germany and Portugal have recently referred cases concerning sports betting monopolies to the European Court of Justice. Martin Arendts, Attorney at Law with Arendts Anwälte, explains how these cases give the ECJ a further chance to clarify the law regarding state monopolies, following its rulings in the Italian cases of Zenatti, Gambelli and Placanica.

Governments have adopted different responses to concerns that virtual worlds could be used for money laundering. Dave Birch, director, Consult Hyperion, highlights how this could occur, however points out that most people use virtual currencies for small transactions and that risks from other payment industries need to be taken into account in order to avoid over-regulation, which could stifle the development of virtual currencies for legitimate users.

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.

Online Gambling: 'Placanica', 'Palazzese' & 'Sorricchio'
Parallel Imports: 'Mastercigars Direct Ltd'
Data Disclosure: United States v Ferrer