9 8 August 2007

News:

A House of Lords report on UK internet security has urged government and industry to take more responsibility in tackling internet crime, recognising the internet as 'now increasingly the playground of criminals'.

Companies will be able to opt out of advertising on parts of Facebook, following the withdrawal of adverts by companies after they appeared alongside a British National Party political 'group'.

Online consumer spending in the US is to top $200 billion in 2007, a 17% increase over the $170.8 billion spent in 2006, according to comScore.

Features:

Following the dot com crash a few years ago, most surviving internet retailers took it for granted that e-commerce would recover and grow.

European Commission confirms technology standard for Mobile TV
UK Copyright Tribunal issues decision in dispute over online music royalty rates
European Data Protection Supervisor publishes opinion on implementation of the Data Protection Directive

The Free Software Foundation has recently released Version 3 of the GNU General Public Licence, its open source or free software licence. Catherine Stromdale, a solicitor at Wragge & Co LLP, examines the main changes incorporated in Version 3, which includes the prohibition on 'Tivoization' and provisions protecting users from potential patent infringements.

A recent interim decision by the UK Copyright Tribunal, which set the royalty charges that webcasters should pay for the use of copyrighted material on their radio services, has placed question marks over the future of some UK webcasters. In this article, Jose Saras and Danny Preiskel, of Preiskel & Co LLP, explain the Tribunal's decision, its implications as well as the current US position, where industry settlement negotiations are ongoing.

A project to create an integrated IT database for all National Health Service organisations by 2010 has suffered a number of implementation issues, many of which were widely reported. Nathaniel Lane, a solicitor with the IT Law Group at Morgan Cole, explains areas in which companies implementing large IT projects can learn from the NHS' experience.

The Irish legislator recently introduced the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Act 2007 to allow ComReg, a statutory body, to regulate the Irish communication sector more effectively. Although it does not add to the existing regulatory obligations of telecommunication service providers, it does substantially increase the penalties that they may face. Gerardine Long of Arthur Cox investigates.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a claim from Perfect 10, which alleged that Visa and others had 'secondarily' infringed its copyright by continuing to provide payment services to internet sites that traded in images stolen from Perfect 10. Michael Vatis, a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, explains that although it represents a victory for payment processors, the decision is worth monitoring, as lawmakers could decide on a reversal.

HM Revenue & Customs' method of tackling MTIC fraud - otherwise known as 'carousel fraud' - through a 'reverse charge', is likely to have a significant impact on the way that ecommerce companies manage VAT payments. Aredhel Darnley, a solicitor with Hammonds' Tax Strategies team, explains how MTIC fraud takes place and the extent of it, the measures put in place to tackle it and how these will apply to ecommerce companies.

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: Point Solutions Ltd v Focus Solutions Ltd
Advertising: 'Union Cycliste v Amaury Sport'
Data misuse: 'Tyco Healthcare France'