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Conor McEneaney

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The Scottish Courts have given an interesting decision in relation to IT contracts, relating to the allocation of delivery risk between supplier and customer and the importance of doing what it says in the contract.

In David MacBrayne Limited v Atos IT Services (UK) Limited (2018), Atos, a supplier, had entered into an agreement with David MacBrayne Limited to supply a digital platform. The engagement was not successful and the parties claimed and counter-claimed against each other for material breach of the contract (amongst other things).

Customer Dependencies – Whose Responsibility is Delivery?

IT contracts will often include dependencies on…
Continue Reading IT Contracts Case Law Update: Allocation of Delivery Risk

The High Court has refused an application by the Irish Times for injunctions restraining the Times of London from using the words "The Times Irish Edition" in its forthcoming digital Irish edition of the newspaper. The new digital publication will be sold as a part of a subscription package with the Sunday Times and will be solely available digitally. The Irish Times had sought an injunction preventing Times Newspapers Limited (TNL) from using the "The Times Irish Edition" or any other title which may be confusingly similar to The Irish Times. TNL denied that the phrase would create any confusion due to the co-existence of the two publications in Ireland for 150 years as well as the fact that it was common knowledge that they intended to launch an Irish edition. Continue Reading High Court refuses injunction over Irish edition of the UK Times

The European Commission has recently unveiled a 16 point plan for boosting the European digital economy entitled ‘A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe’ (the Plan). The Plan envisages widespread revision of existing European internet, intellectual property and e-commerce law in a series of bold measures that the European Commission projects would add €415 billion to European GDP and also create 3.8 million new jobs.Continue Reading Europe’s 16 point Digital Master Plan

Symantec released their annual Internet Security Threat Report (the Symantec Report) last week (available at http://www.symantec.com/security_response/publications/threatreport.jsp) and it makes for alarming reading. The risk of cyberattack is one that has been brought to the forefront of popular consciousness by the devastating cyberattacks on Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 and the Symantec Report shows that 2014 saw a worryingly exponential increase in the number, severity and sophistication of such attacks.Continue Reading Symantec Cyberattack Report a timely reminder of increasing Cyberattack risk

The Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, spoke at the Society for Computers and Law’s ‘The Evolution and Reform of Data Protection’ event this morning. The Commissioner gave an overview of the activities of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in 2014 and set out the aims of the ODPC for the year ahead.Continue Reading Data Protection Commissioner reviews 2014 and sets out plans for 2015

On November 23rd, Symantec, the American antivirus company, announced the discovery of a piece of software called Regin, which it had found lurking on computers and stealing data in Ireland, Russia, Saudi Arabia and several other countries. Its sophistication and stealth led Symantec to conclude that it must have been created by a nation-state.

The Regin software appears to have been lurking on some computer systems from as long ago as 2008 and Symantec said it was unusually low-key, meaning it could be used on a target for several years before being noticed. Symantec have described the purpose of Regin…

Continue Reading Regin – State Sponsored Hacking

In the Irish Government Budget for the forthcoming year published on 14 October, it was announced that the so called ‘Double Irish’ tax mechanism was being phased out. One of the mechanisms that is being considered to replace the ‘Double Irish’ is a new ‘Knowledge Box’ scheme. This scheme would be similar to the recently introduced Patent Box in the United Kingdom and would be of significant benefit to intellectual property holders in Ireland and those seeking to establish themselves in Ireland. Commentators suggest the Knowledge Box scheme will include a tax rate likely to be at least as low as 6.25 per cent and perhaps lower on intellectual property assets managed in the scheme. A 6.25 per cent tax rate would be half the standard Irish corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent. The exact scope and conditions for qualifying for the scheme have yet to be determined.Continue Reading Knowledge Box – Ireland’s new IP Tax Incentive

Apple Pay: an Introduction

One of the most exciting elements of the Apple iPhone 6 launch in September was the announcement by Apple of the Apple Pay feature. Apple Pay is a near field communication (NFC) based mobile payment system that comes pre-installed on the iPhone 6. NFC technology involves a short-range, low power wireless link evolved from radio-frequency identification technology that can transfer small amounts of data between two devices held a few centimetres from each other. It is the same technology that is behind the ‘tap and pay’ debit cards that have been rolled out by Irish banks in the last number of years.

While Apple Pay was launched with the iPhone 6 in the US, it has not yet been rolled out in Europe with rumours predicting an Apple Pay European launch in 2015.

It is clear that Apple Pay has the potential to be a ground breaking technology that may change the way that consumers use their phones and, indeed, how consumers pay for goods and services.Continue Reading Apple Pay – Challenges and Solutions