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

Augmented Reality (AR) uses technology to overlay real world, physical environments with virtual components like light, sound, video, images or GPS data.  Once seen as a futuristic and ‘gimmicky’ area, AR is growing at a rapid pace and will soon form part of our everyday technology. Microsoft recently unveiled its AR wearable technology, ‘Hololens’ which is geared towards gaming and design and comes in the form of a headset. Continue Reading Augmented Reality Poses New Legal Challenges

Those involved in technology deals express differing views on source code escrow. These views range from resignation that the supplier won’t agree to it to the view that even if we do get it, it will only be available on the provided non-negotiable terms or a fear that even if we could get our hands on the code, we wouldn’t know what to do with it. In our experience, the position is not quite as black and white on any of these points. There is an extra aspect to think about in relation to technology offerings which include software as a service and traditional source code escrow may not always be appropriate here. Public disputes on escrow arrangements are few and far between and that’s why a recent English High Court case is worth a read. The decision in the case, Filmflex Movies Limited and Piksel Limited can be accessed here.
Continue Reading Source Code Escrow – Case Law Developments

The EU General Court has refused to register the ‘Skype’ word and logo marks (the Skype marks) as Community Trade Marks (CTMs) in relation to a range of telecommunications and computer-related goods and services. The General Court’s decision is based upon a likelihood of confusion with Sky’s earlier word CTM SKY (the Sky mark).Continue Reading EU General Court finds risk of confusion between ‘Sky’ and ‘Skype’ marks

A Private Members Bill – the Public Electronic Communications Networks (Improper Use) Bill 2015 –

The law has consistently prohibited the improper use of the postal and telephone systems, however a legal loophole exists in respect of electronic communications or social media. The new legislation proposes amending section 13 of the Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951, as substituted by section 4 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Communications regulation (Amendment) Act 2007.Continue Reading New legal powers proposed to outlaw sinister social media content

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 Commercial Court has delivered a ruling which will have significant implications for music companies and ISPs, in regard to illegal downloading. The Court has granted three music companies, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music, an injunction requiring UPC Communications to take measures to stop illegal downloading of music.  

The parties are due to return to court on 29 April with submissions on how the order can be implemented. Continue Reading High Court orders UPC to take action against illegal downloaders

On 1 August 2014, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) published the first privacy-specific international standard for the cloud: ISO/IEC 27018 "Code of practice for protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds acting as PII processors". Early adopters Microsoft announced on 16 February 2015 that it was the first company to receive certification for the standard.Continue Reading First international privacy-specific cloud standard adopted by Microsoft