EU Court strikes down data retention Directive
Europe’s highest court has declared invalid on privacy grounds the EU Directive on retention of electronic communications data. EU Directive 2006/24/EC harmonises the obligations on communication service providers to retain traffic, location and user identification data. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that by requiring the retention of those data and by allowing the ... Read the full post ...
$A105,000 damages for defamation via Twitter and Facebook
A former Orange High School student has been ordered to pay damages of $105,000 for defamatory tweets and Facebook postings. The NSW District Court decision is believed to be the first time a Twitter defamation case has proceed to trial. ... Read the full post ...
European Parliament backs Net neutrality
The European Parliament has decided to clearly limit network operators’ possibilities to treat selected services differently for purely economic reasons, reports IP Watch. ... Read the full post ...
ICANN puts off decision on .wine and .vin gTLDs (again)
ICANN’s New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) has again deferred consideration of the applications for <.wine> and <.vin>, in response to concerns raised by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and vigorous objections from the wine industry. According to the NGPC decision, ICANN has deferred contracting for the <.wine> and <.vin> gTLDs “in order to provide additional ... Read the full post ...
auDA reports on ICANN 49
The .au Domain Administration (auDA) has released a report on the outcome of the ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore. The auDA report discusses the meeting’s deliberations on five issues: IANA oversight transition Internet governance Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Other highlights Takeaways for Australian stakeholders ... Read the full post ...
Canadian court orders ISP to identify 2,000 subscribers infringing copyright
The Federal Court of Canada has ordered an internet service provider (ISP) to release the names and addresses of 2,000 subscribers alleged to have illegally downloaded a copyrighted movie using peer-to-peer networks and the BitTorrent protocol. Smart & Biggar reports that the decision represents a victory for rights holders seeking to address the large-scale downloading of copyrighted ... Read the full post ...
Italy implements administrative take-down of sites selling fake goods
The Italian Antitrust Authority now has the power – limited to the Italian territory – to shut down clone websites selling counterfeit or pirate goods. IP Law Galli reports that the Antitrust Authority has used its power to shut down hundreds of clone websites in response to complaints lodged by IP rights owners. ... Read the full post ...
US not “abandoning the Internet”, says NTIA chief
NTIA Administrator, Lawrence E. Strickland, has said that claims the US is “abandoning the Internet” could not be further from the truth. In a recent posting, Strickland said his agency’s decision to relinquish responsibility for DNS stewardship “in no way diminishes our commitment to preserving the Internet as an engine for economic growth and innovation”. ... Read the full post ...
Viacom and Google settle YouTube copyright dispute
Viacom and Google have jointly announced the resolution of their litigation concerning copyright infringement by YouTube. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Reuters reported that a person close to the matter said no money changed hands. According to the joint announcement, the settlement “reflects the growing collaborative dialogue between our two companies on important opportunities, ... Read the full post ...
WIPO debates whether governments can, or should, own their country names
A proposal has been tabled at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a non-binding instrument on the protection of country names against misleading trademarks. IP Watch reports that the proposal was received with interest by some member states while others, like the United States and South Africa, raised strong concerns. ... Read the full post ...
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