White House issues Executive Order on cybersecurity
The Obama administration has issued an Executive Order on “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity”, developing a framework for reducing risks from cyber-attacks on the nation’s critical infrastructure, reports Dechert. ... Read the full post ...
US “Copyright Alert System” set to begin
The Center for Copyright Information has announced that US copyright owners will begin rolling out the Copyright Alert System (CAS). Under the CAS, copyright owners send notices of alleged P2P copyright infringement to ISPs, and the ISPs forward those notices to consumers in the form of “Alerts”. Consumers whose accounts have been used to share copyrighted ... Read the full post ...
UK court issues simplified foreign pirate website blocking orders
The UK High Court has made a court order requiring UK ISPs to block access to three hugely popular peer-to-peer file-sharing web sites based outside the UK. The court order requires BSkyB, British Telecom, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, Telefonica and Virgin Media to block access to H33T, Fenopy, and KAT, on the ground that each service provider “has ... Read the full post ...
ICANN announces launch date for Trademark Clearinghouse
ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) for new gTLD applications will open for registrations on 26 March 2013. According to the ICANN announcement, the TMCH is “the cornerstone of the rights protection mechanisms” built into ICANN’s new gTLD program. The TMCH is open to any trademark holder, without geographical limitation. The TMCH is set-up to provide brand protection ... Read the full post ...
ICANN seeks comment on “closed generic” gTLDs
Following concerns expressed by brand owners, governments and other stakeholders, ICANN has opened for public comment the issue of whether and when applications for new gTLDs that are generic may be “closed”. A “closed” gTLD is one in which the applicant for it proposes to operate it exclusively for its own benefit – i.e. where ... Read the full post ...
UK rules platform provider can be liable for defamatory blogs
In Payam Tamiz v. Google Inc., the UK Court of Appeal has held that Google may be deemed a “publisher” of (and held liable for) defamatory user-generated content appearing in blogs hosted by Google after being notified of the content’s defamatory nature. Davis Wright Tremaine reports that although the judgment was ultimately in Google’s favor, ... Read the full post ...
German court allows Google AdWords keyword advertising
The German Supreme Court has held that keyword advertising does not constitute trademark infringement if the advertising is clearly separated from the search results, reports Klinkert Zindel Partner. ... Read the full post ...
NZ ‘three strikes’ downloader ordered to pay $600 damages
A New Zealand Rihanna fan has the dubious honour of being one of the first people to have an enforcement action brought against her for breach of copyright under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 (NZ). According to a King & Wood Mallesons report, the unnamed woman was ordered to pay $NZ616.57 in damages for ... Read the full post ...
WhatsApp violating privacy principles, says Canadian and Dutch authorities
WhatsApp Inc, the California-based mobile app developer with upwards of 400 million users, was subject to a joint investigation by Dutch and Canadian Privacy Authorities for violations of their national privacy and data protection laws, reports Bird & Bird. On the basis of the results of their investigation, the two data protection authorities concluded that ... Read the full post ...
Google not liable for misleading AdWords says Australian High Court
Google has won its High Court challenge against the decision that it is liable for AdWords-generated search results that mislead or deceive consumers. By a majority, the court ruled that it is the advertiser, not Google, who makes any false representation contained in an AdWords-generated sponsored link. The Australian consumer watchdog brought an action against ... Read the full post ...
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