Legal

Digital Economy Bill in danger of being ‘rushed’ through parliament

The proposal for the government’s controversial Digital Economy Bill received approval from the House of Lords last night, meaning the legislation will now be put before MPs to decide whether or not it becomes law. The Bill includes a number of proposals aimed at improving Britain’s digital economy, but some of its clauses have served to make it unpopular in many circles. One of its most contentious aspects is the introduction of a ‘three strikes’ rule to cut off the internet connections of illegal file sharers , as well as Clause 17 which had proposed to give the secretary of state the ability to make changes to copyright law without assent from parliament.

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Digital Economy Bill in danger of being ‘rushed’ through parliament

House of Lords ruling could block YouTube

A new Bill approved in the House of Lords may have drastic consequences for video sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo and FootyTube, as well as any other site with material infringing copyright protection. The Digital Economy Bill had sparked much uproar with leading digital companies - including Google , Yahoo! and Facebook - writing to Peter Mandelson about Clause 17 that would have given future secretaries of state new control over monitoring user data and introducing new technical measures. This clause was removed but replaced with a late amendment that will allow a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against any site with a “substantial amount” of copyrighted material.

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House of Lords ruling could block YouTube

Government withdraws plans to cut off illegal file sharers

The British government has stated it will not cut off internet access from illegal file sharers, following a petition in response to its Digital Britain campaign launched in June. The Guardian reports that a petition on the Number 10 website urged Gordon Brown “to abandon Lord Mandelson’s plans to ban individuals from the internet based on their use of ‘peer to peer’ file sharing.” Although the original petition only attracted 550 signatures - just 50 more than is required for the proposal to be considered - the issue was apparently deemed a significant one for the government’s popularity, particularly as many users pointed out the contradictions to the government’s typical “three strikes” policy and aim to get all of Britain online. The government responded: “We will not terminate the accounts of infringers - it is very hard to see how this could be deemed proportionate except in the most extreme - and therefore probably criminal - cases

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Government withdraws plans to cut off illegal file sharers

Microsoft opts for ballot screen

Following some recent legal talks with European antitrust officials, Microsoft has agreed to provide its European users with a ballot screen. Essentially, the screen will provide European users with a list of browsers to download (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer), rather than just Internet Explorer.

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Microsoft opts for ballot screen

What have we learned from Data Protection Day?

Although it may sound like a made up carnival, internet users the world over yesterday celebrated Data Privacy Day. Observed in Canada, the United States and 27 European countries - Data Privacy Day has even passed Senate resolutions to be officially recognised - DPD wants to make people aware of privacy issues the internet over. Mainly aimed at teens and young adults, DPD gives details of personal information given away and kept on social networking sites, gaming and other web activities

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What have we learned from Data Protection Day?

China denies involvement in Google cyber-attacks

The Chinese government has spoken out to deny any involvement in the recent cyber attacks targeted at Google and other companies, saying that the search giant’s claims are “groundless.” A spokesperson of China’s ministry of industry and information technology told Xinhua: “The accusation that the Chinese government participated in [any] cyber attack, either in an explicit or inexplicit way, is groundless.

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China denies involvement in Google cyber-attacks

Google censors ‘racist’ search result in Australia

Google has agreed to remove links to a website that contains racist views of Aboriginal Australians. The Mountain View giant acknowledged its legal responsibility to remove the offending search result - an entry on the satirical website Encyclopedia Dramatica. The site is a parody of Wikipedia that is renowned for its use of content with shock value, and indigenous Australian Steve Hodder-Watt came across its entry for ‘Aboriginal’ after entering the search term “Aboriginal and Encyclopedia” into the search engine .

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Google censors ‘racist’ search result in Australia

Google ‘Nexus Two’ will rival BlackBerry

Less than a week into the release of its Nexus One superphone , Google is already outlining plans for the ‘Nexus Two,’ which it states will be aimed at enterprise customers.

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Google ‘Nexus Two’ will rival BlackBerry

French President Sarkozy plans to tax Google

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked authorities to explore whether international search engines could be taxed in France, due to the dominant position held by companies such as Google in online advertising.

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French President Sarkozy plans to tax Google

Google ’scam’ suggestion condemned by high court

A Paris court of appeal has ruled against Google in a defamation case lodged by the Centre National Privé de Formation a Distance (CNFDI) in a suit which claimed the search engine’s ‘Suggest’ feature linked the organisation to the word ’scam’. The Mountain View giant has been ordered to take necessary measures to remove this suggestion from its search functions, according to French legal site Legalis.net.

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Google ’scam’ suggestion condemned by high court

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