Legal and regulatory issues

Competition

• UK - BBC online review launched  +/-

  (BBC) An official review of the BBC's online services will be conducted by former Trinity Mirror chief executive Philip Graf, the British government has announced. The review will weigh up whether the BBC has stuck to its original plans - approved by the government in 1998 - and what impact it has had on the commercial sector.

• UK - BSkyB chief launches attack on licence fee  +/-

  (Guardian) The chief executive of BSkyB will fire a powerful missile at the vulnerable underbelly of the BBC, with a claim that most viewers oppose the licence fee and a call to raise a 'red flag' over the corporation's 'expansionary ambitions'. Tony Ball, one of Rupert Murdoch's key lieutenants in Britain, will unveil a survey showing that 51% of viewers believe the £116 annual fee does not represent good value for money. It is the first time that an opinion poll has shown such dissatisfaction with the BBC, and will fuel the debate about the corporation's method of funding in the run-up to the renewal of its charter, which sets its remit and method of funding.

• UK - Filesharers turn tables on music industry  +/-

  (Guardian) Grokster, the US music-swapping network that came to prominence in the wake of Napster's collapse, has turned the tables on the major music labels by reporting them to the Office of Fair Trading. The site, which allows users to swap music tracks on a huge global network, claims record companies are guilty of 'unfair business practices and restraint of trade' by refusing to discuss ways in which they could legalise its service.

• US - FCC to Allow Video on AOL Messenger  +/-

  (Washington Post) The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to allow America Online to transmit video entertainment over its popular Instant Messenger system, ending a restriction imposed when it approved the merger of the online company with media giant Time Warner Communications in early 2001.

Computer crime

• AU - Govt launches net crackdown  +/-

  (Australian IT) The Australian federal Government plans to outlaw using the internet for 'offensive and menacing purposes', proposing new laws that could mean two years in prison for activities like organising or advocating violent protests through the internet. see Using internet for offensive and menacing purposes to be outlawed (Joint Media release - Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and Minister for Justice and Customs).

• AU - New national guidelines to combat e-crime  +/-

  (Stabdards Australia) New national guidelines are being launched in Australia to help organisations combat electronic crime following widespread concerns among business, government, law enforcement and the legal profession about the forensic status of computer-generated evidence. The Guidelines for the management of IT evidence published by Standards Australia will establish a benchmark for the preservation and collection of evidence in digital form, to support the development of evidentiary legal Standards. (AU $24.48).

• NZ - Drive for tougher child porn verdicts  +/-

  (New Zealand Herald) End Child Prostitution Pornography and Trafficking (Ecpat NZ), is at the forefront of a push to strengthen the laws in New Zealand around child porn trading. The longest sentence that can be handed down for a single charge of trading child porn is one year.

• UK - Net closes on paedophiles  +/-

  (Observer) A police unit of computer experts is tracking child abusers in chat rooms and on websites - by posing as porn collectors and vulnerable children.

• UK - Policeman cleared of child porn charges after computer evidence blunder  +/-

  (Guardian) The detective who worked as liaison officer with the family of Soham murder victim Jessica Chapman was cleared yesterday of indecent assault and possession of child pornography after a botched investigation. The crown prosecution service (CPS) offered no evidence against Detective Constable Brian Stevens on three counts of indecent assault against two girls, three counts of distributing indecent photographs of children and five counts of possessing indecent photographs of children. The case against him collapsed after the prosecution admitted at Snaresbrook crown court in east London that a computer expert had made crucial errors in assessing the evidence on Mr Stevens' laptop computer.

Content regulation

• UK - ITC boss to police broadcast standards at Ofcom  +/-

  (Guardian) New communications regulator Ofcom has hired a senior independent television commission official to oversee broadcasting standards, including complaints about TV and radio programmes and advertising. Chris Banatvala, the ITC's head of factual programmes, will join Ofcom as its head of standards. Mr Banatvala will report to Tim Suter, the Ofcom content board member with responsibility for content and standards. Mr Banatvala and Mr Suter will be responsible for drawing up standards codes for TV and radio programming. They will also work with the ad industry to develop a self-regulatory system for broadcast advertising, along the lines of the advertising standards authority, which oversees print and outdoor advertising.

• US - Challenge to Washington state law on video games depicting violence against law enforcement officers  +/-

  (Media Coalition) VSDA v. Maleng. Plaintiffs, including the Video Software Dealers Association, Interactive Digital Software Association, Washington Retail Association, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, International Game Developers Association, and Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The suit challenges Washington HB 1009, which prohibits the sale or rental to anyone under age 17 of video games depicting violence against law enforcement officers. Plaintiffs won a preliminary injunction suspending the law on July 11. see also Current Litigation News Internet; Display; Violence; Zoning; Obscenity/Pornography; Harmful to minors/Minors' access; Seizure/Prior Restraint; Misc.

Convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology

• UK - New regulatory framework - FAQs by ISPs  +/-

  (OFTEL) Frequently asked questions (FAQs) by Internet service providers about the new regulatory framework. The new framework recognises two fundamental types of providers - providers of electronic communications networks (PECNs) and providers of electronic communications services (PECSs). An electronic communications network (ECN) is a transmission system for the conveyance of signals. This definition includes the networks used to carry dial-up and broadband Internet traffic and to provide end users with Internet access. An electronic communications service (ECS) is a service consisting in the conveyance of signals. This includes Internet access services provided by ISPs. Provision of an ECS does not extend to the provision of content services or most information society services, for example web hosting, parental controls and exclusive content. However, providing the underlying transmission over which a content or information society service is conveyed may well involve the provision of an ECS. Content provided over the Internet is specifically excluded by the Act from direct regulation. However Ofcom will have a statutory duty to promote public awareness that Internet content is unregulated, and how users can regulate and control access to it themselves. The Act requires Ofcom to establish a Content Board who will represent the interests of consumers in relation to Ofcom's work on the content of anything broadcast or transmitted by means of all electronic communications networks, including the Internet. Ofcom will have a function to promote broadcasting and Internet media literacy and to conduct and publish research into content regulation and to take account of findings in its work.

• UK - The Communications Act 2003 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2003  +/-

  (HMSO) brings into force specified provisions of the Communications Act.

• US - FCC to Offer Media Ownership Initiative  +/-

  (AP) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell announced a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring broadcasters serve the communities in which they operate. The move comes amid intense criticism of the FCC's decision in June to revamp media ownership rules, which opponents said would promote more mergers and limit local programming. see also FCC seeks to still media law critics (Guardian)

• US - New broadband rules draw criticism  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Federal regulators released details on controversial new rules that will help shape the future of the high-speed Internet and local telephone markets. The new regulations, a 576-page document, spell out the Federal Communications Commission's vision for competition between the big local phone companies and their rivals in the data and voice telephony markets. Analysts said competitors on both sides of several issues are likely to challenge many of the elements, and the commissioners themselves evidenced one of the most bitter splits in recent regulatory history over some of the key provisions.

Copyright, trademarks and patents

• EU - Economists criticise Software Patentability  +/-

  (GrepLaw) Some of the leading economists studying innovation have written an Open Letter to the European Parliament saying the proposed EU Directive on software patents 'will have serious detrimental effects on European innovation, growth, and competitiveness.' see proposal for a Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions COM(2002) 92. Legislative history. see also Rapporteur's Explanatory Statement, Critique and The patentability of computer programs Study commissioned by the European Parliament. Reinier B. Bakels & P. Bernt Hugenholtz.

• US - Lone file-swapper takes on recording industry  +/-

  (CNET News.com) An anonymous California computer user went to court to challenge the recording industry's file-trading subpoenas, charging that they are unconstitutional and violate her right to privacy. The legal motion, filed in Washington, D.C., federal court by a 'Jane Doe' Internet service subscriber, is the first from an individual whose personal information has been subpoenaed by the Recording Industry Association of America in recent months.

• The quiet war over open-source  +/-

  (Washington Post) Open-source software has been embraced by some companies but it is the bane of others, including Microsoft. The software maker is lobbying in state, national and international capitals against laws that would promote the consideration or use of open-source software. So Microsoft sprang into high gear after an official of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which promotes intellectual-property rights and standards, welcomed the idea of a meeting devoted to open source. The proposal for the meeting had come in a letter from nearly 60 technologists, economists and academics. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said that open-source software runs counter to the mission of WIPO to promote intellectual-property rights, that the WIPO official who embraced the meeting had done so without proper consultation with the member states, and that WIPO's budget already is strained and cannot accommodate another meeting next year. WIPO has now said it no longer has plans for an open-source gathering.

• US - Media groups appeal P2P ruling  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Record labels and movie studios have appealed a federal court ruling that held for the first time that some file-swapping software was legal. That ruling came as a sharp blow to copyright holders' strategy of suing peer-to-peer network operators and software developers in order to curb the explosive growth of file trading. Beginning with a ruling against Napster, all court rulings had been in favor of the record companies and movie studios.

Data Protection (privacy)

• UK - Data protection rights are being ignored, says survey  +/-

  (Out-law) Ninety six percent of top UK companies failed to respond to individual requests for personal information held on their marketing databases _ which amounts to a breach of the country's data protection law, according to a survey carried out by consultants Marketing Improvement which contacted a representative sample of 50 FTSE 100 companies.

Employment and social issues

• UK - FTSE 100 web sites failing basic accessibility tests  +/-

  (out-law.com) Twenty-one percent of the top UK companies have web sites that fail basic accessibility tests, according to a report by site monitoring company Business2www. The worst site tested was that of Marks and Spencer - and BT.com fared little better. Three sites, including Dixons', could not be tested at all. Accessibility is not just about making sites accessible to the disabled, which is a legal requirement. It's also about ensuring that the links work, that the download times are acceptable and that the site does not restrict users who access the site from a range of devices or with browsers that cannot cope with, for example, Flash or JavaScript.

• UK - Lawyer suspended over explicit e-mail cock-up  +/-

  (Observer) Think before you click. It's advice that Australian lawyer Patrick Smith may well wish he had taken before he mistakenly sent a sexually explicit e-mail to 30 people, rather than one intended recipient. Like others before it, Patrick Smith’s e-mail has now travelled the globe, and earned him a suspension from work.

• US - Library settles with workers who sued over exposure to Internet porn  +/-

  (WCCO-TV) Minneapolis library officials will consider restricting patrons' access to Internet porn and pay $435,000 to a dozen librarians to settle a lawsuit that alleged the prevalence of the images constituted a hostile work environment. Library officials confirmed the settlement in a statement. They didn't confirm the amount, but said it involves a payment from their liability insurer.

Hotlines

• CH - Swiss revel in reporting Internet crime  +/-

  (NZZ) A special Internet police unit is being swamped by tip-offs from the public denouncing suspected criminal websites. Since the beginning of the year, 3,600 complaints have been lodged with the Swiss Coordination Unit for Cybercrime Control (Cycos). Half of the complaints concerned websites carrying pornographic content, and half of these depicted hardcore acts. Other objections addressed spam emails, racist and extremist sites and infringement of copyright.

Internet access and use

• UK - Broadband - a consumer guide  +/-

  (OFTEL) A guide to encourage a better understanding amongst residential consumers of what broadband services are available and to enable consumers to take advantage of market opportunities resulting from competition.

Junk mail (spam)

• NZ - Spammer ducks for cover as details published on web  +/-

  (New Zealand Herald) A New Zealander who sent millions of junk emails out every day has shut his business after his personal details were posted on the web. Shane Atkinson - whose business is known as spamming - said the barrage of abuse made him worry about the safety of his children. His identity as the man behind millions of spam messages promoting penis enlargement pills was revealed in a Herald article.

• US - FTC chair: Antispam proposals lacking  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Antispam proposals in Congress are not strict enough and would do more harm than good, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission said. In a strongly worded criticism of current legislation, Tim Muris characterized the dozen or so bills as well intentioned, but he warned they 'will do little to solve the current spam problems' and could be even 'less useful' than existing laws the FTC has been using to sue spammers.

• US - Marketers Say They Intend to Join Effort to Fight Spam  +/-

  (New York Times) The Direct Marketing Association, which represents about 4,700 companies that engage in marketing directly to consumers, has quietly begun working with federal law enforcement officials, regulators and Internet service providers to develop a high-technology group dedicated to helping shut down the most egregious users of bulk e-mail.

Safer Internet awareness

• US - Report on the Effectiveness of Internet Protection Measures and Safety Policies  +/-

  (NTIA) Report pursuant to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), evaluating the effectiveness of technology protection measures and safety policies used by educational institutions. NTIA's report concludes that the currently available technology measures have the capacity to meet most of the needs of educational institutions and recommends: 1) technology vendors should offer training services to educational institutions on specific features of their products; and 2) expand CIPA's definition of "technology protection measures" in order to encompass a wider array of technological measures to protect children from inappropriate content.

Security and encryption

• Fraudsters bring email chaos  +/-

  (Guardian) The Sobig.F virus has entered the record books as the fastest spreading infection of its type, generating tens of millions of emails in three days, clogging up inboxes and bringing many computer systems to a standstill.

Self-regulation / codes of conduct

• AU - New system of endorsement for industry codes of conduct  +/-

  (FindLaw) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will introduce a system of endorsement for high quality voluntary industry codes of conduct, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, announced. 'This initiative has the potential to provide effective industry codes of conduct that deliver real benefits to businesses and consumers with the least possible compliance cost placed on either', Mr Samuel told the Australian Industry Group conference in Canberra. Such codes avoided 'heavy handed' regulation by government. Self regulation was not always effective. Co-regulation was a suitable halfway measure. 'Effective codes result in increased compliance and reduced regulatory costs', Mr Samuel said. see Press Release and full text of speech.

Market & Technology

Statistics

• Europe - Camera phone sales set to rocket  +/-

  (BBC) Wireless industry analysts ARC Group say users will be seduced by new camera phone features and better multimedia messaging packages by Christmas. It will mostly be existing rather than new users who drive the demand for better, upgraded handsets. This almost doubles the current number of those with phones able to take and send pictures.

• UK - Subscribers flock to 3G service  +/-

  (Guardian) A new mobile phone service that enables people to make video-phone calls and watch highlights of Premier League football matches on their handsets has beeneen attracting new subscribers at the rate of more than 10,000 a week. The third-generation mobile service called 3 has attracted around 155,000 UK subscribers since its launch in March.

• US - Net video to become a staple for cable?  +/-

  (CNET News.com) Video on demand is a growing business for cable companies, according to a new study that predicts that 15 million cable subscribers worldwide will be paying for the feature by 2007. Video on demand (VOD) is a service offered by cable companies that lets subscribers order movies any time of day and control the video like a recording. Unlike pay-per-view services, subscribers can pause, rewind or fast-forward scenes from the movies and TV shows they order.

Technology

• Aggregators attack information overload  +/-

  (Wired) Wired netizens who read a hundred blogs a day and just as many news sources are turning to a new breed of software, called newsreaders or aggregators, to help them manage information overload. Many now say that their news aggregator is as indispensable as their e-mail client. Aggregators, such as NewsGator and AmphetaDesk, allow users to subscribe to feeds from sources as diverse as the BBC, Sci-Fi Today, Slashdot and thousands of bloggers across the world. The services work by checking an Internet address at a regular interval, usually once an hour, to see if new content has been added.

• RSS Hitting Critical Mass  +/-

  (Silicon Valley) by Dan Gillmor. Every morning I learn the latest from a variety of news organizations, weblogs, newsletters and other online information sources. But I don't use my e-mail program or go surfing from Web site to Web site. Instead, I use a piece of software called a news aggregator or newsreader to scoop up headlines and summaries, along with links to the places where they originated. I can do this because of a technology known as RSS, which stands for (among other things) Really Simple Syndication. It's been around for years but is still largely unknown outside the techie community. That's going to change, and soon.

Forthcoming events

• 2003-09-18 UK, London - Fair Play & Fair Pay  +/-

  (EPSG) organised by British Computer Society Electronic Publishing Specialist Group and the Copyright Licensing Agency. This one-day seminar will look at the philosophical issues surrounding copyright in a digital environment (authenticity, ethics, privacy, manipulability, knowledge-sharing) and some practical aspects of safeguarding the current laws (rights management, encryption, collective administration, education). It will also enquire into the view that these laws are out-moded as well as ask what there is to replace them.

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