The fees that lawyers can charge for successful libel cases in ‘no-win, no-fee’ arrangements will be slashed from April of this year. Justice Secretary Jack Straw has put into action a plan designed to tackle the high costs of defamation actions.
A contract’s liability cap applies to interest on payments that is part of that contractual agreement but does not apply to statutory interest applied by a court, the High Court has said.
Germany’s highest court has suspended that country’s implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive by ruling that it violates citizens’ rights to privacy. It has ordered the deletion of all data held by telecoms companies under the law.
The European Commission is considering guaranteeing broadband internet connections to all citizens, no matter how remote their location. The idea forms part of a consultation on revisions to universal service obligations for telecoms services.
The European Commission has pledged to defend EU nations’ rights to decide how to deal with online copyright infringement, saying that it will not allow a secret global treaty to erode nations’ powers.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is pressing ahead with a new system for calculating fines, despite criticism that it could result in disproportionate penalties for individuals who break the rules.
A French music collecting society did not breach data protection rules when it collected the internet protocol (IP) address of an internet user, according to the Paris Appeal Court.
A court in the US has for the first time outlined the basis on which people there can claim damages when a copyright owner makes a groundless claim of infringement and demands that material be taken offline.
An Italian court has convicted three Google executives of violations of the country’s privacy code, handing them a six month suspended prison sentence over a video hosted on the site which shows an autistic child being bullied.
Cafes, pubs, universities and libraries that offer wireless internet access will not be granted a special exemption from measures aimed at tackling copyright infringement, the Government has said.