CyberLaw Blog

Archive for May 16th, 2008

Letter from the Ministry of Justice

15 May 2008
Ms Deborah Hyde
Our ref: 198671

Dear Ms Hyde,

Thank you for your emails of 23 April, 7 May and 8 May to Lord Hunt about the Government’s proposals in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (now the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act) 2008 to create a new offence of possession of a limited range of extreme pornographic material. I have been asked to reply, further to your brief telephone discussion with Mr. Trodd on 9 May.

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More on the new Communications Data Bill provisions, this time it is the Mighty Register!

Government orders data retention by ISPs: “

Keep it for 12 months for the plods

Phone and internet companies will soon be forced to keep logs of internet usage to be made available to the police under a new law announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week.…

“

(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Report: Government’s Cyber-Security Plan Is Riddled With New Spying Programs: “Major parts of the government’s proposed $17 billion computer-security plan are actually spying programs, according to a Senate committee’s budget report. The committee also faulted the plan for excessive secrecy around privacy and civil liberties issues and for funding experimental and possibly illegal technologies.

(Via Wired News.)

New York Lawmakers Target Online Violence: “New York lawmakers are now targeting what they erroneously refer to as online ‘violence porn’ — which is material that graphically depicts criminal assaults, such as the popular high-school ‘cat fight’ videos seen on YouTube.”

(Via XBIZ.com | News & Articles.)

Judge Says First-Ever RIAA Piracy Trial May Need a Do-Over: “The judge who presided over the nation’s first file sharing trial says he is considering granting a retrial. The judge said that Jammie Thomas, who was being sued by the recording industry, may not have gotten a fair trial.

(Via Wired News.)

News coverage for the Communications Data Bill provisions…

Government orders data retention by ISPs: “Phone and internet companies will soon be forced to keep logs of internet usage to be made available to the police under a new law announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets ‘Scary’ Legal Precedent: “In their eagerness to prosecutor a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier suicide tragedy, federal officials are making novel use of an anti-hacking law, potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms-of-service on any website they visit.

(Via Wired News.)