CyberLaw Blog

Archive for July 15th, 2008

Court cheers warrantless snooping of e-mail: “

Civil rights? We’re not familiar

Your e-mail is at risk again thanks to a recent ruling that backs no-notice, warrantless digs through e-mail accounts held by service providers.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

German court says Wi-Fi providers not liable for others’ infringements: “A German court has said that the owner of a home wireless network is not responsible for the activity of other people on that network. The decision overturns a lower court’s ruling that the network owner was responsible for the copyright infringement.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Info commissioner says comms database is leap too far: “

Thomas demands proper debate

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said today that government plans for a communications database are a step too far and need proper public debate.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

House of Commons debate on Internet Regulation, 4 June, 2008

Column 893
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn. —[Mr. Watts.]
7.32 pm

John Robertson (Glasgow, North-West) (Lab): I am pleased to have the chance to discuss internet content and internet service providers with my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, not least because I have been trying to secure this debate for several months. I know that, like me, many of my colleagues regularly receive correspondence from constituents who are worried about internet content, and I have been especially keen to discuss those matters following the Byron review, but on several occasions I have been told by the Table Office that there is no Department appropriate to field such a debate. The strategy of representatives of each Department that we tried to assign it to has been to hold up its hands in affront and deny any responsibility for the matter.

My worry is that that is an allegory of the current situation relating to responsibility for internet content, and that the excuse is, sadly, endemic. ISPs claim to be mere inanimate conduits; search engines plead their neutrality; Ofcom has intentionally been denied any remit for content; other UK Executive and regulatory bodies, including the police, have powers over only a tiny minority of websites; and the Internet Watch Foundation is limited in the subjects it monitors and by the international nature of the internet. As a result, the various initiatives that have been implemented are piecemeal and inadequate, and the internet stands out as an anomaly against similar media as a place where, essentially, anything goes. It is a paradox that the efforts of ISPs to deal with illegal content are a strong argument for regulating them, as we see that the tools they have are the most effective method of controlling material online.

(more…)

YouTube Agrees to Share Viewer Data: “Defendants and plaintiffs in two copyright infringement lawsuits against YouTube have reached a deal to protect the privacy of millions of YouTube watchers during evidence discovery.

(Via NYT > Technology.)

At the Uneasy Intersection of Bloggers and the Law: “There is no better way to get a blogger fired up than by telling him what he cannot publish — although you might forgive a government prosecutor for thinking otherwise.

(Via NYT > Technology.)

Viacom ‘backs off’ YouTube demand: “Google and Viacom reach a deal to protect the personal details of YouTube viewers while evidence is collected for a legal case.”

(Via BBC News.)

Ebay wins court victory against Tiffany & Co: “Ebay, the internet auction site, has won a significant battle in the war over
the sale of luxury goods on its site.”

(Via Law News from Times Online.)

Verizon offers details of Usenet deletion: alt.* groups, others gone: “

Verizon Communications confirmed on Thursday that it will stop offering its customers access to tens of thousands of Usenet discussion areas, including the alt.* groups that have been a free-flowing area for discussions for over two decades.

Eric Rabe, a Verizon spokesman, said only a subset of discussion groups, …

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(Via The Iconoclast.)

Senate endorses retroactive FISA immunity for warrantless wiretapping: “

The Democratic-controlled Senate handed President Bush a major political victory on Wednesday by voting to derail lawsuits against telecommunications companies that unlawfully opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

Senators voted 69 to 28 for the bill, which would rewrite federal wiretap laws by granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications …

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(Via The Iconoclast.)