The European Court of Justice has agreed with British Sky Broadcasting and overturned the UK tax authority’s classification of a PVR and, thereby, exempted it from import duty. The Inland Revenue had classified PVRs as recording devices subject to 13.9 per cent import duty (virtually all PVRs are made in China). However, the ECJ in […]
The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill in New Zealand has been passed, despite strong opposition. The law will come into effect on September 1st and repeals Section 92A of the Copyright Act. The legislation seeks to tackle illegal file sharing, with illegal sharers receiving warnings for their first two infringements. A third infringement will […]
Motorola Solutions and Huawei Technologies have entered into an agreement to settle all pending litigation between them on breach of trade secrets. Motorola Solutions has agreed to withdraw its claims and dismiss, with prejudice, Huawei as a defendant in the Motorola v. Lemko litigation pending in the Chicago court. For its part, Huawei has agreed […]
The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided not to prosecute BT and Phorm for secretly tracking the online habits of 18,000 Internet users. BT and Phorm sparked controversy in 2006 and 2007 when it emerged that the companies were covertly trialing software tracking users behaviour in order to deliver targeted advertising. BT ditched the […]
A coalition of content owners is working on a detailed proposal for a voluntary scheme which would see Internet Service Providers (ISPs) block dozens of sites facilitating online piracy, following a series of meetings convened by the communications minister Ed Vaizey, reports the Financial Times. The initiative comes amid continuing delays to the implementation of […]
As anticipated, the US House of Representatives has voted to overturn the so-called ‘net neutrality’ rules designed to create an open Internet. A clash with the Senate and President Obama is now certain to follow. The House voted 240 to 179 in favour of a Republican-backed resolution that seeks to block the rules approved by […]
Time Warner Cable and Viacom have counter-sued each other in an escalating battle over whether cable companies have the right to distribute TV shows to devices such as Apple’s iPad. TWC asked a court for a declaratory judgement regarding Viacom’s demand that the cable company stops delivering its programming on devices such as the iPad. […]
A US congressional hearing into IP piracy has suggested that Google was falling short in its anti-piracy efforts. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet Subcommittee that is investigating Web sites accused of pirating intellectual property, noted certain of Google’s efforts, such as removing apps connected with […]
Lawmakers from both parties in Congress are gathering at the Capitol with representatives from industry to once again denounce the effects of online piracy and counterfeiting on the US economy. “The Internet has regrettably become a cash-cow for the criminals and organised crime cartels who profit from digital piracy and counterfeit products,” said House Judiciary […]
Speaking at a House of Commons debate on net neutrality, the executive director of the Open Rights Group called for Government to step in to prevent ISPs making up the rules for Internet service. Jim Killock said: “What we have here is ISPs setting the rules. They are the de facto regulation of content on […]