Darrell Issa, Chairman of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has unveiled the crowd-sourced sections of the Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act at KeepTheWebOPEN.com. Internet users generated improvements to six sections of the OPEN Act, representing the first-ever legislative mark-up truly open to the American public. Issa and […]
Poland has put on hold plans to ratify a controversial international online anti-piracy accord after widespread off-and-online protests in the country. “I consider that the arguments for a halt to the ratification process are justified,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters. “The issue of signing of the ACTA accord did not involve sufficient consultation with […]
The English Premier League and the importers of foreign STBs and cards are both claiming victory after the latest High Court ruling. After a High Court hearing this week, the League says it will take action against pubs for breach of copyright. But the importers say they are free to carry on their business. The […]
A Class Action lawsuit from Vivendi investors who bought into the company when it was being run by Jean-Marie Messier some 10 years ago, has been largely dismissed. The action, before US District Judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan, argued that Messier and his CFO at the time (Guillaune Hannezo) made materially false or misleading statements […]
Although the two leading anti-piracy bills currently in the US legislature have had their progress halted, support for the measures has come from one element of the student community. After reviewing a Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act resolution that was tabled at a previous meeting, the Student Senate at the Eastern […]
Deutsche Telekom and NetCologne have challenged the German antitrust authority’s approval of Liberty Global’s acquisition of Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg, Boersen-Zeitung has reported. Concessions accepted by the watchdog don’t guarantee market competition for contracts with housing associations, which often reach long-term agreements with cable operators, the German newspaper reports Deutsche Telekom as saying.
The BBC is creating a charter for the use of data on the web. The charter is due to be unveiled within a couple of months and will allow viewers to choose if they want the BBC to delete information the corporation has collected about them via websites such as the iPlayer. BBC director of […]
The UK government’s forthcoming communications green paper (draft law) will suggest broadcasters who commit to showing more public service programmes such as news and children’s programmes could be rewarded with a higher slot on digital TV EPGs. Ed Vaizey, the broadcasting minister, said the regulatory implications of the scheme will be researched by the Department […]
Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, has supported the decision by US legislators to put a hold on the contentious SOPA and PIPA bills and seek a better anti-piracy solution. She also confirmed that the Commission would present a European ‘Cloud’ Strategy, as well as issuing a paper on […]
Virgin Media’s chief executive Neil Berkett has called on the Government to rip up the rules on licensing film and television content and disband the BBC Trust. Berkett warned that content providers will fall behind the pace of change in the way people are watching films and television unless the forthcoming Communications Bill is used […]