Launches New Multilingual Websites in Korean and Vietnamese

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching new consolidated Web sites in Vietnamese and Korean as part of its ongoing effort to provide environmental information in Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese, in addition to English.

These new sites compile EPA multilingual publications and materials in Korean and Vietnamese on a variety of environmental issues

UNITED STATES: Use of “Ad Networks” Surges Six-Fold as Media Companies Step Up Monetization of Unsold Online Advertising Inventory

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Bain & Company today announced the release of a benchmark study which suggests that online publishers are increasingly turning to sales intermediaries known as ad networks to sell off excess inventories. The use of “ad networks? surged from 5% of total ad impressions sold in 2006 to 30% in 2007, according to the newly released “Digital Pricing Benchmarking Study” from Bain, the global business consulting firm, conducted in coordination with the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

EUROPEAN UNION: Public Statement on Server Based Signature Services

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

In the course of the last few years, a new architecture of electronic signatures services has emerged: Server based signature services. The main idea is that the signature creation data are not stored in a signature creation device located at the signatory, but in a central hardware security module located at the signature service provider. In order to create an electronic signature, authentication data and data to be signed or a hash of data to be signed are sent from the signatory to the provider via a secure communication channel. After verification of the authentication data, the signature is created by the hardware security module, and signed data are returned to the signatory for further processing.

AUSTRALIA: Major Privacy Law Reforms Proposed

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) report, ”For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice” (report), is the product of the most comprehensive review of Australian privacy law ever conducted. The report is 2,700 pages long and includes 295 recommendations for reform over 74 chapters, covering 10 different broad topic areas. The report also recommends the introduction of a wholly new right of action for invasion of privacy, and a requirement that serious privacy breaches be notified.

Bangladesh enacted legislation aimed at controlling and preventing money laundering. Money laundering is a criminal offense in Bangladesh and can result in imprisonment for up to seven years, in addition to financial penalties. The Bank of Bangladesh is responsible for investigating suspected cases and presenting them to the courts, as well as applying for orders freezing or seizing assets of accused money launderers. This article offers an overview of Bangladesh Money Laundering law.

DEEPLINKING ? AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The practice of deeplinking, whereby a company´s Website directs consumers past the home page of another company´s Web site to one of its interior pages, has resulted in closely watched lawsuits from several countries, with unclear results but a general trend toward the legalization of the practice. Deeplinking bypasses the target Website´s advertising, resulting in a potential reduction in revenue to the deeplinked site. Other problems with unauthorized deeplinking include copyright infringement and the additional avoidance of the linked site?s policies, service information, and its own links. There have been lawsuits in Scotland, Denmark, India, the Netherlands, Germany, and other countries and the decisions have only muddied the waters, not calmed them.

THE ICN GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR MERGER NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW

The International Competition Network (ICN) is a non-formal organization, functioning basically as a forum, allowing its members ” national and multinational antitrust agencies ” to disseminate their experience on competition law enforcement and to work, through specifically targeted projects, on the convergence of antitrust laws. One of its most active working groups concentrates on the challenges of merger review in a multi-jurisdictional context. It has recently formulated a list guiding principles to be followed by competition authorities in relation with merger notifications and subsequent review. The document has been approved by the First Annual Conference of the ICN in September 2002.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Federal law authorizes US Indian tribes to regulate gaming activities within Indian lands provided that the gaming activity is not expressly prohibited by federal law or the law of the state where the Indian tribe is located. The US Congress enacted the Gaming Regulatory Act (GRA) in 1988 to provide a statutory basis for the operation of gaming by Indian tribes. GRA classifies gaming activities in three groups and it is still uncertain where specifically Internet gaming fits within this classification.

IBLS Graduate Fellowships for E-Commerce Masters in Law, Fall Program starts September 2, 2008.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Internet Business Law Services (IBLS), www.IBLS.com, has established Graduate Fellowships for E-Commerce law specialization in Masters in Law in International Tax and Financial Services offered by Thomas Jefferson School of Law, http://llmprogram.tjsl.edu/.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Mozilla, the group that oversees scores of volunteer programmers collaborating on the free Firefox Web browser, hopes to attract more visionaries to help change the way people surf the Internet, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.

This week, the group’’s research arm, Mozilla Labs, is calling for developers, designers and artists across the globe to ponder the future of the browser and submit their creative ideas, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“We just touched the surface of the potential on the Web,” Chris Beard, vice president of Mozilla Labs, was quoted as saying.”Now we need to turn up the volume and to get more people involved, explore what the future could look like and inspire us to do it.”

CHINA: Netcom Offers Historic Olympic Hi-Tech

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

China Netcom has developed eight innovations in digital communications used for the first time at the “hi-tech Olympics.”

An ASON-based intelligent optical transmission network is in use for the first time to improve the quality and security of the video transmission and special services for the Games.

It is also the first time light-compression high-definition (HD) video transmission technology has been used. Netcom is employing long-distance non-compressed methods to deliver original HD TV signal without any loss globally. The result is TV viewers can watch events almost as instantaneously as visitors on the spot, solving the problem of delay in TV transmission.

INDIA E-GOVERNMENT: National Digital Libraries Cell

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Libraries are the storehouse of knowledge as they maintain the book and other knowledge resource available - mostly in printed form. However, with the advent of digital technology and Internet connectivity, the library scenario is changing fast. Digital technology, Internet connectivity and physical content can be dovetailed resulting in Digital Library. Data available in physical form can be preserved digitally in Digital Library. Digital Libraries have the ability to enhance access to information and knowledge. They also Bridge barriers of time and space.

COLOMBIA? CANADA: Free Trade Agreement

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

After almost eleven months of talks and five rounds, Colombia closed the negotiations of a free trade agreement with Canada on June 7 of 2008.

Beyond market access and rules in trade in goods and, services, and investment, and government procurement, the agreement establishes disciplines in areas such as services, investment, competition, labor, environment, and technical assistance.

Most of goods exported from Colombia already enter Canada duty-free. These include coal, coffee, bananas that together accounted for 67 percent of total Colombian
exports to Canada in 2007.

The Maltese Data Protection Act of 2001 (the “Act”) was the first statute in Malta to deal exclusively with the protection of personal data. It was introduced to render Maltese law compatible with Directive 95/46/EC, even though at the moment of its introduction Malta was not a member of the European Union. The Act entered the statute book on December 14, 2001, with both sides of the House of Representatives voting in favor. It came fully into force on July 15, 2003, and it provides for the protection of individuals, known as data subjects, against violations of their privacy by the processing of personal data.

TAIWAN REGULATIONS FOR RATING OF INTERNET CONTENT LAW 2005

Taiwan is a large island in Eastern Asia, off the southeastern coast of China, with an area of about 36,000 square miles. It is located in between the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines. It was formerly called Formosa and has about 23 million residents. On April 1947, the Republic of China (ROC) Government began leading by constitutional rule, having broken away from mainland communist China, with powers distributed in ministries, commissions, and councils under the Executive Yuan. The main body for regulating Internet and telecommunications is the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT), a body within the Ministry of Transportation and Communication. In August 1973, the Government Information Office (GIO) became
responsible for mass media guidance and regulation. GIO enacted the Regulations for Rating of Internet Content Law on April 26, 2004, described in Press Release 0930622071-A. The entire purpose of the law is to protect underage persons from adult-themed content.

SPAMMING UNDER AUSTRIAN LAW

On the European level, spamming is regulated by the E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC on Certain Legal Aspects of Information Society Services (the “E-Commerce Directive”) and by European Directive 2002/58/EC on Privacy and Electronic Communications that came into force on July 31, 2002 (the “Electronic Privacy Directive.”) Austria, like the other Member States of the EU, has until October 31, 2003 to implement the Electronic Privacy Directive. On the Austrian level, spamming is regulated by Section 101 of the
Federal Law Relating to Telecommunications (”TKG,”) which prohibits spam done without the prior consent of the subscriber.

The United States (US) has strong antimonopoly laws that are currently being applied to e-commerce cases. Most of these claims, though, have not succeeded but it is definitely interesting to see how the antimonopoly area of law applies to the cyber world. The Medical Supply Chain, Inc.v. GE case is presented in this article as an example of this topic.

EU VAT Rules for Electronically Delivered Services
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Council Directive 2002/38/EC of May 7, 2002, is the Community law directly addressing and clarifying the VAT basis for assessment to electronically supplied services. This Directive was introduced to eliminate the then-existing discriminatory tax treatment for electronically supplied services. Before 2002, electronically delivered services within the EU were subject to VAT whereas those from non-EU Members were not. Thus, this Directive created a harmonized VAT system for electronic services and a competitive advantage for EU businesses.

As the Internet spins a web of interconnectivity around the globe, as it grows literally by the hour, India is struggling, not to catch up but to keep from falling further and further behind.

Inside India, things do seem to be improving. Five years ago there was limited Internet access but only in a few major cities, all in the hands of the government.  VSNL, the agency responsible for Internet activities, and the DOT (Department of Telecommunications) provided an agonizingly erratic connectivity, with miserly bandwidth and far too few phone lines. Connection rates ran as low as 5% (for every 20 dialups you might get connected once) and users were frequently cut off. And the rates for this pathetic level of service were among the highest in the world. Domestic users paid about $2 per hour, and lease lines, for the few companies that could afford them, ranged over $2000 per month for a 64 Kpbs line. By the end of 1998, after three years of government monopoly, there were barely 150,000 Internet connections in India.

SPAIN: Green Light to Warrantless Internet Searches by the Police
Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Spanish Supreme Court has given a green light to internet tracking by the police force, namely, the peer-to-peer file sharing programme E-mule, with a view to track down paedophiles. The high court therefore overturns a judgement of 2 May 2007 by the Tarragona Regional Court, which found a woman innocent of a crime for facilitating children pornographic material, considering it had caused a serious harm to her fundamental right to secrecy in communications.

EUROPEAN UNION: Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation Regarding Public Access to European Parliament, Council and Commission Documents
Sunday, August 10, 2008

Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents

UNITED STATES: FTC Cautions Consumers About Voter Registration Scams
Sunday, August 10, 2008

Have you received an unsolicited e-mail or phone call from someone who claims to represent your local election board or civic group and asks for your Social Security or credit card number to confirm your eligibility or registration to vote?

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, scammers may send messages asking for your Social Security number or financial information supposedly to register you to vote ˝or to confirm your registration˝ when they really want to commit identity theft.

Taiwan or the Republic of China (ROC), has a well-regarded higher education system, especially in the science field. Public universities are rated in the top 1% of research institutions in the world. For example, in the period from 2003-2007, Taiwan had representation in five of twenty-two categories in the top 100 schools in the world. Areas in which Taiwanese universities excel include agricultural science, chemistry, engineering, materials science, and pharmacology and toxicology.
The ranking is based on each institution´s research output in high-standard international scholarly journals and is considered as evidence of their academic
excellence.

BLOGS UNDER OMAN ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS LAW 2008

On May 18, 2008, the Electronic Transactions Law 69/2008 of the Sultanate of Oman was issued by His Majesty´s Royal Decree. This is the first law passed to regulate electronic transactions in Oman. Secretary General of Oman’s National Economy Ministry and Chairman of the Information Technology Authority (ITA), Mohammad Al-Khussaibi, held that the Electronic Transactions Law “is the start of a new era in Oman, where a truly e-enabled society evolves in the realization of the digital society in the Sultanate.” This article provides information on Oman’s Electronic Transactions Law and its
application to blogging activities.

VIETNAMESE TRADEMARK LAW

Under Vietnamese intellectual property law, trademarks, service marks, collective marks and three-dimensional marks may be registered for periods of ten years. Trademark rights allot a registrant the exclusive right to use a mark to designate a particular class of goods or services. Both civil and criminal sanctions are available for parties seeking redress against violators of their trademark rights.

President Bush has signed into law a Bill stipulating that phone calls made over the Internet (called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP service) to a 911 emergency operator, will have the same status and safeguards as traditional 911 calls. This law will be especially helpful to those persons residing in the 50% of American counties, boroughs and parishes that do not have enhanced 911 capabilities.

The official name of the Act is the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, HR3403. It was signed into law July 23, 2008. The Bill was sponsored in the House by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), co-chairs of the E-911 Caucus, and Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

Data Subject Rights in the Processing of Personal Data by EU Community Institutions
Monday, August 11, 2008

EC Regulation 45/2001 of December 18, 2000, set up rules for “the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.” The European Parliament and Council issued this regulation following the mandates in the Treaty establishing the European Community (ECT). Indeed, the ECT ordered protection of personal data, the establishment of data subject rights, delimitation of the Community bodies’ obligations when processing personal data, the establishment of appropriate sanctions for offenders, and the establishment of an independent supervisory body that monitors the application of data protection acts.

According to a new study by Visa Inc. “B2C Electronic Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beating All Odds.”, retail e-commerce in Latin America, including travel and tourism, rose to nearly $11 billion in 2007, up from about $5 billion in 2005 and $7.78 billion in 2006, and is expected to surpass $16 billion this year and reach nearly $30 billion by 2010.

GREECE: Electronic Signatures
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

According to P.D. 150/2001 “Adaptation to Directive 99/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community framework for electronic signatures”, EETT is the authority responsible for control and supervision of certification-service providers for electronic signatures which are established in Greece, as well as for ascertaining compliance with “secure signature creation devices”. In parallel, EETT is responsible for designation and supervision of private- or public-sector
bodies for the accreditation of certification providers, as well as for ascertaining compliance with “secure signature creation devices”.

UNITED STATES: Annual Study Sees Lowest Number of Media Verdicts Since 1980; of Five Verdicts, only One for Plaintiffs
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

There were only six trials in 2007 with libel, privacy and related claims based on the gathering and publication of information to the public, according to the 2008 Report on Trials and Damages released this week by the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC).

One of the six trials in 2007 ended with a mistrial, leaving only five verdicts in 2007: the lowest number of verdicts in a single year since the MLRC Report began in 1980. Media defendants won four out of five verdicts, continuing the trend of increasing success rate in trials.

EUROPEAN UNION: Airline Ticket Websites: Good and Bad Practice
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The EU Sweep is a new kind of enforcement action - a systematic check carried out simultaneously in different Member States to investigate breaches of consumer protection law. Such action is co-ordinated by the European Commission under the Consumer Protection Co-operation Regulation which came into force at the end of 2006. In September 2007, in the first sweep, participating national authorities scanned hundreds of airline ticket selling websites to identify those which appeared to be in breach of the law, focusing on clear pricing, availability of offers and clear contract terms. More than 50% of websites checked showed irregularities. This phase was followed by an enforcement phase when authorities contacted companies asking them to correct their sites or clarify their position.