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Posts Tagged ‘ISP Lawyers’

Consumers will have the choice of barring all premium SMS from their mobile phones as of 1 July 2010, with the latest package of measures announced by the ACMA.

The ACMA has said that the package has been created so that “…mobile users can feel confident they will only receive and pay for services they actually want”.

In a meeting with senior representatives of mobile phone companies the ACMA will discuss the possibility of the introduction of a service where consumers can request quick and easy barring via SMS.

Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman regarding premium SMS services have decreased by an astonishing rate of 50% following measures introduced by ACMA last year. As the ACMA is hoping that this trend will continue, it will be closely monitoring the industry over the next 12 months to ensure that consumer concerns are adequately being dealt with.

Recent enforceable undertakings that the ACMA has accepted from Funmobile Australia Pty Limited, which included a payment of $55 000, emphasize the ACMA’s commitment to pursuing telcos which repeatedly operate in breach of the law.

Industry has welcomed the new package as a further reinforcement of the existing suite of consumer protection measures included in the Communications Alliance Mobile Premium Services Industry Code C637:2009.

Despite both consumers and industry receiving the package with a warm welcome, the telcos will be hit hard. In a quote published by Computer World, Warren Chaisatien, research director and principle analyst at Telstyle, says that although the rule will aid consumers who have unintentionally signed up to a premium services, it is likely to have a negative impact on telco revenues as the premium SMS market was worth approximately $250 million in 2009.

Tags: ACMA, isp law, ISP Lawyers, Premium SMS, telco lawyer, telecommunications law, Telecommunications Lawyers, telo lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, Trade Practices Law, Uncategorized | No Comments »

In a landmark move, the ACMA has for the first time brought an action in the Federal Court  against Telco GoTalk for an alleged breaches of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006.

The ACMA alleges that GoTalk via its two offshore calls centres called 40,000 numbers contained on the Do Not Call Register.

Breaches of this kind have proven to be costly for infringing companies in the past, with Dodo Australia being issued a fine of $147 400 in 2008 for its call centres ringing 67 de-listed Australian phone numbers.

This isn’t the first sign of trouble for GoTalk. Last year the company accepted undertakings by the ACCC to record telemarketing calls and to monitor conversations at random to ensure compliance with the TPA, in response to allegations that its offshore call centres had misrepresented information to consumers, including pricing and terms and conditions.

The matter is listed for directions on 29 March 2010 in the Federal Court in Sydney.

Tags: ACMA, Do Not Call Register, Do Not Register Call Act, GoTalk, ISP lawyer, ISP Lawyers, IT Lawyers, telecommunications lawyer, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, Spam, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Reports today indicate that AFACT has sought leave to appeal the landmark copyright infringement judgment handed down against it, earlier this month.

This comes on the back of a notice of motion filed by AFACT against iiNet with the Federal Court on 18 February 2010 – that motion is scheduled to be heard by the Court on 4 May 2010.

We will keep you posted once more information is to hand.

Tags: AFACT, copyright infringement, copyright law, iiNet, IP Law, IP lawyer, IP lawyers, isp law, ISP lawyer, ISP Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | No Comments »

Justice Cowdry of the Federal Court of Australia this morning brought down judgment in the iiNet copyright case, in which the Australian ISP was successful.

It was alleged by 34 applicants made up of film studios such as Sony and Warner Bros that iiNet had facilitated copyright infringement, by allowing customers to use peer to peer software to download pirate versions of movies and other copyrighted material.

The Court held that the law did not impose a positive obligation upon iiNet to prevent copyright infringement. The result comes as a slap in the face to the big film studios who had vigorously pursued this case.

This case had attracted international attention and had resulted in legislative changes in jurisdictions such as the UK, where ISPs have an obligation to disconnect customer who infringe copyright.

ISP Lawyers and Telecommunications Lawyers have for some time been debating the merits of this case – some commentators don’t think that this is the end of the matter, with the films studios having the ability to appeal the judgment on points of law.

More to follow…….

Click here to see media comments on the iiNet judgment by Cooper Mills Director, IT & T Lawyer, Erhan Karabardak.

Tags: iiNet, isp law, ISP Lawyers, IT Lawyers, telecommunications law, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | No Comments »

Telecommunications Company TeliaSonera has said it is recruiting customers to pilot its new 4G network in Oslo and Stockholm which will be launched in early 2010.

The 4G network is configured around the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, with data speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, which is significantly faster than existing 3G networks. The 4G roll out has be designed to easily deploy by overlaying existing 3G infrastructure.

Customers will initially connect to the network via a Samsung B3710 USB dongle and a laptop, as no handsets can yet use the 4G network. The Samsung B3710 lets users download at max speeds of 100Mbps. The B3710 is set to be available in the first half of 2010, in time for the first live customer tests. Handsets that can use LTE are expected in mid-late 2010.

Ericsson has constructed the network in Stockholm, Sweden while in Oslo, Norway Chinese firm Huawei is behind the operations. Both networks cover the central regions in both cities.

Most operators have committed to upgrading to the faster system, and TeliaSonera  expects that the advance is speed will drive the use of many novel applications such as gaming and viewing of video on laptops.

Tags: 3G network, 4G network, data network, isp law, ISP Lawyers, IT Law, IT Lawyers, Telco Law, telecommunications law, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | No Comments »

Breaking News – The Federal Government has today confirmed that it has given the green light to internet censorship in Australia.

The move comes after its internet filtering trials commenced in January 2009, as we previously reported.

Details to follow

Tags: internet censorship, ISP Filtering, ISP Lawyers, IT Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | No Comments »

Up to one million users who have modified their Xbox game consoles to play pirated games have blocked from logging onto their online accounts.

Microsoft has said that:

“all consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live.”

Machines which are physically altered by attaching extra chips and other hardware violate Microsoft’s terms of use. Although Microsoft can do little to prevent offenders from using their machines to play pirate games, they can cut of online access which in many cases will cut off access to large parts of the game as more and more titles promote an online play element.

Online piracy is becoming an issue of growing concern for the entertainment industry.  Industries have to implement new techniques to prevent piracy from occurring. The music and film industry in the UK has lobbied for the new “three strikes” policy which comes into effect in April 2010. This will require ISPs to suspend internet services of those who ignore piracy warnings.

These new regulatory measures come as a backdrop to the AFACT/IINET case being fought in The Federal Court, about ISPs allegedly allowing copyright infringers to use ISP services.

Tags: domain name lawyers, ISP Lawyers, ISP piracy, IT Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, IT Law | No Comments »

The ACCC has announced the launch of an Information Paper entitled “Mobile and Other Wireless Internet Speed Claims and the Trade Practices Act 1974”.

The Paper has been developed to assist ISPs in ensuring that their advertising for mobile and wireless internet is compliant with the Trade Practices Act 1974, and in particular the consumer protection provisions.

In launching the Paper, ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel said that:

“The ACCC is concerned by companies over-promising and under-delivering the speeds available on mobile and wireless internet, particularly in the context of network upgrades and increasing wireless internet subscriptions,” “This Information Paper is intended to assist the whole industry – mobile and wireless internet retailers, resellers, and network owners – to comply with the law.“

The ACCC has warned ISPs not to advertise terms such as ‘maximum’, ‘up to’ or ‘peak network’ speeds, “if those speeds are not generally achievable or likely to be achieved by consumers using the network.”. The ACCC warning indicates that it is taking a similar approach to that previously taken with ADSL2+ advertising.

The ACCC has expressed the view that ISPs should:

1. only make speed claims based on ‘appropriate tests of network performance’ to show speeds that can generally be achieved; and
2. prominently state the factors affecting mobile and wireless internet speeds such as congestion, location, and other variables.

The Paper also contains an Industry Checklist to assist with compliance – ISPs are reminded that they should also remember to ensure compliance with CommsAlliance Code C628:2007 TCP Code.

Compliance takes added significance in light of the ACCC’s recent actions in securing enforceable undertakings against some of Australia’s largest ISPs.

Tags: isp law, ISP Lawyers, Telcommunications Lawyers, telecommunications law, Trade Practices Act 1974, Trade Practices Law
Posted in ISP and Telco Law, Trade Practices Law | No Comments »

The TIO has claimed success in its ‘Connect Resolve’ campaign, with only a minor increase of 1.8% in complaints over the period of the campaign.

The Connect Resolve campaign which ran between January 2009 and June 2009, was targeted at the 10 largest Telco’s in Australia with the aim of having Telcos:

“….refocus on their customers’ experiences and the need to improve their customer service practices.”

Throughout the campaign:

“….service providers received monthly data about their customers’ complaints to the TIO, as well as examples of consumer `voices’ so they could have a better understanding of which areas needed improvement, and further develop their customer service processes.“

The minimal increase of 1.8% during the campaign was in contrast to a 46% increase in complaints for the same period last year.

The Ombudsman said that:

“The stabilisation shows that our collaborative approach with service providers has been effective, but they need to continue their efforts to prioritise customer service,”

It is commendable that the TIO has in this instance taken the cooperative approach, but this campaign is the exception rather than the rule. We are still receiving regular complaints from our clients about the lack of impartiality of the TIO, and the confrontational approach taken in ‘resolving disputes’.

According to Cooper Mills Lawyers, Director and Telecommunications Lawyer Erhan Karabardak:

If the TIO wants to seriously reduce complaints they should (in addition to these types of campaigns) impose a complaint fee, which would have a significant impact on a large number of complaints that are made in bad faith, and which are without merit.

Tags: Erhan Karabardak, ISP Lawyers, Telecom Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers, TIO, TIO Complaints
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | No Comments »

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) yesterday announced that Australia’s largest Telco Telstra breached the Do Not Call Register Act (“Act”) and was fined $101,200.

The ACMA claims that one of Telstra’s external call centres in Australia made telemarketing calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register (the Register). The ACMA began investigations in August 2008 following a raft of consumer complaints about calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register. According to the ACMA:

The investigation found that inadequate compliance systems, procedures and supervision had contributed to calls being made to numbers on the Register where the consumers were not existing Telstra customers.

In addition to the fine, Telstra was forced to enter into enforceable undertakings with the ACMA, which included the appointment of external consultants to review Telstra’s compliance procedures.

In clarifying its expectations, the ACMA said that it:

expects large businesses like Telstra to be leading the way and setting an example when it comes to compliance with the Do Not Call Register – not falling behind.

This is at odds with its earlier treatment of the Westpac Bank who only received a warning for breaches earlier this year – Westpac Bank breaches Act.

In commenting on the ACMA’s action, Cooper Mills Director and IT & T Lawyer Erhan Karabardak said that:

It is positive to see that the ACMA is taking enforcement of the Act seriously, but the inconsistency in penalties may be something for the ACMA to consider in future. Although each case needs to be assessed on its own facts, any perceived inconsistencies in treatment may undermine the efforts of the ACMA.

Tags: ACMA, Erhan Karabardak, ISP Lawyers, IT Lawyers, Telco Lawyers, Telecom Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in ISP and Telco Law, IT Law, Privacy | No Comments »