CooperMills

Posts Tagged ‘IT Law’

The High Court has today refused Apple’s special leave application to appeal against an earlier Full Federal Court of Australia decision, which lifted an interlocutory injunction original obtained by Apple against Samsung.

Earlier this year, Apple had sought and obtained an interlocutory injunction in the Federal Court against Samsung preventing the sale of its Galaxy 10.1 Tablet computer, a serious competitor to the Apple iPad. On appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court, the injunction was overturned. Apple then made a special leave application (which is the process by which the High Court determines whether it will hear an appeal from the Full Federal Court) to overturn the Full Federal Court’s decision. While Apple was originally granted a reprieve, with the High Court maintaining the injunction until its decision today, the injunction was ultimately lifted when Apple failed in its bid to have the High Court hear the matter.

The effect of today’s decision is that:

1. Samsung is now free to sell its popular Galaxy 10.1 Tablet computer, which has been touted by some as the ‘iPad killer’. The decision came just in time for Samsung to capitalise on the Christmas sales period; and
2. Samsung may now be entitled to sue Apple for damages arising from Apple’s undertaking as to damages (the undertaking is basically a promise to make good any damage which arises from the injunction if a party does not ultimately sustain its grievance in Court). Such an action would involve a potential claim of tens of millions of dollars.

Tags: Apple, High Court Appeal, IP Law, IP lawyer, IT Law, Samsung, technology law
Posted in General, IT Law, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Cooper Mills was recently quoted in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, IT Pro section 11 October 2011, some quotes from the article entitled ‘Is it legal to send your data overseas’:

Despite their determination to keep hold of their data, however, many companies are still being less than careful with their cloud diligence, says lawyer Erhan Karabardak, director of IT specialist firm Cooper Mills Lawyers.

“It’s amazing how little due diligence people do with cloud services,” he explains.

“People say ‘our data is in the cloud’ but if you ask them where, and in which country, and whether it’s encrypted, they just don’t know. Companies really just need to ask some of the basic questions.”

Such questions become more complicated, Karabardak adds, when a particular cloud service distributes data between servers in different countries to boost the redundancy of data storage;

The full text of the article is viewable here.

Tags: cloud computing, Erhan Karabardak, IT Law, Privacy Law, Sydney Morning Herald, technology lawyer, The Age
Posted in General, IT Law | Comments Off

.au Domain Administrator, auDA, today announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the Secondary Market Working Group, which included the highly controversial prohibition on the resale of newly registered domain names within 6 months of registration.

Among the recommendations of the Board that were accepted by auDA are:

1. mandate a registrant transfer process, along the lines of the registrar transfer process; and
2. publish information for registrants about the registrant transfer process, including the fact that they can choose to transfer their domain name to another registrar prior to processing a change of registrant.
3. The six month prohibition on registrant transfers should be removed.
4. auDA should provide more information to the public about drop catching services, including clearly identifying the registrars that provide these services.
5. AusRegistry should clarify its process for changing the Registry Usage Policy, including timing of changes and communications with registrars.
6. auDA should publish a policy which:

• clarifies that connection sharing between related registrars requires auDA’s prior written consent; and
• specifically prohibits connection sharing between unrelated registrars.

The most noteworthy change was the removal of the restriction on the resale of domain names. This policy was seen to be inconsistent and illogical by many industry players. The restrictions did not apply to domain names transferred but only on new registrations.

Some industry observers say that this decision effectively removes restrictions on the trading of domain names, and brings Australia into line with almost every other jurisdiction around the world.

Other changes included the provision of more information to consumer and registrants about domain name transfers and domain name drop services.

 

 

Tags: auDA, domain law, domain lawyer, domain name law, domain names, IT Law, IT Lawyer
Posted in Domain law and domaining, General | Comments Off

All states and territories of Australia (except for NSW) have agreed to introduce a new adult R18+ category of classification for computer games.

It is anticipated that current M15+ classified games, which are inappropriate for children will be reclassified to a new R18+ rating. Justice Minister Brendan O’Connor today said that the new classification was required to protect children from adult content, and that the existing refused classification system would be maintained to ensure that the most inappropriate content was not classified.

There has been significant debate on the introduction of a new adult category for computer games, with strong lobbying from the computer games industry. The debate has been ongoing for approximately 9 years.

It is expected that NSW will review and consider the agreement reached including amendments included in the draft proposal.

Tags: classification of computer games, computer games, computer law, IT Law, IT Lawyers, technology law, technology lawyers
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The Australian Communications and Media Authority foreshadows changes to telemarketing rules contained in the Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007.

Some of the proposed changes include:

1. Revising Saturday calling times;
2. Information provision;
3. Additional CLI Information;

For more detail on the proposed changes, you can download the Cooper Mills Bulletin here.

 

 

Tags: ACMA, Do Not Call Register, IT Law, technology law, Telco Law, telecommunications law, telecommunications lawyer
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law | Comments Off

The Australian Communications and Media Authority today foreshadowed six telco / ISP action areas it intends to address. While the six areas are described as ‘proposals’, ACMA is making it very clear that they will become law.

ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman is reported in today’s Age Online as follows:
Telcos will be given time to implement ACMA’s recommendations in their own self-regulatory industry codes but if they do not do so in a satisfactory way ACMA said it would force them to do so with new regulations.
“The outcomes that we are seeking … are non-negotiable,” Mr Chapman said. There will be a six-week consultation period after which ACMA expects the industry to begin implementing its recommendations.
“The die is cast, we’ve put it all out there in the report, the ‘guidance’ has been provided … the clock is ticking,” he said.

You can read more about in the Cooper Mills Telecommunications Law Bulletin.

Tags: ACMA, Chris Chapman, ISP, isp law, IT Law, Telco, Telco Lawyers, Telecom Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, IT Law | Comments Off

National Cyber Security Awareness Week starts today and runs to 3 June. It is an initiative of the Australian Government, with a number of government agencies and business becoming involved in partnership.

This year it has added significance with internet security breaches increasing, including high profile security breaches involving Sony and Vodafone customers.

The aim of  National Cyber Security Awareness Week is to protect online security and online privacy. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has published a summary of some simple things that everyone can do to improve online security:

• Install and renew your security software and set it to scan regularly .

• Turn on automatic updates on all your software, including your operating system and other applications.

• Think carefully before you click on links and attachments, particularly in emails and on social networking sites.

• Regularly adjust your privacy settings on social networking sites.

• Report or talk to someone about anything online that makes you uncomfortable or threatened – download the government’s Cybersafety Help Button.

• Stop and think before you post any photos or financial or personal information about yourself, your friends or family.

• Use strong passwords and change them at least twice a year.

• Talk within your family about good online safety.

Tags: Internet Security, IT Law, National Cyber Security Awareness Week, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyer, technology lawyer
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off

The Internet Commerce Association (ICA), the peak body representing domain name investors and developers, has filed its letter of comment to ICANN concerning the revised Verisign contract for the operation of the .Net registry.

As part of the contract review process, ICANN is being lobbied by intellectual property owners to implement a draconian Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system in the .Net space.

The URS has been proposed for new GTLDs, and there are now moves to introduce it into the .Net space by intellectual property holders.

The ICA is opposed to the implementation of the URS. In the ICA’s letter to ICANN it argues that (in relation to the URS):

The .Net registry is far too important to be a “guinea pig” for these incomplete, controversial, and thoroughly untested mechanisms.

Among its submissions the ICA also says:

It is not yet clear what the final form of the URS will be. In particular, it remains unclear whether the URS will be further amended to reduce the burden of proof on a complainant, and to provide a complainant with first option to acquire a suspended domain. The transfer option in particular would make this proposed $300, 500-word complaint, single examiner URS procedure the functional equivalent of the UDRP – which, despite its flaws, offers a far higher level of procedural and substantive due process to domain registrants.

To view a full copy of the ICA submissions click here.

Tags: domain lawyer, domain name lawyers, ICA, IT Law, lawyers, technology law, technology lawyer
Posted in Domain law and domaining, General, IT Law | Comments Off

In one of the largest acquisitions in recent history Microsoft is set to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion.

Microsoft hopes to use the acquisition to bolster its real time communications strategy to supplement Lync, Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE

In 2010 Skype was reported to have ’170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations’.

According to Microsoft, ‘Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms‘.

While Microsoft has pledged to continue supporting non Microsoft platforms, critics have claimed that the acquisition could eventually lead to Skype only being supported on Microsoft platforms.

Tags: IT Law, IT Lawyer, Microsoft, Skype, technology law, technology lawyer, telecommunications law
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, IT Law | Comments Off

As part of Privacy Week, the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities have released an animation and e-survey to learn more about privacy and social networking.

The emergence of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and others raise new challenges to privacy. Provide your feedback today, and complete the survey.

Tags: IT Law, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, Privacy Survey
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