Friday, January 25, 2013

SAS Institute/World Programming: UK Ruling After The Reference

[2013] EWHC 69 (Ch), Justice Arnold, here.
You can read my brief paper here for some background information.

U.S. firms, officials resisting Europe’s push for stronger digital privacy rules

WashingtonPost.com, here.

Cloud computing, cookies y protección de datos

Seminario APEP-Derechotics, Audios aquì

Bundesgerichtshof erkennt Schadensersatz für den Ausfall eines Internetanschlusses

Bundesgerichtshof III ZR 98/12, Pressemitteilung hier.
Aus der Pressemitteilung: 
"...Nach der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofs muss der Ersatz für den Ausfall der Nutzungsmöglichkeit eines Wirtschaftsguts grundsätzlich Fällen vorbehalten bleiben, in denen sich die Funktionsstörung typischerweise als solche auf die materiale Grundlage der Lebenshaltung signifikant auswirkt"...."Demgegenüber hat der Senat dem Kläger dem Grunde nach Schadensersatz für den Fortfall der Möglichkeit zuerkannt, seinen Internetzugang für weitere Zwecke als für den Telefon- und Telefaxverkehr zu nutzen. Die Nutzbarkeit des Internets ist ein Wirtschaftsgut, dessen ständige Verfügbarkeit seit längerer Zeit auch im privaten Bereich für die eigenwirtschaftliche Lebenshaltung typischerweise von zentraler Bedeutung ist. Das Internet stellt weltweit umfassende Informationen in Form von Text-, Bild-, Video- und Audiodateien zur Verfügung. Dabei werden thematisch nahezu alle Bereiche abgedeckt und verschiedenste qualitative Ansprüche befriedigt. So sind etwa Dateien mit leichter Unterhaltung ebenso abrufbar wie Informationen zu Alltagsfragen bis hin zu hochwissenschaftlichen Themen. Dabei ersetzt das Internet wegen der leichten Verfügbarkeit der Informationen immer mehr andere Medien, wie zum Beispiel Lexika, Zeitschriften oder Fernsehen. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht es den weltweiten Austausch zwischen seinen Nutzern, etwa über E-Mails, Foren, Blogs und soziale Netzwerke. Zudem wird es zunehmend zur Anbahnung und zum Abschluss von Verträgen, zur Abwicklung von Rechtsgeschäften und zur Erfüllung öffentlich-rechtlicher Pflichten genutzt. Der überwiegende Teil der Einwohner Deutschlands bedient sich täglich des Internets. Damit hat es sich zu einem die Lebensgestaltung eines Großteils der Bevölkerung entscheidend mitprägenden Medium entwickelt, dessen Ausfall sich signifikant im Alltag bemerkbar macht."
Volltext hier

Antitrust's Democracy Deficit

H. First, S. Weber Waller, here

Fair Use 2.0: The Rebirth of Fair Dealing in Canada

A. Katz, here

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Vie privée : Les entreprises US gagnent en commission "consommateurs" au Parlement européen

Laquadrature.net, ici.
Avis de la Commission Marché intérieur et protection des consommateurs ici.

Georgia State and Fair Use: Copyright on Appeal

K. Crews, here

Google and the FTC: the implications

Econsultancy.com, here

The Sky Is Rising 2 - Regional Study: Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain

Techdirt.com, here.

The European Commission vs. Gazprom: An Issue of Fair Competition or a Foreign Policy Quarrel?

N. Sartori, here

Elargissement du domaine de l'exception pédagogique envisagé en France

Actualitte.com, ici

MPI on the Proposal for a Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights

Here

Leistungsschutzrecht – nein danke!

J. Haucap, hier

Albrecht Draft Report on the Right to Data Portability: Blurring the Legal Contours?

A much debated element of the EU Personal Data Protection reform package is the proposal to introduce a right to data portability, as put forth in Article 18 of the draft Regulation.

Art. 8(2) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights states that” everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the right to have it rectified.” Pursuant to Article 12 of the currently applicable Data Protection Directive, individuals already have the right to access their personal data, and in particular to obtain from the data controller communication “in an intelligible form of the data undergoing processing,” but the form of the communication is not specified, and the way in which that right can be exercised varies considerably from country to country within the EU, and access has become particularly challenging especially in connection with the online environment.

Pursuant to the proposed Art.18 of the Regulation, data subjects could, first, obtain a copy of their personal data “processed by electronic means and in a structured and commonly used format.” The copy itself must be “an electronic and structured format which is commonly used and allows for further use by the data subject.” Further, individuals would be granted the explicit right to transfer “personal data and any other information provided by the data subject and retained by an automated processing system” into another automated processing system “where the data subject has provided the personal data and the processing is based on consent or on a contract.” The transfer should be “without hindrance by the controller”, and data should be “in an electronic format which is commonly used.”Article 18(3) gives the Commission the power to specify the electronic format and the "technical standards, modalities and procedures for the transmission of personal data.”

Art. 18 should be read against the background of Article 15 of the draft Regulation, that provides for the “general” right of access for the data subject. Article 15 states that the data subject has the right to obtain from the controller communication of the personal data undergoing processing, but the main difference is that Article 18 specifically deals with the condition for reuse of the data, by the data subject herself and/or by another automated processing system.

As seen above, Art. 18(2) introduces the right to export personal data and other information provided by data subject to another service “without hindrance” by the controller. It is not clear, however, if this would involve an affirmative obligation on the controller to transfer data directly to another service, i.e. to provide for some degree of interoperability between electronic processing systems. The data that the individual has the right to trasfer should be in electronic form. As mentioned before, the Regulation would give the Commission the power to specify the electronic format and the further technical requirements for allowing the transmission of personal data.

The contours of the data portability right as foreseen by Article 18 of the draft Regulation are not totally clear, though, in particular because most of the critical “technicalities” (i.e. electronic format and the technical standards, modalities and procedures for the transmission of personal data) are left to later clarifications by the Commission. In this highly sensitive area, however, negative implications on innovation processes should be carefully avoided by abstaining from imposing microregulation on technological solutions to ensure data portability. Moreover, in the rather remote event that the language of Article 18 remains largely unaffected by the various negotiation phases the reform package is currently going through, the effectiveness of the new right will critically depend on the interpretation of rather vague legal concepts like “without hindrance.”

Even more uncertainty could be the result of the negotiations surrounding the reform package, though. A good example of this is the amendment proposal put forth by the rapporteur for the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (“Albrecht Draft Report"). According to the proposal, Article 18 should be merged with Article 15. The Albrecht draft, however, blurrs the legal contours of the right to export personal data and other information to another service even further, in so far as it foresees that the right should be exercised “where technically feasible and appropriate”. The critical change in the text would appear to be at least partially in line with the amendments suggested by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and already contained in the Draft Opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Verordnung zur Markttransparenzstelle fertig

Brennstoffspiegel.de, hier

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The EU's Opportunity to Enhance Privacy in a More Competitive Market

Huffingtonpost.com, here

Library services in the digital age

Pew Report, here

All You Need to Know about the EU Privacy Debate

Spiegel.de, here

The 20p e-book is starting to reshape the e-book market

Futurebook.net, here

Google vs. the press: avoiding the lose-lose scenario

F. Filloux, here

3D Digitisation and Intellectual Property Rights

JISCLegal, here

Stellungnahme als Sachverständiger zum Entwurf eines Siebenten Gesetzes zur Änderung des Urheberrechtsgesetzes

T. Stadler, hier

US position paper regarding the proposed EU protection framework.

Made available by EDRI.org, here (pdf file). 

Five Reasons Why U.S. Consumer NGOs Support a Strong EU Privacy Law

Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Federation of America, here (Word file). 

US Privacy groups lobby EU to crack down on Web companies

Thehill.com, here

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Driving prosperity through effective competition

R. Sims, here

Justice Ministers review feasibility of 'right to be forgotten' among other proposed data protection reforms

Out-law.com, here

Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay: Is the Internet Driving Competition or Market Monopolization?

J. Haucap and U. Heimeshoff, here

The recording industry association of New Zealand responds to Dotcom piracy plan

Nzherald.co.nz, here

Competition on the Internet

Post-Doc Conference, Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Munich, 22 February 2013, Programme here. See also the concept paper to the conference, here

Lawmaker Releases Draft of App Privacy Bill

Adweek.com, here

Is the book a crucial cultural artifact, or just an outdated container for content?

   PaidContent, here.

  

Data Protection reform and cross-border Insolvency law prioritised by EU Ministers

Irish EU Presidency, here

Friday, January 18, 2013

Economic Research into Regulatory Restrictions in the Legal Profession

A Report for the Office of Fair Trading by Europe Economics, here.

Selon la Cour de Cassation, un constructeur n'a pas à justifier le numerus clausus de son réseau

Pro.largus.fr, ici. Arrêt "Jaguar" ici

Non à la privatisation du domaine public par la Bibliothèque nationale de France !

Laquadrature.net, ici

Stellungnahme zum Entwurf eines Siebenten Gesetzes zur Änderung des Urheberrechtsgesetzes

G. Spindler, hier

Release of Confidential Cartel Information by European Commission to English High Court Suspended

McDermott Will & Emery, here

Social media and trademarks: an anthropological approach

E. Goldman, Presentation here

Is Location Based Advertising The Future Of Mobile Marketing And Mobile Advertising?

Forbes.com, here

L'abandon du droit d'auteur lors de la mise en ligne de photographies sur internet

Legavox.fr, ici

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Are The Days Of The $14.99 Ebook Numbered?

Forbes.com, here

Neutralité du Net

N. Kroes, ici

Facebook and the future of search

Newyorker.com, here

Informe para promover la competencia en el sector del transporte público interurbano regular permanente de viajeros de uso general por carretera en Andalucía.

Consejo de Defensa de la Competencia de Andalucía, aquì.

Happy Birthday AAI: No ECI (European Competition Institute) in sight yet?

On AAI celebrations read commentary from AAI President Bert Foer, here

Numérisation à la BnF: Google et la British Library, plus respectueux

Actualitte.com, ici

Facebook Search Could Actually Be Great for Google (Why? Antitrust.)

Allthingsd.com, here

Copy Culture in the US and Germany

The American Assembly, Columbia University, here

Friday, January 11, 2013

Privacy on the Go


California AG, here.

Taxe Google : Filippetti fixe un ultimatum en janvier

Bfmtv.com, ici

What Businesses Need to Know About the FTC’s Settlement With Google

Jonesday.com, here

USTR holds NGO briefing on TPP negotiations

Keionline.org, here

DOJ and USPTO join FTC in urging Caution before Granting SEP Injunctions

Consortiuminfo.org, here

Technology of Privacy

Silicon Flatirons Center, University of Colorado Law School, Friday, January 11, 2013; 9:15 AM - 6:00 PM (17:15 - 02:00 Trento time), live stream url here

Fighting cyber crime and protecting privacy in the cloud

European Parliament, here

Public domain - Access denied

The Economist, here

Engaging economists in the ICN: Uniting under a common language

M. Mandorff, here

Climbing Mount Everest with the ICN Unilateral Conduct Working Group

C. Lewis Lagdameo, here

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Australia Says 'Let's Update Copyright For The Digital Economy;' Legacy Industries Say 'Let's Pretend It's Still 1968'

Techdirt.com, here.

A Few Reflections on the FTC’s Decision on Google

D. Evans, here.

Just because something has value doesn't mean it has a price

Guardian.co.uk, here.

POLICY STATEMENT ON REMEDIES FOR STANDARDS-ESSENTIAL PATENTS SUBJECT TO VOLUNTARY F/RAND COMMITMENTS

DOJ and USPTO, here.

FTC's Google Settlement a "Third Way" Approach for Antitrust Enforcement

Forbes.com, here.

Overview and Issues for Implementation of the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative: Implications for Federal Information Technology Reform Management

US Congressional Research Service, here.

Albrecht Report on Personal Data Protection

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Draft Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individual with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, here.

Buffy vs Edward Remix Unfairly Removed by Lionsgate

Rebelliouspixels.com, here.

Friday, January 04, 2013

National Newspapers of Ireland on the display and transmission of links and copyright law

EU says its Google case not affected by U.S. ruling

Reuters.com, here

Antitrust Enforcement in High-Technology Industries: Protecting Innovation and Competition

F. Scott-Morton, here

AAI's Statement on FTC and Google

B. Foer, here

The Geo-Politics of Personal Data

C. Bennett, here

How Google beat the feds

Politico.com, here

Explained: the mechanics of the FTC Google consent order on standard-essential patents

F. Mueller, here

Not with a Bang

J. Grimmelmann, here. And the Follow-Up specifically on Google's promise not to retaliate for opting out of commercial search : Devils and Details, here

Monday, December 17, 2012

USA Statement at WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly, with Comments

Keionline.org, here

Dead Poets’ Property- The Copyright Act of 1814 and the Price of Literature in the Romantic Period

X. Li, M. MacGarvie, P. Moser, here

Max-Planck-Jurist Hilty zum Leistungsschutzrecht

Faz.net, hier

A new paradigm of scholarly communications is emerging: A report from the Future of Impact conference

Blogs.lse.ac.uk, here

How antitrust economists are getting better at spotting cartels

TheEconomist.com, here

“Special responsibility” through clear-cut market share threshold — Proposed new assessment criterion for addressing dominance in Finnish grocery retail sector

Kluwercompetitionlawblog.com, here

The EU’s unitary patent

TheEconomist.com, here

Know thyself: Data lockers promise to help people profit from their personal information

Economist.com, here

2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest

Matthewsag.com, here

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

'Troll' warning as EU gets unitary patent scheme, after decades of failure

Zdnet.com, here

Collusion through joint R&D: An empirical assessment

T. Duso, L.-H. Röller, J. Seldeslachts, here

Report on a Digital Freedom Strategy in EU Foreign Policy

European Parliament, Rapporteur: M. Schaake, here.

Page 7: "Recognises the role of artistic freedom, and the freedom to imitate and reuse, as cornerstones for creativity and freedom of expression and ideas; is aware of the significant presence of exceptions and limitations in the copyright ecosystem, especially in the areas of journalism, quotation, satire, archives, libraries and ensuring access to and usability of the cultural heritage"

GODZILLA vs MECHAGODZILLA - Antitrust and Intellectual Property Rights−the Ultimate Counterweapon?

F. Juckniess and S. Larimore Wahl, here

In re Books

J. Grimmelmann (blogs.publishersweekly.com), here

Austrian rights holders want levies on Dropbox, Google Drive

Gigaom.com, here

More data about copyright removals in Transparency Report

F. von Lohmann, here

Your Data is Yours

Blog.yworld.com, here

Understanding bias in computational news media

Niemanlab.org, here

Monday, December 10, 2012

Anwendungshinweise zur Erhebung, Verarbeitung und Nutzung von personenbezogenen Daten für werbliche Zwecke

Gremium der Datenschutzaufsichtsbehörden, hier

Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?

R. Stallman, here

Why Google worries utility companies

Guardian.co.uk, here

Parlamento, una password sulle rassegne stampa

Punto-informatico.it, qui

Antitrust Compliance Programmes & Optimal Antitrust Enforcement

W. Wils, here

Kultusminister einigen sich mit Verlagen über digitale Vervielfältigung für den Unterrichtsgebrauch

Urheberrecht.org, hier

From war to peace: a European tale (off-topic)

H. Van Rompuy,  J. Barroso, Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize Award to the European Union/Oslo, here

Cost Benefit Analysis of EU Data Protection Regulation Proposal: A UK Perspective

Statewatch.org, here

Thursday, December 06, 2012

It’s Not How Much data You Have, But How You Use It: Assessing Privacy in the Context of Consumer Data Integration

J. Polonetsky, O. Tene, White Paper here

Standard Setting Organizations and Antitrust: Balancing IPRs and Competition

Giovanni Napolitano (World Intellectual Property Organization), December 13, 2012, 9.30 am, Economics and Management Department, Trento University (Room 3C).

EU Directive on Public Sector Information: a Quick Look at the Proposed Amendments

Copyright4education.blogspot.co.uk, here

Commission welcomes Court of Justice judgment in the AstraZeneca case

Press Release, here. CJEU's Press Release here. Ruling (Case C-457/10 P AstraZeneca v Commission) here

The Big Picture: Comprehensive Data Collection

J. Brill, here

Taser Trademark: Company Fights To Keep Journalists From Using Term 'Tasered'

Huffingtonpost.com, here

Justice Department meets with firms seeking Google antitrust probe

Washingtonpost.com, here

EU Resists ‘Extreme’ US Lobbying As Data Privacy War Brews

Techweekeurope.co.uk, here

Pinterest, Image Sharing Websites and the Law

Jisclegal.ac.uk, here

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Legal certainty, proportionality, effectiveness: the Commission's practice on remedies

A. Italiener, here.

FTC Amicus Brief on Injunctions Related to SEP

Apple v. Motorola, here.

MFNs and Platforms

J. Gans, Video here

Declaration: Copyright4Creativity

Copyright4creativity.eu, here

Operationalizing Privacy by Design

A.  Cavoukian, here

Submissions received by the Australian Law Reform Commission (copyright)

Here

Java API Copyrightability Put to the Test in Smartphone Technology Battle

B. Werbin, here

Transnational Law for Transnational Communities: The Emergence of a Lex Mercatoria (or Lex Informatica) for International Creative Communities

A. Metzger, here

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

The overhaul of EU rules on data protection: making the single market work for business

V. Reding, here

Data Protection Practice 2012

2B-Advice, here (pdf file).

BEUC on EU Data Protection Reform Proposal

Analysis of consumer benefits versus administrative burden of key provisions, here

Closing the Back Door Route to Cartels: The Need to Clarify the Regulated Conduct Doctrine

Cdhowe.org, here

Saving Economics from the Economists

R. Coase, here

Resolución de 29 de Noviembre de 2012, sobre uvas denominación origen Valdepeñas

Cncompetencia.es, aquì (fichero pdf).

Competition law class actions sanctioned in South Africa

Nortonrose.com, here

Göttinger Urheberrechtstagung: Von ACTA bis Leistungsschutz

Telemedicus.info, hier