April Jones Facebook comments: should Matthew Woods be in prison? – The Guardian

“Director of public prosecutions to draft guidelines about prosecution for offensive, indecent, or obscene comments online.”

Full story

The Guardian, 9th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

April Jones murder: teenager jailed over offensive Facebook posts – The Guardian

Posted October 8th, 2012 in internet, news, sentencing, young offenders by sally

“A man who posted ‘despicable’ comments on his Facebook page about the missing five-year-old April Jones has been jailed for 12 weeks.”

Full story

The Guardian, 8th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Two charged over rape victim naming – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted October 8th, 2012 in anonymity, internet, news, prosecutions, rape by sally

“Two people have been charged with offences relating to messages posted online that identified the victim in the rape case which led to the conviction of footballer Chedwyn (Ched) Evans.”

Full story

Crown Prosecution Service, 8th October 2012

Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk

Company founded by Grant Shapps to be investigated by Advertising Standards Agency – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 5th, 2012 in advertising, codes of practice, internet, news by tracey

“A company founded by Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps is being investigated over a claim that it misled users by including references to successful businessmen who did not exist.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 5th October 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cloud computing – new ICO guidance – Panopticon

Posted October 1st, 2012 in data protection, internet, jurisdiction, news, privacy by sally

“Cloud computing is becoming an ever more pervasive feature of the technological world. Whether one is dabbling in social networking or purchasing goods online, the truth is that we all, to a greater or lesser extent, now have our heads in the virtual clouds. However, the use of cloud computing inevitably raises important information law issues, particularly in terms of the impact on privacy rights and also under the Data Protection Act 1998.”

Full story

Panopticon, 27th September 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Activists warned to watch what they say as social media monitoring becomes ‘next big thing in law enforcement’ – The Independent

Posted October 1st, 2012 in demonstrations, internet, news, police, privacy by sally

“Political activists must watch what they say on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, sites which will become the ‘next big thing in law enforcement’, a leading human rights lawyer has warned.”

Full story

The Independent, 1st October 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Cloud on the horizon for data-handling outsourcing – Information Commissioner’s Office

Posted September 28th, 2012 in data protection, internet, press releases by tracey

“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidelines to businesses today to underline that companies remain responsible for how personal data is looked after, even if they pass it to cloud network providers.”

Full press release

Information Commissioner’s Office, 27th September 2012

www.ico.gov.uk

Transcript of the Lord Chief Justice’s Annual Press Conference 2012 – Judiciary of England and Wales

“The Lord Chief Justice held his annual press conference on Thursday 27th September 2012 at the Royal Courts of Justice.”

Full transcript

Judiciary of England and Wales, 27th September 2012

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Violence against women not glamorised in age-restricted computer game online ads, watchdog says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 27th, 2012 in advertising, children, complaints, internet, news, ombudsmen, video games, violence by sally

“An advert for a computer game that contained ‘scenes of graphic violence’ involving fighting between a man and several women wearing ‘sexually provocative clothing’ was not likely to cause widespread offence or distress to viewers, was not socially irresponsible and did not glamorise violence against women, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Courts could force website operators to remove defamatory statements under terms of revised Bill – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 27th, 2012 in bills, defamation, internet, news by sally

“Courts would have the power to order website operators to remove comments that have already been ruled to be defamatory even if those website operators did not post the comments themselves, according to the latest revisions to the Defamation Bill.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Facebook is fuelling violence, claims judge – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 27th, 2012 in community service, internet, news, sentencing, violence, violent offenders by sally

“Facebook has been criticised by a judge for encouraging violence because people feel more they can post offensive messages they would never say face to face.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 27th September 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

DPP statement on Tom Daley case and social media prosecutions – Crown Prosecution Service

“Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has said:

‘On 30 July 2012 Daniel Thomas, a semi-professional footballer, posted a homophobic message on the social networking site, Twitter. This related to the Olympic divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield. This became available to his ‘followers’. Someone else distributed it more widely and it made its way into some media outlets. Mr Thomas was arrested and interviewed. The matter was then referred to CPS Wales to consider whether Mr Thomas should be charged with a criminal offence.'”

Full story

Crown Prosecutions Service, 20th September 2012

Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk

Twitter raises privacy concerns with UK communication surveillance proposals – OUT-LAW.com

“Twitter has said that Government plans to increase the UK intelligence services’ communications surveillance capabilities could cause it to breach the privacy rights of individuals based elsewhere in the world.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 14th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

This spying bill is against privacy and democracy. And it won’t work – The Observer

“Should the Communications Data Bill become law, it will be an intervention too far from the surveillance state.”

Full story

The Observer, 9th September 2012

Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk

Calm in a crisis: lawyers and the internet age – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 6th, 2012 in internet, law firms, legal profession, media, news by sally

“There are events in the life-cycle of any business that have the potential to snowball into a crisis of unforeseen proportions. It could be a bad set of financial results or a scuppered merger. Or perhaps employee lay-offs, a high-profile desertion to a rival or allegations of misconduct by senior staff. Or it might be a testing issue with a client. But while difficult business decisions may not be avoidable, especially in this tough economic climate, a crisis played out in the media can be managed or averted by taking the right steps.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 6th September 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Internet porn blocking consultation draws to close in UK – BBC News

Posted September 6th, 2012 in consultations, internet, news, pornography by sally

“A consultation into whether UK internet users should have to opt-in in order to access adult content is set to close on Thursday.”

Full story

BBC News, 6th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

UK search engine details ‘remedies’ it would like Google to adopt to address anti-competitive search practices – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 5th, 2012 in competition, complaints, EC law, internet, news by sally

“Google’s spam website rules unfairly impinge on the company’s rivals in the vertical search market, a UK search engine has claimed.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 5th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

O2 to challenge Ofcom’s 4G auction decision – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 31st, 2012 in competition, internet, news, telecommunications by tracey

“Mobile phone operator O2 will appeal against Ofcom’s decision to allow a rival firm to launch superfast broadband services later this year using its existing network capabilities, according to media reports.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 30th August 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

BSkyB told to withdraw misleading ‘rent movies instantly’ advert – The Guardian

Posted August 29th, 2012 in advertising, complaints, internet, media, news by tracey

“The advertising watchdog has told BSkyB to stop exaggerating the speed of its film download service, after rival BT complained its claim that it was ‘instant’ was misleading.”

Full story

The Guardian, 29th August 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Public consultation on ‘web snooping’ plans ends – BBC News

Posted August 23rd, 2012 in consultations, electronic mail, internet, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Members of the public have a final chance to have their say on plans to store all their web browsing and social media data for 12 months.”

Full story

BBC News, 23rd August 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk