Looking for help with the Online Safety Act  - Ofcom consultation & guidelines? Please get in touch. 

EU Policy Internet Trials

Internet Trials

The policy debate doesn't always happen within the official policy fora such as European Commission consultations, or Parliamentary committees. Especially when it comes to the Internet and online content. Certain interest groups take it into other venues. The courts are being called on the interpret the law, and the caselaw is used by courts all around Europe in the context of their judgments. This section looks at instances of legal action against Internet providers by private interest groups, or actions by Member States who are implementing laws and initiatives. Iptegrity's concern, as ever, is the protection of the open Internet and free speech. In the courts, this will be addressed in the context of the right to freedom of expression or privacy.


If you are interested in copyright caselaw you may like my book The Closing of the Net which discusses the UK copyright blocking judgments and the Megaupload case in New Zealand.

If you are interested in copyright policy, you may like my previous books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the 'Telecoms Package'

L'Oreal v eBay: a perfumed gun

Monica Horten
Published on 30 August 2009
  • Print

The law suit of L'Oreal v eBay could result in an onslaught of rights-holder litigation against ISPs, according to a UK copyright lawyer. It all depends on what the European Court of Justice decides.

Is the L'Oreal v eBay law suit holding holding a perfumed gun at the ISPs heads? The case of L'Oreal v eBay was heard in the UK High Court in May this year, and the judge made a referral to the European Court of Justice on some key questions related to the case. In particular, the UK court asked the ECJ for an opinion on the matter of eBay's liability in respect of alleged trademark infringements.

According to a report on the Out-law.com website, a UK copyright lawyer believes that if the ECJ were to

Read more: L'Oreal v eBay: a perfumed gun

eircom: Internet policing by tech support

Monica Horten
Published on 13 August 2009
  • Print

Under the 3-strikes agreement between eircom and the Irish music industry, Eircom will sanction its own customers, and technical support staff will deal with users' complaints. The next move by the Irish music industry will be court action to get the Pirate Bay blocked - without opposition from the ISPs.  If this isn't legal bullying by any other name, then what is? And what are the ‘necessary controls' over the rights-holders IT surveillance companies?

 

Details of the  agreement between the Irish music industry and the telecommunications network provider eircom, have emerged in a leaked document. It is a private agreement for graduated response/ 3-strikes measures against

Read more: eircom: Internet policing by tech support

L'Oreal v eBay judgement puts IPRED to the test

Monica Horten
Published on 29 May 2009
  • Print

A court ruling in favour of eBay last week in the UK High Court puts the IPR Enforcement directive, known as IPRED, to the test. The case, brought by cosmetics firm L'Oreal, is likely to go to the European Court for a further ruling.

The complaint brought by L'Oreal concerned sales of alleged counterfeit goods on the eBay online auction site. The judge ruled that eBay is not liable for infringements by eBay users, and that was the headline in most of the media coverage. However, reading the judgement, it is evident that there are other issues at stake here.

In particular, the L'Oreal case rests on Article 11 of the IPR Enforcement directive. This says, in plain English, that

Read more: L'Oreal v eBay judgement puts IPRED to the test

More Articles...

  1. Pirate Bay jailed for secondary liabilty
  2. Pirate Bay - defence claims 'completely legal'
  3. Pirate Bay trial: IFPI evidence called into question
  4. Eircom filtering case settles out of court
  5. Danish telecoms industry backs appeal against IFPI
  6. UK ISPS lock out Wikipedia in filtering error
  7. Belgian court verdict: Audible Magic is 'impossible'
  8. Pirate Bay wins reversal of Italian court ruling
  9. Spanish IFPI prosecutes file-sharing site
monica.horten.sbg.2016.jpg

Online Safety

IPtegrity commentary

Published work

Find me on LinkedIn

My Amazon Author's page

About Iptegrity

Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I am an  independent policy advisor, with expertise in online safety, technology and human rights. I am a published author, and post-doctoral scholar. I hold a PhD from the University of Westminster, and a DipM from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I cover the UK and EU. I'm a former tech journalist, and an experienced panelist and Chair. My media credits include the BBC, iNews, Times, Guardian and Politico.

Speaking engagements

My books

Iptegrity.com is made available free of charge for non-commercial use. Please link back and attribute Dr Monica Horten.  Contact me to use any of my content for commercial purposes.  

The politics of copyright

A Copyright Masquerade - How corporate lobbying threatens online freedoms

'timely and provocative' Entertainment Law Review