UK law Patents Court refuses interim licence for video coding patents including SEPs The Patents Court has issued its judgment in Alcatel Lucent SAS v Amazon Digital UK Ltd and others [2024] EWHC 1921 (Pat). The case arose in the context of a dispute between Nokia and Amazon. The court dismissed a claim that Amazon…
Ofcom is consulting on strengthening its draft illegal terms of practice and guidance under the Online Safety Act 2023, specifying animal cruelty and human torture as new types of content platforms must tackle. Under the Act, when new legal duties on platforms come into force, tech firms will have to assess the risk of illegal…
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Ofcom has fined TikTok £1.875 million for failing to accurately respond to a formal request for information about its parental controls safety feature. Under the Communications Act 2003., organisations regulated by Ofcom must respond to all statutory information requests from Ofcom in an accurate, complete and timely way. This includes providing accurate and complete information….
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UK law Data Protection and Digital Information Bill lost in Parliament wash-up period The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was lost in the “wash-up” period that preceded the prorogation of Parliament on Friday 24 May 2024 and its dissolution on 30 May 2024. This was due to the UK general election that will be…
The Media Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 24 May. It was fast-tracked through the UK Parliament as part of the “wash-up” period before parliament was dissolved in anticipation of the General Election in July. It had been introduced to Parliament on 8 November 2023. The Act aims to update media regulation for the digital…
UK law DMCC Bill completes parliamentary process and other “wash-up” news The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill has completed the parliamentary process ahead of the 2024 General Election and will receive Royal Assent on 24 May. At the time of writing, it looks as if the Media Bill may also complete the process as…
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess if Meta (Facebook/Instagram) may have breached the Digital Services Act with regards to the protection of minors. The Commission is concerned that Facebook and Instagram’s systems, including their algorithms, may promote behavioural addictions in children, as well as create so-called ‘rabbit-hole effects’. In addition, the Commission…
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UK law Automated Vehicles Bill ready for Royal Assent The Automated Vehicles Bill returned to the House of Lords to consider the House of Commons amendments. The House of Commons had proposed 11 amendments to Clauses 40, 43, 89, 93 and 100, as well as amendments to Schedule 1. The Bill has now been passed…
Ofcom has published its draft Children’s Safety Codes of Practice, which sets out how it expects online services to meet their legal responsibilities to protect children online. This is the second key consultation under the Online Safety Act and includes Ofcom’s proposals for how internet services that enable the sharing of user-generated content (user-to-user services)…
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UK law Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 receives Royal Assent The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 has received Royal Assent. It updates the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 with the aim of ensuring that the UK’s investigatory powers framework remains fit for purpose in the face of evolving threats. It follows the Home Secretary’s statutory report…