As the sun rises, a worker prepares for yet another gruelling day at work. For eight hours, their weary eyes confront a barrage of disturbing posts that plunge into the abyss of humanity’s darkest corners: texts, videos and images of suicides, beheadings, explicit sexual acts and other harmful content demand their unwavering attention. They are…
UK government consults on new regulatory framework for product safety
Since issuing a call for evidence in 2021, the UK government has developed proposals for consultation, setting out the next steps in reforming the product safety regulatory framework. It points out that from online marketplaces to connected devices, they way people buy products and the products themselves have gone through huge changes in recent years…
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Amazon offers commitments about Marketplace rules to address CMA concerns
In response to competition concerns raised by the CMA, Amazon has offered commitments not to use Marketplace seller data and to treat all sellers’ offers equally when selecting which to feature in the ‘Buy Box’. The CMA considers that these commitments would ensure third-party sellers’ product offers have a fair chance of being prominently displayed…
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European Commission investigates possible anticompetitive practices by Microsoft regarding Teams
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached UK competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses: Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing….
This Week’s Techlaw News Round-Up
UK law Court of Appeal rules that technical trade secrets should not be disclosed in order after judgment The case arose in the context of a decision by the Patents Court that a patent was valid and infringed. The parties involved had a further dispute about confidentiality issues regarding the order the Court was going…
Electronic Trade Documents Act receives Royal Assent
The Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 has received Royal Assent. The Act is based very closely on a draft Bill published by the Law Commission in March 2022. It allows for the legal recognition of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange in electronic form. It was first introduced into the…
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EDPB informs stakeholders about the implications of the Data Privacy Framework
Transferring data to the US During its latest EDPB plenary, the European Data Protection Board adopted an information note for individuals and entities transferring data to the US. This note aims to provide concise and objective information regarding the impact of the adequacy decision on transfers to the US, the redress mechanisms available under the…
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UK government publishes response on consultation on Online Advertising Programme
The UK government has published its response following its consultation about its Online Advertising Programme. The Online Advertising Programme reviewed the regulatory framework of paid-for online advertising to tackle the “evident lack of transparency and accountability across the whole supply chain”. The government says that there were some clear themes amongst the responses, notably that…
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Lord Communications and Digital Committee makes recommendations on Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
The House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee has set outs its recommendations on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. Its recommendations follow a short inquiry during which the Committee heard evidence from consumer groups, UK tech start-up, big tech firms, the Competition and Markets Authority and ministers. The Committee welcomes the Digital…
Treasury Committee publishes UK government’s response to Regulating Crypto report
The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee has published the UK government’s response to its report on Regulating Crypto, which it published in May. In that report, the Committee called for consumer trading in unbacked crypto to be regulated as gambling. Unbacked cryptoassets or cryptocurrencies are not supported by any underlying asset. They are the…
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