In Intel Corporation v VIA Technologies (20 December 2002) [2002] EWCA Civ 1905, the Court of Appeal handed down a decision dealing substantively with the tension between intellectual property rights and competition law. The case considers the inherent rights of a patent holder, and in what circumstances those rights may be qualified or fettered by competition law. Pat Treacy of Bristows reflects on the judgment….
Automated Registration of Title
Ian A Davis, Director of Legal Services at the Registers of Scotland Executive Agency, describes the giant strides made towards automatic registration in Scotland….
SAM v Hedley’s: The TCC answers the Court of Appeal in Watford Electronics
Two cases have come out of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) in recent weeks reversing what for many had seemed to be a run of success for users against IT suppliers. In particular, when it came to applying the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) to exclusions and limitations of liability, IT suppliers were prone to fare badly. This note from Richard Stephens reports on the recent case of SAM Business Systems Limited v Hedley and Company [2002] EWHC 2733 (TCC), a decision of Judge Bowsher QC. *This article will look at two principal issues in the judgment: the presence of bugs and their legal implications and limitations and exclusions of liability in the light of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977….
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Child Pornography on the Internet: Recent Legal Developments
In the wake of the nationwide Operation Ore Angus Hamilton looks at recent developments in the regulation of child pornography on the Internet….
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Editorial
It was a real pleasure for me to be able to attend the SCL Award Ceremony this year. I apologise most humbly to anybody who followed my tips for selecting the winner, although I never heard of any large wagers. As most will know by now, Professor Richard Susskind OBE presented the SCL Award 2003…
Letter to the Editor
Simon Vallor has been sentenced to two years in prison for writing and releasing the Gokar and other viruses. Before we join the jubilation of the computer security industry, should we not ask some questions?a) Our judicial leaders urge that space in our overcrowded prisons be reserved for those who are violent or unreformable. Would…
SCL IT Award Finalists
The shortlist for the SCL IT Award has been announced. Laurence Eastham contacted the runners; he gives a brief description of each and comments on their chances for those stopping off at Ladbrokes on the way to the ceremony….
Dinner in Honour of Alan Brakefield
After 29 years as Treasurer of the Society for Computers & Law, Alan Brakefield is retiring from that post. A dinner was held in his honour at the House of Lords on Tuesday 17 December….
The e-Summit
On 19 September 2002, over 400 delegates gathered in London for the e-Summit organised by the Office of the e-Envoy. The e-Summit was presented as the first event of its kind by Jeremy Vine of BBC’s Newsnight, who acted as host for the day. The aim of this meticulously organised and spectacularly staged event was…
Letter to the Editor
I thought Ben Coppin’s article on the online sale of prescription drugs (C&L 13/4) was very interesting but the assertion that the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) has not prosecuted a single case under the Medicines Act 1968 is not correct. The site www.mca.gov.uk/ourwork/enforcemedleg/prosecutions.htm contains details of the recent prosecutions brought by the MCA. The MCA…