China adopts new cybersecurity law

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On November 7, 2016, China adopted a new cyber-security law that will come into force in June 2017. The new legislation has received some criticism. According to James Zimmerman, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, “this is a step backwards for innovation in China that won’t do much to improve security.”The law sets “broad restrictions on cross-border data flows” and cybernationalism will not provide “security benefits but will create barriers to Chinese as well Read more [...]

Negli USA l’elenco in rete degli studi legali è un diritto costituzionalmente garantito dalla libertà di stampa

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
Il 12 settembre 2016, un Tribunale federale USA dell'Illinois ha stabilito che la pubblicazione on-line di elenchi contenenti i nomi degli studi legali è protetta ed autorizzata dal Primo Emendamento della Costituzione USA e, inoltre, non viola la legge dell'Illinois che vieta l'uso di identità di terzi a scopi commerciali senza previa autorizzazione. Avvo.com è un sito web che pubblicizza servizi legali e cura un elenco contenente i nominativi degli avvocati negli Stati Uniti. Il ricorrente Read more [...]

Online attorney directories like Avvo protected under the First Amendment, a federal court held

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On September 12, 2016, an Illinois District Court ruled that the publication of online attorney directories is fully protected under the First Amendment and does not violate an Illinois law that prohibits the use of someone’s identity for commercial purposes without permission. In this putative class action, Plaintiff alleged that defendant violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act (“IRPA”), 765 ILCS 1075/1 et seq., by using plaintiff’s identity for commercial purposes without his Read more [...]

EU Digital Clearing House to protect privacy in the age of big data

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On September 23, 2016, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) announced the intention to set up a Digital Clearing House to promote a more coherent enforcement of EU privacy rules. With Opinion 8/2016, Coherent enforcement of fundamental rights in the age of big data, the EDPS drew attention to the “concentration of market power and personal data in fewer and fewer hands, with the internet experience characterized by ‘walled gardens’ and take it-or-leave-it data use policies". The Read more [...]

Offering free WI-FI does not make you liable for illegal downloading of music, the ECJ holds

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On September 15, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") held that the operator of a shop who offers a Wi-Fi network free of charge to the public is not liable for copyright infringements committed by users of that network. [However, he/she may be required to password-protect her network] in order to bring an end to, or prevent, such infringements. In this case, the owner of a shop offered public access to a WI-FI network that was used to unlawfully download music. The Landgericht Read more [...]