Thursday, 28 April 2016
Telecommunications Act 1984 s.94
Telecommunications Act 1984: "The Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of every direction given under this section unless he is of opinion that disclosure of the direction is against the interests of national security or relations with the government of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, or the commercial interests of any person." 'via Blog this'
TRILCon 2016 - Winchester, as discussed by Dr Townend
TRILCon 2016: "“Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.”
The flow of information can be fundamental to building trust, assessing risks, understanding rights and enforcing law.
Information (Big and small) can enable consumers to understand how their personal data will be shared: a social worker to identify a child at risk of abuse; the police to make a connection between a terrorist and a ‘clean skin’.
There are those who would argue that all information, including personal and even sensitive data, should be shared more freely and openly, and that risks of doing so are overstated.
However, an aspect of power is control, an ability to decide when, how and with whom information should be disclosed. Technology has given power to some and taken it away from others, yet could technology contribute to restoring an information balance? And how does the law need to change in order to address the power of information in this technological age?
We are delighted that both the Information Commissioner’s Office and the UK’s Digital Catapult will be working with the 2016 TRILCon organisers to oversee and chair workshops/breakout sessions." 'via Blog this'
The flow of information can be fundamental to building trust, assessing risks, understanding rights and enforcing law.
Information (Big and small) can enable consumers to understand how their personal data will be shared: a social worker to identify a child at risk of abuse; the police to make a connection between a terrorist and a ‘clean skin’.
There are those who would argue that all information, including personal and even sensitive data, should be shared more freely and openly, and that risks of doing so are overstated.
However, an aspect of power is control, an ability to decide when, how and with whom information should be disclosed. Technology has given power to some and taken it away from others, yet could technology contribute to restoring an information balance? And how does the law need to change in order to address the power of information in this technological age?
We are delighted that both the Information Commissioner’s Office and the UK’s Digital Catapult will be working with the 2016 TRILCon organisers to oversee and chair workshops/breakout sessions." 'via Blog this'
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
2016/2007(INI) 23.2.2016 DRAFT REPORT on virtual currencies
2016/2007(INI)
23.2.2016
DRAFT REPORT
on virtual currencies
(2016/2007(INI))
Committee on Economic and Monetary AffairsRapporteur: Jakob von Weizsäcker
Theresa May Wants Us To Leave The European Convention On Human Rights
Theresa May Wants Us To Leave The European Convention On Human Rights - RightsInfo:
"I also know that others will say there is little point in leaving the ECHR if we remain members of the EU, with its Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Court of Justice. And I am no fan of the Charter or of many of the rulings made by the Court.
But there are several problems that do apply to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, yet do not apply to the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Strasbourg is in effect a final appeals court; Luxembourg has no such role. Strasbourg can issue orders preventing the deportation of foreign nationals; Luxembourg has no such power. Unlike the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Treaties are clear: “national security,” they say, “remains the sole responsibility of each Member State.” " 'via Blog this'
"I also know that others will say there is little point in leaving the ECHR if we remain members of the EU, with its Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Court of Justice. And I am no fan of the Charter or of many of the rulings made by the Court.
But there are several problems that do apply to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, yet do not apply to the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Strasbourg is in effect a final appeals court; Luxembourg has no such role. Strasbourg can issue orders preventing the deportation of foreign nationals; Luxembourg has no such power. Unlike the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Treaties are clear: “national security,” they say, “remains the sole responsibility of each Member State.” " 'via Blog this'
Arch-rivals Microsoft & Google call truce and agree to end lawsuits
Arch-rivals Microsoft & Google call truce and agree to end lawsuits - Computer Business Review: "In September 2015, Microsoft and Google agreed to end their patent dispute over phones and Xboxes. With this arrangement, around 20 lawsuits in the United States and Germany were dropped.
Another major issue that Microsoft charged Google with was the way in which the search giant allegedly favoured its own search engine results, ranking down the results of competitors in vertical search results.
Not just Microsoft was involved in the 2010 European Commission lawsuit, with other companies such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, Expedia and Nokia also complaining against Google's Android operating system for deceptively locking out competition.
Microsoft was a member of two groups, ICOMP and FairSearch, which were fighting against Google Android for its antitrust actions over its search business. It withdrew its membership from these groups before sorting issues with Google." 'via Blog this'
Another major issue that Microsoft charged Google with was the way in which the search giant allegedly favoured its own search engine results, ranking down the results of competitors in vertical search results.
Not just Microsoft was involved in the 2010 European Commission lawsuit, with other companies such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, Expedia and Nokia also complaining against Google's Android operating system for deceptively locking out competition.
Microsoft was a member of two groups, ICOMP and FairSearch, which were fighting against Google Android for its antitrust actions over its search business. It withdrew its membership from these groups before sorting issues with Google." 'via Blog this'
Monday, 25 April 2016
Privacy International v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs et al. Case No. IPT/15/110/CH
Bulk Personal Datasets Challenge | Privacy International: "Privacy International v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs et al.
Reference: Case No. IPT/15/110/CH
Venue: Investigatory Powers Tribunal
Commenced: 08.06.2015
Hearing date: July 2016 Investigatory Powers Tribunal" 'via Blog this'
Reference: Case No. IPT/15/110/CH
Venue: Investigatory Powers Tribunal
Commenced: 08.06.2015
Hearing date: July 2016 Investigatory Powers Tribunal" 'via Blog this'
Friday, 22 April 2016
European Commission Press release - Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook
European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook: "The Commission’s investigation focused on three areas: (i) consumer communications services, (ii) social networking services, and (iii) online advertising services.
As regards consumer communications services, the Commission focussed its assessment on apps for smartphones, as WhatsApp is not available for other devices. The Commission found that Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are not close competitors. Indeed, despite the fact that Facebook Messenger is a standalone app, the user experience is specific given its integration with the Facebook social network. For WhatsApp, access to the service is provided through phone numbers while for Facebook Messenger, a Facebook profile is required. Users seem to use the two apps in different ways and many of them use the two apps simultaneously on the same mobile handset. Furthermore, this is a very dynamic market with several competing apps available on the market, such as Line, Viber, iMessage, Telegram, WeChat and Google Hangouts.
The consumer communications apps market is characterised by network effects, that is to say the value of the service to its users increases with the number of other users. Network effects may allow the entity which enjoys a large network to keep its competitors out of the market. Given their popularity, both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger already have large customer bases. However, a number of factors mitigate the network effects in this particular case. Indeed, the Commission found that the consumer communications apps market is fast growing and characterised by short innovation cycles in which market positions are often reshuffled. Moreover, launching a new app is fairly easy and does not require significant time and investment. Finally, customers can and do use multiple apps at the same time and can easily switch from one to another.
As regards social networking services, the market investigation showed that their boundaries are continuously evolving. Some third parties suggested that WhatsApp is already a social network which competes with Facebook. However, the Commission found that the parties are, if anything, distant competitors in this area, in particular given a substantially richer experience offered by Facebook. Moreover, there is a large number of alternative service providers, including other consumer communications apps, such as Line and WeChat. Further, even in the event of an integration between WhatsApp and Facebook such that Facebook's position in social networking services could be strengthened, the net gain in terms of new members of the social network would be limited, since the user base of WhatsApp already overlaps to a significant extent with that of Facebook. Hence, no matter what the precise boundaries of the market for social networking services are and whether or not WhatsApp is considered a social network, competition is unlikely to be negatively affected by the merger for such services." 'via Blog this'
As regards consumer communications services, the Commission focussed its assessment on apps for smartphones, as WhatsApp is not available for other devices. The Commission found that Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are not close competitors. Indeed, despite the fact that Facebook Messenger is a standalone app, the user experience is specific given its integration with the Facebook social network. For WhatsApp, access to the service is provided through phone numbers while for Facebook Messenger, a Facebook profile is required. Users seem to use the two apps in different ways and many of them use the two apps simultaneously on the same mobile handset. Furthermore, this is a very dynamic market with several competing apps available on the market, such as Line, Viber, iMessage, Telegram, WeChat and Google Hangouts.
The consumer communications apps market is characterised by network effects, that is to say the value of the service to its users increases with the number of other users. Network effects may allow the entity which enjoys a large network to keep its competitors out of the market. Given their popularity, both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger already have large customer bases. However, a number of factors mitigate the network effects in this particular case. Indeed, the Commission found that the consumer communications apps market is fast growing and characterised by short innovation cycles in which market positions are often reshuffled. Moreover, launching a new app is fairly easy and does not require significant time and investment. Finally, customers can and do use multiple apps at the same time and can easily switch from one to another.
As regards social networking services, the market investigation showed that their boundaries are continuously evolving. Some third parties suggested that WhatsApp is already a social network which competes with Facebook. However, the Commission found that the parties are, if anything, distant competitors in this area, in particular given a substantially richer experience offered by Facebook. Moreover, there is a large number of alternative service providers, including other consumer communications apps, such as Line and WeChat. Further, even in the event of an integration between WhatsApp and Facebook such that Facebook's position in social networking services could be strengthened, the net gain in terms of new members of the social network would be limited, since the user base of WhatsApp already overlaps to a significant extent with that of Facebook. Hence, no matter what the precise boundaries of the market for social networking services are and whether or not WhatsApp is considered a social network, competition is unlikely to be negatively affected by the merger for such services." 'via Blog this'
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