On November 9, 2006, the Minister of Justice, Yvon Marcoux, introduced Bill 48, entitled An Act to amend the Consumer Protection Act and the Act respecting the collection of certain debts (hereinafter, the “Bill”).The Bill is based on the Internet Sales Contract Harmonization Template agreed on by the provinces further to the Agreement on Internal Trade ...
In our July 2006 legal update, we reported on a ground-breaking agreement (Agreement) signed by the Hong Kong and Mainland China Governments, under which they agreed to recognise and enforce judgments made in each others courts. Legislative changes are now underway in Hong Kong in order to implement the Agreement ...
Advocate General Sharpston has recently expressed her opinion in the Commission v Republic of Finland case that ensuring a sufficient degree of transparency for the award of sub-threshold procurements should be determined by national law, rather than Community law. If these views were to be followed by the ECJ, it would provide renewed impetus to create national rules on low value awards and represent a meaningful evolution of the ECJ's past case law ...
Immediate access to the latest data is essential for business. The Internet and other networks ensure that data are readily accessible. But easy access to data carries with it certain risks, including the risk of unauthorised access. According to research by Gartner in 2006, 80 percent of companies will have suffered an application security incident by 2009 ...
Much has been made of the e-communication provisions set out in the new Companies Act 2006. However, less is known of a piece of legislation which came into force on 1 January 2007, the Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006, which affect the electronic communications of every company and limited liability partnership in the UK ...
The U.S. Department of Justice’s revised corporate charging policy, which was named after deputy attorney general Paul McNulty, was unveiled in December 2006. In the wake of its predecessor document, the 2003 Thompson Memo, we have seen a steady increase in the resolution of corporate criminal investigations without indictments or trials ...
WiMax, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a new product developing in Chile that promises to revolutionise Internet access. WiMax allows high speed transmission of data and multimedia services (e.g., the Internet and videos) from laptops, cell phones and other portable devices from distances greater than was possible with previous technologies. According to some preliminary tests, WiMax equipment can reach up to 40 km in open spaces ...
In recent weeks, hefty fines for data breaches have been issued in the United Kingdom and Greece. Surprisingly, these fines have not been levied by data protection authorities, but by other regulators with overlapping jurisdiction over data security. The authors, from Hunton & Williams, write that data protection enforcement in Europe appears to be entering a new phase ...
The development of online markets continues to pose challenges for legislators, who must balance the protection of IP rights owners with protecting traders against anti-competitive behaviour. Trademarks and copyright are particularly vulnerable to infringement on the Internet ...
The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce upholds a strong position as one of the most important centres of international arbitration. The steady growth in the number of cases involving foreign parties that are administered by the Arbitration Institute convincingly demonstrates its worldwide popularity and reputation ...
The main characteristic of Third Generation services (3G) is to permit voice, data and image transmissions at substantially higher speeds than traditional technologies (like 2G and 2.5G). This capability makes 3G the appropriate standard for mobile multimedia applications and wireless broadband data transmissions, allowing subscribers to be connected without interruption to the mobile web ...
The Federal Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Rader and joined by Judges Lourie and Prost, has determined that a termination of a contract for the government’s convenience does not terminate obligations to perform warranty and software upgrade services under the contract. The Court of Federal Claims, in a well-reasoned opinion by Judge Miller, had determined otherwise ...
Civil Dispute Resolution in TaiwanSeptember, 2007ForewordTaiwan is a civil law jurisdiction, and its courts are charged principally with interpreting statutory laws and have limited ability to create new remedies or laws where there is no statutory basis. Civil, criminal, and administrative cases fall under the jurisdiction of separate court systems. In addition to civil litigation, civil disputes can also be handled through arbitration, mediation, or settlement ...
There is a distinct (and dynamic) overlap between competition law and intellectual property rights, no more evident than from the European Commission's investigations into, and the European Court's judgement in, Microsoft. In a similar vein, the Commission is investigating each of Qualcomm and Rambus for potential abuses of a dominant position (through the allegedly unlawful exploitation of IP rights) in the standard setting arena. No doubt buoyed by U.S ...
Minnesota Federal Court finds no coverage under technology errors and omissions policy because claims did not arise out of a “Wrongful Act” as defined in the policy ...
On November 21, 2007, the Supreme Court of British Columbia released the decision of Mr. Justice Vickers in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia(1). The decision dealt with a claim brought by Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, on behalf of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation and the Tsilhqot’in Nation ...
The rule that a party receiving documents in litigation holds them subject to an implied undertaking to use them only in the proceedings in which they were produced has been a fixture of practice in British Columbia since 1995. However, while the rule is easy to state, it often proves more difficult to apply in practice and carries with it the potential for very serious sanctions for breach ...
1 Framework 1.1 When did Germany first liberalise telecommunications networks and/or services? In 1989 the markets for telecommunications end-user devices, data and value added services, satellite and mobile communications were liberalised. The first mobile communications licence was awarded to a private entity in 1989 (Mannesmann Mobilfunk, now Vodafone) ...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Finds that Student Who Was Abused Multiple Times by Fellow Students Was Entitled to Multiple Per-Claim Limits Because Each Assault Was a Separate “Claim”.In Essex Insurance Co. v. Doe, No. 06-7163, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 94 (D.C. Cir. Jan ...
At the beginning of this year the Supreme Court delivered a decision of principle interest regarding a computer software distributor’s right to severance pay (case no. T 930-06). Through the decision, the court has clarified that the Commercial Agency Act (1991:352) ( “Agency Act”) can be applied analogously to marketing and collecting of orders for computer software, despite the fact that computer software does not constitute goods under the act ...
For the first time, the Court of Appeal has rendered a decision on a class action instituted under the Competition Act. A unanimous decision in favour of our client, Toyota Canada Inc. and 37 of its dealers in the Montreal region, was handed down on February 26, 2008 ...
The Internet is a growing medium in the marketing of funds in Hong Kong. However, its use as a distribution channel for funds in Hong Kong is still relatively low. This chapter describes the rules applicable to the use of the Internet in marketing and distributing hedge funds in Hong Kong.There are different considerations for funds authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and for unauthorized funds ...
Electronic commerce started its rapid development approximately 30 years ago, when the era of paperless transactions began. While many business transactions are still executed in paper form, the advantages associated with e-commerce continue to grow, including greater speed, efficiency, traceability, accuracy, and so forth ...
