Gordon Brown phone-hacking inquiry halted by civil service – The Guardian

Posted April 11th, 2011 in inquiries, interception, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, blocked an attempt by Gordon Brown before the general election to hold a judicial inquiry into allegations that the News of the World had hacked into the phones of cabinet ministers and other high-profile figures.”

Full story

The Guardian, 10th April 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Telefónica Móviles España SA v Administración del Estado, Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones – WLR Daily

Posted March 25th, 2011 in competition, EC law, fees, law reports, telecommunications by sally

Telefónica Móviles España SA v Administración del Estado, Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones (Case C-85/10);  [2011] WLR (D)  102

“National legislation that provided for a fee to be levied on operators of telecommunications services holding individual licences for the use of radio frequencies, but which did not allocate a specific use to the income derived from that fee, and which significantly increased the fee for a particular technology, was not precluded by article 11(2) of Directive 97/13/EC.”

WLR Daily, 10th March 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Phone hacking: Met and DPP clash over legal advice on stolen voicemails – The Guardian

“The phone-hacking scandal has spilled over into an extraordinary public clash between the Metropolitan police and the director of public prosecutions, with each side implying the other has misled parliament.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th March 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Tessa Jowell goes to court to find out who hacked into her phone – The Independent

Posted March 18th, 2011 in disclosure, interception, news, telecommunications by sally

“Former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell has begun legal proceedings which could see her name added to the list of public figures suing the News of the World for alleged phone hacking.”

Full story

The Independent, 18th March 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

New investigations regime will accompany new premium rate code, says regulator – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 11th, 2011 in consumer protection, news, telecommunications by sally

“The way premium phone rate companies are investigated for breaches of the industry code will be changed this spring, regulator PhonepayPlus (PPP) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th March 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Rollover contracts with leaving penalties to be banned, says Ofcom – OUT-Law.com

Posted March 11th, 2011 in consumer protection, news, telecommunications, unfair contract terms by sally

“Telecoms firms will be banned from automatically signing customers up to renewed contracts with minimum contract periods, telecoms regulator has said. It said that 15% of home phone users are tied into such contracts.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th March 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Ofcom will assess UK’s networks from March until May to comply with DEA – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 10th, 2011 in consumer protection, internet, news, reports, telecommunications by sally

“Telecoms regulator Ofcom will assess the quality of the UK’s telecoms networks for a two month period before delivering its first infrastructure report to the Government in August, it has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 9th March 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

High Court extends ability to strip people of right not to self-incriminate – OUT-LAW.com

“People accused of misusing confidential commercial or technical information have lost the right to avoid self-incrimination in court cases, following a High Court ruling.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 3rd March 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Coogan v Same – WLR Daily

Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another; Coogan v Same [2011] EWHC 349 (Ch); [2011] WLR (D) 65

“The words ‘technical or commercial information’ in the definition of ‘intellectual property’ in section 72(5) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, section 72 (1) of which provided for the withdrawal of privilege against self or spousal incrimination in proceedings for, inter alia, infringement of rights pertaining to any intellectual property, meant technical or commercial information which could be protected by action.”

WLR Daily, 28th February 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Phone-hacking libel claim contested by Metropolitan police – The Guardian

Posted February 28th, 2011 in defamation, documents, interception, news, police, telecommunications by sally

“Scotland Yard is to contest a lawsuit that could establish the true number of victims in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Phone hacking: now judge tells police to stop protecting names – The Independent

Posted February 25th, 2011 in disclosure, interception, news, police, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“The likelihood of further News of the World (NotW) journalists being dragged into the phone-hacking scandal increased yesterday when a judge ruled that names believed to belong to the paper’s employees should no longer be blanked out on key documents.”

Full story

The Independent, 25th February 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Law in Action – BBC Radio 4

Posted February 23rd, 2011 in extradition, internet, news, telecommunications by sally

“The attempt to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden has raised several legal issues. In the first of the new series Joshua Rozenberg asks whether Julian Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens overstepped the mark by declaring the innocence of his client. He asks the United States legal representative in the UK, Amy Jeffress, if the extradition arrangements between the US and UK need changing and he looks at whether the media should be tweeting from court.”

iPlayer link

BBC Radio 4, 22nd February 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Phone hacking: police hand over evidence they claimed did not exist – The Guardian

Posted February 18th, 2011 in evidence, interception, news, police, telecommunications by sally

“The Metropolitan police have been accused of misleading behaviour in the phone-hacking scandal after handing over evidence they had twice claimed did not exist.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

High court judge criticises police failure to fully investigate phone hacking – The Guardian

Posted February 15th, 2011 in interception, media, news, police, telecommunications by sally

“A high court judge has criticised the Metropolitan police for failing to adequately investigate allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World.”

Full story

The Guardian, 15th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Twitter era of court reporting is here, despite the risk of prejudice – The Guardian

Posted February 10th, 2011 in consultations, internet, juries, news, telecommunications by sally

“Is there a legitimate demand for the use of live, text-based communications from the courtroom? That’s one of the questions that the Judicial Office for England and Wales is asking in a new consultation paper.”

Full story

The Guardian, 9th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Twitter messages not private, rules PCC – The Guardian

Posted February 8th, 2011 in internet, media, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“The Press Complaints Commission ruled on Tuesday that information posted on Twitter should be considered public and publishable by newspapers after it cleared the Daily Mail and Independent on Sunday of breaching privacy guidelines.”

Full story

The Guardian, 8th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Consultation on Live, Text-Based Communications from Court – Judiciary of England and Wales

Posted February 8th, 2011 in consultations, internet, news, telecommunications by sally

“On behalf of the Lord Chief Justice, the Judicial Office for England and Wales has issued a consultation paper on the use of live, text-based communications from court for the purposes of fair and accurate reporting.”

Full story

Judiciary of England and Wales, 7th February 2010

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Supreme Court to allow tweeting – The Independent

Posted February 4th, 2011 in internet, news, Supreme Court, telecommunications by sally

“Tweeting is to be allowed from hearings at the highest court in the land, it was announced today (3 February).”

Full story

The Independent, 3rd February 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Supreme Court issues guidance on courtroom twitter use – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 3rd, 2011 in internet, news, Supreme Court, telecommunications by sally

“The Supreme Court has today given the ‘green light’ to allow people to ‘tweet’ from inside the courtroom. It has issued guidance on the use of live text-based communication by legal teams, journalists and members of the public of what is going on in court.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette. 3rd February 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Phone hacking: PCC sets up working group – The Guardian

Posted February 1st, 2011 in interception, media, news, telecommunications by sally

“The Press Complaints Commission is setting up a working group to ‘draw together lessons learned’ from the new police investigation and various legal cases relating to the News of the World phone-hacking affair.”

Full story

The Guardian, 31st January 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk