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New consumer protection rules for mobile apps and digital content purchases
Good news for purchasers of apps and other digital content, such as films, music and games. Hidden in amongst the detail of last week’s Queen’s Speech, the Government announced plans to introduce new laws to protect consumers that purchase mobile apps and digital content such as films, m...New rules on payment surcharges in consumer contracts
At the end of last year, the Government implemented Article 19 of the Consumer Rights Directive through the new Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012. These regulations aim to address ‘above-cost’ payment surcharges made by traders. Payment surcharges (where a trader impo...European Parliament approves new consumer dispute resolution procedures
The European Parliament recently confirmed its adoption of the European Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). The ODR is intended to establish an EU-wide online platform to quickly and efficiently handle consumer disputes arising from online tra...CNIL v Google – one directive and 27 data protection laws
Today’s announcement from the French data protection regulator, CNIL, highlights one of the problems with the current Euroopean data protection regime for businesses that operate across the EU. One data protection directive; 27 data protection laws Whilst European data protection laws are deri...Consumer law – where can I sue?
In a recent case the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that consumers can sue in the member state in which they are domiciled, where the party that they are suing is domiciled in another member state, and the contract was not “concluded at a distance.” This latter phrase was give...IPR infringement and mobile apps – why Apple provides an online reporting tool
Last week’s iOS Dev Weekly email contained an item on the online facility provided by Apple to allow you to report alleged IPR infringement issues with apps on the App Store: …If you are having copyright or trademark issues [or in fact any other IPR] with your app Apple now have a dedica...iHard: Bruce Willis and ownership of downloaded content
It seems that last week’s widely-repeated story that Bruce Willis was preparing to sue Apple for ownership of songs downloaded from iTunes was unverified and probably untrue. Journalists can be forgiven for hedging their bets however, as resale of digital assets a complex subject. In fact, y...ICO investigation highlights importance of information security to brand reputation
The story earlier this week about the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) investigation into concerns over the security of user passwords for the tesco.com website is a timely reminder that information security is an evolving area, and one that organisations need to keep under constant review. Th...Law Commissions launch consultation on reform of consumer protection laws
The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission have today launched a joint consultation on proposals to protect consumers from “unfair terms hidden in small print.” The law in this area was last substantively updated in 1999, when the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations we...Reselling “used” software licences – what does the Oracle decision allow you to do?
Last week, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) published its decision in a long-running German case between a company called UsedSoft and the US software giant Oracle. The case hit the headlines because the ECJ held that a software company such as Oracle could not stop a licensee from reselling his ...