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E-commerce
United Kingdom
The UK Gambling Commission has published the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards that licensed remote gambling operators and gambling software operators will need to meet under the Gambling Act 2005, which came into force on September 1 2007. The technical standards will be enforced by the commission on the basis that compliance will be a condition of a remote gambling operating licence.
Information Technology
United Kingdom
One of the most controversial parts of a controversial act has recently come into force. Part III of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 allows public authorities to require an individual to decrypt encrypted data or, more ominously, to disclose the data key.
A company listed on the London Stock Exchange must consider whether IT outsourcing transactions to which it intends to be a party require an announcement or shareholder approval under the rules governing the continuing obligations of listed companies. The UK Listing Authority has provided useful guidance on assessing the applicability of such rules to outsourcing agreements.
USA
The Federal Circuit recently affirmed the invalidity of a software patent for failing to disclose sufficient structure for a control means used in a slot machine that allows a player to select winning combinations. Despite disclosing a general-purpose computer with appropriate programming, the disclosure was insufficient because it failed to describe an algorithm for carrying out the claimed functions.
Quanta Computer: Implied Patent Licensing
Having heard oral arguments in Quanta Computer, Inc v LG Electronics, Inc, the Supreme Court is ready to develop the jurisprudence of patent exhaustion and the first sale doctrine. However, beyond this the case will also serve as a reminder of the need to remain vigilant towards and be aware of the potential for patent licences implied in agreements and through the sale of goods.
Following its successful enforcement of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) against Monsoon Multimedia in one of the first lawsuits of its kind in the United States, the BusyBox team has filed two more lawsuits to enforce the GPL. At issue is whether the defendants complied with the terms of use of the GPL in connection with their use of the plaintiff's BusyBox software.
The first lawsuit was filed recently to enforce the General Public Licence version 2 (GPL2), one of the most widely used of the scores of open-source licences. If it remains contested, this case could provide jurisprudence on important issues such as the legal status of the GPL, the legal basis for pursuing violators and the remedies available.
Final Version of GPL Version 3 Is Released
The Free Software Foundation has released version 3 of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL). GPL3 updates GPL version 2, which has been in use since 1991. Since that date, significant changes have occurred with respect to, among other things, the development of digital rights management tools and the number of other open-source licences available. GPL3 takes these developments into account.
An Introduction to Offshoring
Globalization has had a major impact on the services market. It has generated a need for service delivery in remote locations and for global rather than regional platforms, while also creating extreme pressure to provide services from low-cost facilities. Increasingly, companies are looking offshore for the answers to these new demands.
