JISC Legal News
The latest legal news relevant to the use of ICT in UK Further and Higher Education

• New British Standard on Evidence of Electronic Information
  British Standards (BSI) has published a new standard BS10008 also called the Evidential Weight and Legal Admissibility of Electronic Information.
• Scottish Companies Settle Unlicensed Software Claim
  Two companies in Scotland have paid exorbitant amounts of money to settle claims from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) that it did not provide enough licences to cover the computers used in their office.
• Racial Slurs Mar Facebook Use
  Anti-racist groups in Australia have voiced fierce criticism against the social networking tool Facebook for allowing offensive racist groups to populate racial postings through the website.
• DotScot Domains for Scots
  The First Minister of Scotland has emphasised the need for Scotland to have a ".scot" or ".sco" domain to reflect the Scottish identity, economy and culture.
• Watchdog Seeks Action for Bullying Filesharers
  The consumer watchdog, Which is seeking action against a law firm claimed to be bullying file sharers.
• From 50 to 70 years for Sound Recording Copyright
  The Government is thinking of extending the term of copyright for sound recordings from 50 to 70 years.
• WCAG 2.0 Published
  Following further development an updated version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 was recently published.
• Wikipedia Blacklisted
  The ever popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia was blacklisted by the Internet Watch Foundation and blocked by a number of ISPs last weekend for distributing child porn.
• Animation of IPR in the Web 2.0 World
  JISC has launched an animation on the intellectual property rights issues in the Web 2.0 world.
• Data Protection Implications of Education and Skills Act
  The Education and Skills Act received royal assent 26 November 2008
• New Draft Standard for Accessible Websites
  A draft version of a new British Standard Building accessible experiences for disabled people was recently released for public comment.
• Institutions and Adword Marketing
  The recent case brought by the flower delivery firm Interflora against Marks and Spencer at the High Court in London provides a useful lesson even for institutions.
• PirateBay Blocked in Denmark
  Following a complaint by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) a Danish court has instructed Tele2, a major ISP in Denmark, to block access to the PirateBay website.
• Web 2.0 - Liability and Law - And the Winner Is...
  Following the JISC Legal Web 2.0 series of Workshops for Senior Managers we're pleased to announce that Paul Maddock, Information Services Manager Warwickshire College, is the winner of the draw for a new Apple iPod nano 8GB.
• Battling Unauthorised Music Downloads
  The US state Tennessee has put in place a new law to prevent unauthorised music downloads through campus networks.
• New Data Sharing Code of Practice Proposed
  The Ministry of Justice has published the UK government response to the Data Sharing Review which includes proposals for a new data sharing Code of Practice.
• Existing Publication Schemes Expire 31 December 2008
  Public authorities are reminded that existing publication schemes registered with the Information Commissioner will expire on 31 December 2008
• New Offence of Possession of Extreme Pornographic Images
  The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which is due to come into force on 26th January 2009, introduces a new offence, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland of the possession of extreme pornographic images.
• New Tougher Powers for Information Commissioner
  The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is to be given tougher powers to regulate the Data Protection Act under new proposals.
• MP Loses Out over Blog
  Labour MP, Paul Flynn, has been denied part of his communications allowance due to comments that he made on his blog about fellow MPs.
• PM Speaks Out on NASA Hacker
  Last week Gordon Brown made his first public comments on the case of Gary McKinnon, the British hacker who faces extradition to the US.
• Data Handling Guidelines
  New practical guidelines are available aimed at helping Local Government get to grips with how it handles personal data, and reducing the rising tide of data security breaches.
• Finding Copyright Cleared Images
  A tutorial has been created by TASI (the JISC Advisory service for Digital Media) and Intute - as part of the Intute - Virtual Training Suite to assist in finding copyright cleared images, quickly and efficiently.
• ICO Publishes Guidance on FOI Exemptions
  The Information CommissionerÂ’s Office has produced three sets of guidance on when it is acceptable for public authorities to keep information a secret despite Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for its release.
• European Commission Launches Consultation on Network Security
  The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how it can strengthen network and information security in Europe.
• Copyright Infringement and Flickr
  A famous beer company has found themselves at the midst of a copyright infringement claim after having used pictures from the photo sharing website Flickr for purposes of sponsorship.
• Legal and Illegal Tube
  The very popular video sharing website, You Tube is in talk with one of the Hollywood studios to host full length legal movies on the website.
• Computer Usage Data Protected by Data Protection Laws
  A person does not have to be identifiable by name for details of their computer usage to be protected by data protection laws.
• Happy Staff News at JISC Legal
  JISC Legal is pleased to announce that John X Kelly, who has been with JISC Legal since 2001, is now working in the promoted post of Principal Legal Information Specialist.
• New Body to Represent the Music Industry
  UK Music was launched at the end of October.
• BERR Consultation on Illicit P2P File-sharing
  The consultation period for the investigation into legislative options to address illicit P2P file-sharing closed on 30 October 2008.
• Virgin Staff Dismissed over Facebook Comments
  Virgin Atlantic has sacked thirteen members of its cabin crew due to comments that they posted on social networking site Facebook.
• Google Settles Copyright Concerns
  Google has settled a two year battle against authors and publishers that claimed Google infringed the copyright of the latter parties by digitising books, excerpts and by sharing digital copies.
• Court Rules on Linking to Defamatory Material
  The Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada has ruled that a publisher who only creates links to defamatory material is not liable for defamation
• Join the Team at JISC Legal
  JISC Legal is currently recruiting for a further Legal Information Specialist / Principal Legal Information Specialist.
• Websites Must Provide Further Contact Details
  The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that companies must provide additional contact details on their websites such as a te