IP crime data for 2007 published

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published an interim report covering intellectual property (IP) crime data for 2007. The last IP crime report, which was published in December 2007, included IP crime data from 2006 (see Legal update, Government publishes 2007 intellectual property crime report). The IPO is to change the reporting period for the annual crime report from a calendar year basis to April to March, to follow the financial year, and this interim report will be included as an annex to the 2008/09 report. The interim report contains data from a number of sources, including a UK survey on film and television piracy, a study on the amount of unlicensed software in the EU, UK court statistics on IP cases, and data from a European Commission report on customs activities in relation to counterfeiting and piracy. Source: IPO press release, 9 January 2009.

EDPS issues second opinion on amendment of E-Privacy Directive

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has published a second opinion on the proposed amendments to the E-Privacy Directive (2002/58/EC). The opinion analyses and compares the positions put forward by the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, and includes a number of recommendations. Among other things, the EDPS continues to support the adoption of a security breach notification scheme under which national regulators and individuals will be notified when individuals' personal data has been compromised. He also reiterates many of the suggestions made in his first opinion relating to the scope of the Directive and the right of legal persons (including consumer associations) to bring legal action against service providers for infringement of the Directive. Compared to his original opinion, the EDPS has taken great care to spell out in more detail the specific reasons for his original recommendations, taking on board many of the points that have been made by the three European legislators since the first opinion was published. Read more.

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