On November 10, 2012, the German working group on technical and organizational data protection matters published guidelines (in German) on the technical and organizational separation requirements for automated data processing on shared IT systems (the “Guidelines”). The working group is part of the Conference of the German Data Protection Commissioners, which recently concluded its 84th Conference in Frankfurt (Oder) ...
On October 30, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled that an opt-out confirmation text sent by Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. (“Citibank”) did not violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Under a “common sense” interpretation, the court determined that Citibank’s opt-out text does not demonstrate the type of invasion of privacy the TCPA seeks to prevent ...
On October 15, 2012, IOGA-WV, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (“IPAA”) and five other state-level oil and gas associations filed suit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) promulgated for the oil and natural gas industry on August 16, 2012 ...
As Denmark is situated between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the prevailing weather conditions suggest that wind power should constitute a major part of the country's total power production. While onshore wind turbines have dominated the Danish landscape for decades, offshore wind turbine parks have been erected in Danish waters in recent years ...
B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake and Energy, Mines and Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman refused to issue an Environmental Assessment Certificate (“EAC”) to Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. for its proposed Morrison Copper/Gold Mine project near Smithers, at the headwaters of the Skeena River ...
BackgroundIndustrial activities are of great importance to Europe’s financial wealth. Industrial emissions, however, cause environmental pollution and industrial emissions constitute a major part of Europe’s total emissions to air, water and soil. Consequently, there is a need for regulation of industrial operations at an EU level.In view hereof the so-called IPPC Directive (Integrated Pollution Prevention Control) was adopted in 1996 ...
Even a cursory review of relevant news stories today reveals that hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is one of the most hotly debated subjects in the energy sector. Both environmentalists and regulators are keeping concerns about fracking at the forefront of their agendas. Since late May of this year, there have been a number of key legal developments related to the issue that merit the attention of the oil and gas industry ...
As of January 1, 2013, Quebec and California will emerge as the first two Western Climate Initiative (WCI) Partners to create a carbon market that imposes binding targets on businesses identified as major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters ...
Few may rebate that internet, is majorly responsible for most of the mayor changes in the past fifteen years in fields such as science, communications, technology, commerce amongst other being necessary to adapt the legal system regulating it. Honduras has not been the exception in this modernization process regardless of the civil code nature of its legal system which is not as adaptable as common law systems are ...
Introduction Title and date of national law The Act on the protection of privacy in relation to the processing of personal data of December 8,1992 (the 'Data Protection Act' or 'DPA') and its Royal Decree of February 13, 2001. Relation with international instruments The DPA implements EU Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals regarding the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data ...
CLS Bank and Bancorp: Back to Back Federal Circuit Decisions Offer Different Conclusions on Patentability 08/03/2012 Richard D. Rochford, Casey H. Kempner The issue of whether particular inventions include “patent eligible” subject matter under § 101 of the patent statute has become highly controversial in recent years, raising questions with high economic stakes and profound legal and philosophical implications. Twice the Supreme Court has entered the fray, first in Bilski v ...
There have been two important developments in British Columbia’s wind energy sector in June. The first was the release of BC Hydro’s Draft Integrated Resource Plan (Draft IRP) for public consultation. The Draft IRP recommends building new clean generation resources to ensure sufficient future capacity within the system ...
Pursuant to statutory changes enacted in its 2011 Sunset Review, the TCEQ has created a website that allows companies and persons subject to its regulations to review the agency’s proposed compliance history rating, for a 30-day period prior to that rating being made available to the public ...
In what has been described as a “sweeping victory” for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision on June 26, 2012 in lawsuits that challenged various aspects of the Agency’s regulatory scheme for greenhouse gases (GHGs). EPA’s challenged actions stem from a decision by the U. S. Supreme Court in 2007 in the case of Massachusetts v ...
Creators of software programs may not be able to prevent the resale of 'used' copies of software programs legitimately paid for and downloaded by their own customers from the internet.It follows a recent Opinion from Advocate General Yves Bot, a legal adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in Axel W. Bierbach (liquidator of UsedSoft GmbH) v Oracle International Corp ...
The Supreme Court makes clear that a party that has started to clean up contamination caused by another party is also deemed to be a business operator. This gives rise to joint and several liability for the original contamination. The fact that remedial work was intended to reduce the environmental impact is of no importance. Background A company which was later incorporated into JM Värmdöstrand (“JM”) operated a casting works from the 1940s to the 1980s on a site in Oxelösund ...
If you are in the oil and gas industry and you’ve experienced the recent onslaught of enforcement actions, particularly in the Appalachian basin, by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) you may take comfort in the aphorism: “You’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you!” A simple Google search of “EPA III Enforcement” and a click on the “Natural Gas Extraction/Marcellus Shale” link at the EPA Region III website should cause any company concern ...
After several delays, ICANN has published the list of generic top level domain (“gTLD” or “string”) applicants and the gTLDs they have applied for. This new initiative from ICANN will allow a wide variety of entities to act as registrars for gTLDs of their choosing. Once these systems are up and running, consumers will be able to access websites not only ending with .com or .net, but also ending with .NETFLIX, .AOL, and .PIZZA. The list can be found at:http://newgtlds.icann ...
In the great George Orwell novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” the Ministry of Truth is a vast bureaucracy that ironically exists to falsify historical events in the service of political ideology. Its headquarters is an 80-story building of 3,000 rooms, and its outside walls bear the words “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” and “Ignorance is Strength ...
On 23 February 2012, Government Regulation No. 27 of 2012 on Environmental Licenses (“GR 27/2012”) was issued to regulate AMDAL, UPL & UKL, and the contamination and destruction of the environment. GR 27/2012 is the implementing regulation for Articles 33, 41, and 56 of Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management which replaced Government Regulation No. 27 of 1999 on Environmental Impact Analysis ...
New law regarding the use of cookies on websites was introduced in the UK in May last year. Broadly speaking, the new law requires a website owner/operator to: - tell users that cookies are used on its website; - explain to users what the cookies are doing; and - obtain users’ explicit consent to store cookies on their device. The Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing this new law ...
For the past two years so-called 'monster rain' has hit Copenhagen in summer. The rain has flooded large areas in Copenhagen and neighbouring towns, and caused substantial damage to properties in the flooded areas, as well as closing major radial routes into Copenhagen. This update examines the ways in which the authorities intend to prevent damage caused by monster rain in future ...
Energy security is ability of the State to choose how and under what conditions local consumers are to be provided with energy and energy resources. This ability is mainly determined by alternatives for usage of local energy sources, diversified imports, integrity of energy systems, and market-based formation of energy prices ...
On 1 March 2012, Google launched a new privacy policy by consolidating over 60 of its global privacy policies into one document. The new privacy policy does not indicate that Google will collect any new or additional data about users. What it does do, however, is inform people that Google will merge data which it already collects from services such as YouTube and Web History (which records all searches performed on Google ...
