Electronic commerce started its rapid development approximately 30 years ago, when the era of paperless transactions began. While many business transactions are still executed in paper form, the advantages associated with e-commerce continue to grow, including greater speed, efficiency, traceability, accuracy, and so forth ...
In one of the first decisions in Quebec since the landmark Domtar case(1), the Québec Court of Appeal has refined the parameters of the liability of a professional vendor and of a manufacturer for a latent defect. In this case,(2), Joseph Élie Limitée (“Élie”) had sold an oil tank manufactured by Réservoirs d’acier Granby (“Granby”), and supplied the oil to its customer, who was insured by Federation Insurance Company of Canada (“Federation”) ...
In one of the first decisions in Quebec since the landmark Domtar case(1), the Québec Court of Appeal has refined the parameters of the liability of a professional vendor and of a manufacturer for a latent defect. In this case,(2), Joseph Élie Limitée (“Élie”) had sold an oil tank manufactured by Réservoirs d’acier Granby (“Granby”), and supplied the oil to its customer, who was insured by Federation Insurance Company of Canada (“Federation”) ...
One more lengthy battle in a legal saga has just come to an end. Indeed, on June 4, 2008, the Court, comprised of Quebec’s Chief Justice, Michel Robert, and Justices Jacques Chamberland and Louis Rochette, rendered a unanimous judgment.(1)To set the stage, consider a salmonella outbreak in Abitibi, some premature deaths, dozens of persons poisoned, three producing farms.. ...
The increasing number of recalls of consumer products in recent years is indicative of a trend that has raised concerns for governmental authorities. In response, the Canadian government announced, on April 8, 2008, a reform of the existing legislation to strengthen the protection of human health and safety. The first step was the introduction of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (Bill C-52) and the second, the reform (Bill C-51) of the Food and Drugs Act (R.S.C ...
The Court of Appeal (CA) judgment in Symbian Limited v Comptroller General of Patents (2008) EWCA Civ 1066 was issued on 8 October. This has upheld a High Court decision to overrule the UK Intellectual Property Office's (UK-IPO) rejection of a computer program on a conventional computer as non-patentable ...
By decision rendered June 25, 2008, in K. B. & UAB Restoranu Grupe FORTAS v. AB Ragutis (Case No 3K-3-160/2008), the Supreme Court of Lithuania ruled that a component of a trademark that infringes an author’s copyright may not be disclaimed in the trademark registration.The plaintiffs, K. B. and UAB Restoranu Grupe FORTAS, sued one of the oldest breweries in Lithuania, AB Ragutis, for copyright infringement ...
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia ("GOI") understands that Indonesia is becoming part of the globalization of information. Consequently many new forms of legal actions which were not covered by current Indonesian laws and regulations now have to be regulated. On 21 April 2008, after being approved by the House of Representatives, the GOI enacted Law No 11 of 2008 regarding Information and Electronic Transactions ("Law No 11 of 2008") ...
Solicitor and commercial specialist Ross Woodham takes a technical and commercial look at Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), as it grows in popularity. VoIP has existed since the early 1980’s, but was only given serious commercial attention in the late 1990’s, since when the use of VoIP-based technology has grown steadily ...
Since the establishment of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in late 2004, banks and other financial-service providers established or registered within the DIFC have been restricted to operating only in the wholesale market. From July 1, 2008 it has, however, been possible to provide financial services to retail customers in or from the DIFC. Initially, the DIFC was described as a wholesale financial-services environment ...
The three major automobile manufacturers in the United States, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, have indicated that without significant financial assistance from the government a filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is likely. Such a filing would have a significant impact on car dealers ...
Anybody who has ordered their Christmas shopping online or installed software will have encountered so-called 'clickwrap' agreements. With clickwrap, before being able to complete the order or install the software, you must indicate acceptance of the service provider's terms and conditions – with a simple click on the I agree button – before being able to proceed. This is the stark choice of “take it or leave it” for the digital age ...
What Happened Last week, the chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., India's fourth largest information technology company, admitted to a stunning fraud. Fraudulent entries in the company's financial statements totaled in excess of US$ 1 billion, as compared to the actual financial state of the company. In response to the fraud, DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd., a local affiliate of Bank of America Corp ...
Consumers currently spend €24bn every year in cross-border transactions, but this is only a fraction of the potential market.Many individuals are dissuaded from spending more by doubts over issues such as delivery timescales and after-sales service.EU forecasters expect online revenues within Member States to grow by 230% in the next five years, but only if the way is smoothed by the adoption of a new Consumer Rights Directive ...
While they are an integral part of most businesses - often with a primary function of delivering cost savings and efficiencies - they must be kept up-to-date to ensure they achieve those aims. So now is a good time to undertake an IT systems review, and look at consolidation and streamlining. Changes to business structures, acquisitions and a system's age are other triggers for an IT stock take ...
But which practical actions could add up to substantial cost savings in the current climate and for the future?: try to capitalise on potential rent savings in volatile markets look to release funds from the portfolio - sweat the assets make sure that service charges are kept in check act quickly on sub-tenant default These are the key messages:
GENERAL 1. How can the government’s attitude and approach to internet issues best be described? The attitude of the Belgian government can be described as positive and their approach is proactive. In 2003, the Belgian authorities announced the introduction of ‘e-government’. The most important initiatives were the introduction of electronic identity cards (e-ID) for all Belgian citizens over 12, and the federal government’s information web-portal ...
What is spamdexing? The Internet contains a lot of information. In 2002, the total number of web pages was estimated at 2.024 million; by 2005 this estimate had risen to 11.5 billion2. The ever- increasing amount of information found on the Internet also has disadvantages. In this jungle of information, it is getting harder and harder to see the wood for the trees ...
With the credit crunch likely to affect every aspect of the global economy, the prospect of declining revenue threatens to erode the profitability of many businesses. So the challenge is to preserve cash and cut costs. But how does this affect IT? Cutting back on IT projects is not necessarily an option. Software is the engine of the modern enterprise. Indeed, for many organisations it is their primary source of competitive advantage ...
Software is part of the day-to-day fabric for most companies. And almost everyone who uses it does so with little or no thought about what happens should it fail, or if it is no longer available. However, the prudent software buyer will consider how to protect against failure of critical or bespoke software, which is where escrow may come in. Be warned, though ...
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) expressed her opinion in respect of a reference for a preliminary ruling from a German court. The main proceedings before the German court concern a German distance retailer who tried to charge the customer of a second-hand laptop for the eight months of use she had ...
Virtually every business has some sort of website or presence on the internet, and it is often an integral part of the business. At the same time, many organisations use bespoke or customised software internally on a day-to-day basis, and undoubtedly attribute significant value to these assets, not least because the development of them probably required a significant investment via a third party developer providing the software ...
In early 2008, 'green computing' and the idea that companies were going to need to implement new measures to improve their green credentials was one of the hot topics in IT. You might have been forgiven for thinking that environmental concern would be among the first casualties of the credit crunch and the resulting recession ...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that luxury brand owners can use their trade mark rights to prevent licensees selling goods to discount stores in breach of licence. Facts In 2000, Dior entered into a trade mark licence with Societe Industrielle Lingerie (SIL) for the manufacture and distribution of corseted clothing bearing the 'Christian Dior' trade mark ...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched the new Privacy Notices Code of Practice. It is the most recent step in the ICO's continuing battle to ensure consumers are kept informed about how and why their personal data will be processed. Months of ICO research has revealed that over half of consumers do not understand what they are signing up to when they fill in online and paper forms ...
