by Desislava Stankova | Mar 9, 2016 | Network Neutrality, News and Events
I have known Marc Peeters personally since 2009 when we both studied Law and Technology at Tilburg University. During this time, I have learned (at least) three important things about him. He is a brilliant lawyer, a good friend and a real party person.
I have decided to ask Marc several questions in relation to his experience not only because he has always been a great company to discuss things with, but also given the public interest that net neutrality and related topics are enjoying lately.
by Desislava Stankova | Jan 5, 2016 | Liability and the Internet, News and Events
What is Net Neutrality? Network Neutrality is usually defined as the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all online content equally without blocking or slowing down specific websites on purpose or allowing companies to pay for preferential treatment. Translated into non-lawyers language it means that your internet connection should treat all websites and services the same – e.g. you should not be charged more for accessing your email and less for Facebook and if you refuse to pay more to access your email, such access should not be throttled or blocked just based on such different treatment. Same applies to the company providing such service – they should not be charged more for the provision of access to their services and probably blocked or slowed down. In addition, Network Neutrality extends further to prevent different treatment based on user, platform, content, application, mode of communication, etc. The term “network neutrality” was first used by the Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu in 2003. Everybody agrees however, that there must be certain exceptions and some internet traffic may be filtered and discriminated against in cases of network congestion, spam, for legal purposes, etc. An Example Prominent example of non-net neutrality involved the US ISP Comcast which has been accused of slowing down competitors’ services such as Netflix and giving preference to its own similar services. in 2007 Comcast, according to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “deployed equipment throughout its network to monitor the content of its customers’ Internet connections and selectively block specific types of connections known as peer-to-peer connections. It was brought to light by Comcast...
by Desislava Stankova | Sep 22, 2015 | Blogging, Contracting, E-Commerce, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Privacy and Data Protection
When you hear someone mentioning privacy and data protection, you might think it affects you only when your privacy is at stake. However, as soon as you start your business’ online presence and even more when you actively start doing business online (as well as offline), certain obligations to protect individuals’ privacy start to exist for you. Many people are not aware that the EU has stricter privacy and data protection rules compared to the USA for example – that is to say that here, in good old Europe, we take privacy very seriously. PRIVACY POLICY, WHY? Here are several tips as to why you need to implement a Privacy Policy on your website: You are required by law to inform users about certain aspects of processing personal data; You are required by some of your providers to have a Privacy Policy (e.g. when you use Google Analytics, PayPal, etc.); You need a way to obtain users’ consent about the personal data processing you do; It makes you (look) more transparent and honest to customers/business partners, i.e. it creates trust. PRIVACY POLICY GENERAL TIPS Keep it simple Do not use too sophisticated legal language – all that legal mumbo-jumbo sounds great for lawyers, but everyone else finds it really hard to read and understand. And a well-kept secret is that even lawyers are often bored and confused by excessive legal terminology. Be specific and include details (not to the extreme) At the same time you need to include specific details about the way you process personal data, the types of data you process, etc. Including a privacy policy that...
by Desislava Stankova | Aug 29, 2015 | Blogging, Contracting, Intellectual Property, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Privacy and Data Protection
We already discussed how to use other people’s creative works and how to protect your intellectual property online, so now it is time to find out more about the legal aspects of privacy when running your blog, as well as other important issues to consider such as spam, defamation, using third party blog tools, user generated content, etc. Privacy and data protection or just do not share details of your neighbor’s PMS on your blog Processing other people’s personal data is carefully regulated in Europe and should be taken seriously. Under EU law, personal data can only be gathered legally under strict conditions, for a legitimate purpose. Personal information is any information about an individual who can be identified and relates to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. It includes data such as name, address, phone number, place of birth, ID and passport data, marital status, professional biography, mental condition, sexual orientation, race, religious views, property and financial status, participation in companies, etc. Processing personal data more or less includes any operation performed with regards to the information, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission and many others. Simply said, if you happen to share info on your blog about your coworker who broke their leg and stayed home on sick leave, maybe a bit too long, be advised that this may be illegal, unless your colleague expressly agreed on you posting this information. One of the most important principles of data protection is that personal data should not be processed at all, except when certain conditions are...
by Desislava Stankova | Jul 29, 2015 | Blogging, Liability and the Internet, News and Events, Social Media Law
It is a story about mr.L (a ferry company majority shareholder), an article in Delfi (one of the largest Estonian news portals), plenty of insulting comments under the article and the freedom of expression in the EU. The story ended recently on June 16, 2015 when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld the 2013 decision of the Chamber of the ECtHR on the Delfi v. Estonia (no.64569/09) case. But let`s see how did it all begin. The Story It all started in 2006 with an article about mr. L’s shipping company which changed routes of its ferries and the implications this change had on ice roads. Hundreds of angry comments followed with about 20 of them being truly insulting to mr. L and even vulgar. The owner’s lawyers contacted Delfi and requested the immediate removal of the defamatory comments and the payment of damages to mr. L. Delfi, following its notice-and-takedown regime, deleted the comments (which have been visible for 6 weeks already) the same day, but refused to pay damages. Thus, Mr. L brought the case to the Estonian court, claiming about 32,000 EUR in damages. Estonian Court decision(s) Delfi lost the case in the Estonian courts and damages were awarded to the shipping company owner. The courts in Estonia concluded that the comments, being defamatory and insulting, cannot be protected as freedom of expression. The amount of the damages have been ridiculously small, only 320 EUR, but one may wonder how did Delfi lost at all, considering the limited liability provided to intermediaries under the EU’s e-Commerce Directive. Indeed Delfi claimed...
