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In a ruling of 28 April 2005 (case no. 5 U 156/04), the Hanseatische Oberlandesgericht (Hanseatic Appeal Court - OLG) discussed the obligation of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide information to copyright holders. The case concerned a request submitted by a large phonogram manufacturer ("applicant") to an ISP ("respondent") for information concerning a customer's personal details. The respondent's customer runs a so-called FTP server using an IP address allocated by the respondent. The applicant claimed that the server was being used to store digital musical recordings, in which it owned...

On 13 May, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Declaration on human rights and the rule of law in the Information Society. The Declaration will be submitted as a Council of Europe contribution to the Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, see IRIS 2004-2: 2) in November 2005. The first section of the Declaration is entitled “Human Rights in the Information Society”. Its treatment of “the right to freedom of expression, information and communication” includes the assertion that existing standards of protection should apply in digital and non-digital...

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has issued a new set of Guidelines on Marketing and Advertising Using Electronic Media formerly called ICC Guidelines on Advertising using the Internet. This latest version covers a wide array of electronic media besides the internet, like digital radio and television, telephone use and MMS/SMS. The Guidelines aim to provide the business community with a code of conduct for ethical marketing and complement applicable national and international laws. The ICC notes that in the ever-developing communications environment it is in the interest of businesses...

A new set of Recommendations on freedom of expression, access to information and means of communication, and privacy, was adopted at a recent international conference organised by the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO. The Recommendations, which focus in particular on the exercise of these rights in an online environment, are divided into a preamble and three substantive sections: human rights protection, access and privacy. The section, “Human rights protection”, opens with a reminder of some of the procedural safeguards governing regulations with a potentially restrictive effect on the...

The Act of 6 August 2004 amending the Act of 6 January 1978 on information technology and data protection introduced a new Article 9-4 that enables the companies that collect and manage royalties and related rights and bodies that defend the profession's interests to process personal data relating to infringements, and more particularly those covered by the CPI (Code de la propriété intellectuelle - French intellectual property code). Under Article 30 of the original Act, this was not previously allowed. As the Constitutional Council recalled, the declared purpose of the new provision is to promote...