news and knowledge from around the globe compiled by Global EDD Group
UK-based telecoms group BT is suing Google in the US over claims that six of its patents have been infringed.
The British company’s complaints centre on technologies at the core of Google’s Android mobile system, search site, and a wide range of other services.
BT is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction against Google’s continued use of its innovations.
via BBC News – BT sues Google over Android ‘patent infringements’.
Research In Motion (RIM) has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government conduct surveillance checks on the company’s BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.
The financial daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the Canadian firm opened the centre earlier this year to deal with requests from Indian intelligence agencies.
No one was immediately available for comment at either RIM or India’s telecoms ministry when contacted by AFP.
RIM and the Indian government have been embroiled in a row over access to BlackBerry services, in particular encrypted email and instant message facilities that New Delhi fears could be used by extremists to plot attacks.
Multiple deadlines have been issued to the firm to comply with government requests for monitoring.
The Wall Street Journal said RIM was now allowing surveillance of BlackBerry Internet services and the company was no longer facing the prospect of shutdowns.
RIM was complying with intercept requests on suspect individuals once it was satisfied the demand had legal authorisation, it added.
Under English or American law (or any other common law system), you or your company may be ordered by a court to identify and disclose not just physical documents but also electronically stored information (ESI) as part of a litigation process. This could apply to you even if you are not a party to the court proceedings.
Location of the ESI
Data is often stored or replicated in an external hosting centre or within a software application – particularly in relation to SaaS software, or in a corporate data centre. If numerous data centres are used they are usually in different physical locations which could be in various countries. The court order to disclose data may well conflict with compliance and privacy requirements in relation to data in the countries in which the data is actually held. However for the purposes of complying with a court order the actual location of the data and the local rules applying to the storage of the data cannot be used as a reason to refuse disclosure.
For example in AccessData Corporation v ALSTE Technologies GmbH a US court ordered a German company to disclose emails stored in Germany as part of the disclosure process in a court case, although the company argued that this breached the German Data Protection Act.
via Identification and Disclosure of electronically stored information.
The Dubai courts are seeking to reduce the amount of litigation they handle with the launch this month of a dispute resolution and mediation centre.
The director general of Dubai Courts, Dr Ahmed bin Hazim al Suwaidi, said the centre – which is scheduled to begin operating this month – is expected to reduce litigations by 20 to 30 per cent this year.
“This new service will provide a faster option to dispute parties, in comparison with litigation, which can take months or years,” he said. “The dispute resolution would be reached within a 30-day period.”
It will “provide a new option for the disputers to settle their issues amicably,” he added. “We have also provided incentives such as a 50 per cent refund of the case registration fees if a resolution is found.”
The parties will discuss their dispute with the mediator until a settlement is reached. A settlement will be notarised and legally binding, Dr bin Hazim said, although the penalties for breaking a settlement have not yet been disclosed.
via Dubai to launch mediation centre to cut litigation – The National.
Mark Lancaster, a Conservative MP, claimed Google had not only compromised the security of the building by publicising its full address alongside a picture of the exterior, but had also refused to respond to requests to remove the information.
His comments came in a House of Commons debate on internet privacy initiated by Robert Halfon, a fellow Tory MP, in which Google was also attacked for its Street View service, which catalogues photographs of millions of homes across the country.
Mr Lancaster said “[The refuge's] anonymity is crucial to the organisation” and to the wellbeing of the women and children housed inside.
via Google ‘revealed location of centre for vulnerable women’ – Telegraph.
AUSTRALIA’S arbitration bodies and lawyers are gearing up for changes in the litigation climate, with new laws now set to be passed.
The Australian Centre for Commercial International Arbitration (ACICA), the Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia (IAMA) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Australia (CIArb) have signed a memorandum of co-operation in which they plan to promote the use and education of arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region.
The agreement was struck following amendments to the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) introduced into Parliament by Attorney General, the Hon Robert McClelland.
Australian Centre for Commercial International Arbitration president Douglas Jones told The New Lawyer the reform is long overdue.
He said new legislation would encourage both Australian and non-Australian parties to have their international arbitrations held in Australia.
“We as a country have got significant advantages I think, with a well developed legal system and very competent practitioners to take advantage of that,” he said.
“Arbitration is a multi-billion industry in other places – in SIngapore, Hong Kong, London, all of them see that it adds huge value to the local economy in a range of areas,” said Jones.
The global financial crisis has seen an increase of commercial disputes but because
international investors want to avoid the uncertainty of litigation in a foreign court
system, the ACICA said.
via Lawyers gear up for new rules on arbitration – The New Lawyer.
Hong Kong is steadily gaining global recognition as an international arbitration centre for the Asia Pacific region, providing an ideal venue for speedy and reliable dispute solutions.
That’s a key message that Mr. Yan Lung Wong, Secretary of Justice of the Hong Kong SAR government, conveyed to federal Minister of Justice, Robert Nicholson, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and other senior judiciary, legal, business, academic figures and government officials during his three-day visit to Ottawa and Toronto last week.
Hunton & Williams’ Centre for Information Policy Leadership has announced that Richard Thomas CBE, the former UK Information Commissioner, will join the Centre as Strategy Adviser.
Richard Thomas was the UK’s Information Commissioner from November 2002 until his retirement at the end of June 2009. He was appointed by HM The Queen and held independent status, reporting directly to Parliament, on a range of regulatory, promotional and advisory responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and related laws. He also served as a member of the European Union’s Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection. Richard Thomas was awarded Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for public service in June 2009.
via Former UK Information Commissioner Richard Thomas gets a new job :: PublicTechnology.net .
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