News

IT legislation and regulation

• October 07, 2011 07 Oct'11

  High Court finds for Halliburton drill-bit software design patent claim

  The High Court has overturned a decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), explicitly confirming that technical design methods are patentable. The ruling has a direct bearing on the IP standing of software algorithms.

• October 07, 2011 07 Oct'11

  Computer Weekly wins prestigious journalism award

  Computer Weekly has won a prestigious award for its journalism. Freelance contributor and Computer Weekly blogger Mark Ballard won the Best Cybercrime Feature of the Year prize at this year's BT Information Security Journalism Awards. ...

• October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11

  Legislation helps SMEs protect intellectual property rights in Patents County Court

  A law has come into force to make it easier for SMEs to protect intellectual property, ensuring lower-value cases will be dealt with at the less costly Patents County Court and introducing a damages cap of £500,000 for all claims to the PCC.

• October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11

  Identifying the business value of SAM best practice frameworks and standards

  Businesses are cautious when it comes to taking up best practice frameworks and standards that could help them manage their software assets more effectively.

• September 23, 2011 23 Sep'11

  Anti-piracy group FAST applauds government business guide to navigating UK IP law

  The government has published a guide to UK intellectual property law for businesses, providing information on IP policies; procurement of goods and services; reporting IP crime; and auditing IP. The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) said it ...

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Cyber attacks are becoming lethal, warns US cyber commander

  Cyber attacks are escalating from large-scale theft and disruption of computer operations to more lethal attacks that destroy systems and physical equipment, according to the head of the US Cyber Command.

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  Two men arrested in UK as police investigate Anonymous and LulzSec hacking activities

  Two more people have been arrested inthe ongoing crackdown on hacktivist groups Anonymous and Lulz Security (LulzSec). The Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit arrested two men in South Yorkshire and Wiltshire for conspiring to commit offences...

• September 01, 2011 01 Sep'11

  Pakistan bans VPNs to prevent users accessing banned websites

  The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has virtual private networks. Pakistanis are banned from accessing social networking sites and all internet traffic is monitored, but virtual private networks (VPNs), have enabled internet users to connect ...

• September 01, 2011 01 Sep'11

  Ofcom gives green light to use TV spectrum for rural broadband

  Telecommunications regulator Ofcom has given the go-ahead for internet providers to use unused TV spectrum to deliver broadband to rural areas.

• August 16, 2011 16 Aug'11

  Information Commissioner calls for more privacy improvements at Google

  The Information Commissioner's Office says an audit at Google's London office shows the company has taken reasonable steps to improve its privacy policies, but could do more.

• August 11, 2011 11 Aug'11

  US woman sues Google over Gmail scanning

  A woman has filed a class action suit against Google for scanning all e-mail sent to Gmail account holders to use for targeted advertising campaigns.

• July 29, 2011 29 Jul'11

  Why the High Court ruling in the Newzbin2 case is such a big deal

  The creative industries have welcomed the UK High Court ruling that BT must block access to pirated content aggregator site Newzbin2, but why is the ruling seen as such a game changer?

• July 28, 2011 28 Jul'11

  Highlights from 'A recipe for rip-offs' - the Select Committee report on government IT

  The Public Administration Select Committee has published a scathingly critical report on government's use of IT. We've chosen a selection of the highlights from the report.

• July 25, 2011 25 Jul'11

  US House of Representatives committee approves cybersecurity standards bill

  The US House of Representatives has passed a bill designed to increase education, research and development to counteract cyberthreats.

• July 25, 2011 25 Jul'11

  UK confirms international cyber rules conference

  UK foreign secretary William Hague has confirmed that the government is to host an international conference on cyberspace in London on 1 and 2 November 2011.

• July 25, 2011 25 Jul'11

  US court gives Oracle another chance to put its patent case against Google

  A US judge has rejected Oracle's claim for $2.6bn in damages from Google for infringing Java patents, but has given Oracle the chance to come up with a more reasonable claim...

• July 22, 2011 22 Jul'11

  British Computer Society – the case for change

  A year on from the BCS extraordinary general meeting (EGM), Amit Bhagwat looks at how BCS has evolved, why the EGM came about and gave the results that it did, what has followed since and, how BCS might consider its future from here.

• July 18, 2011 18 Jul'11

  Public-funded bodies must open data, transparency chief tells Demos

  All bodies in receipt of public sector funding should be made to open up their data, said Tim Kelsey, the government's adviser on transparency and open data.

• July 08, 2011 08 Jul'11

  Communications minister Ed Vaizey says US ISP piracy deal could pave way for UK

  The top five US internet service providers (ISPs) have agreed with film and music producers to issue warnings to customers suspected of online piracy and to take action against repeat offenders.

• July 04, 2011 04 Jul'11

  Microsoft shares location data source code for review of Wi-Fi information harvesting

  Microsoft is sharing source code used for location-based services to allow its collection of Wi-Fi access point data to be reviewed.

• June 15, 2011 15 Jun'11

  Government to create market for personal identity data

  The government is preparing to create a marketplace for citizens' personal data to be used for accessing online public services, according to documents that were issued to industry in preparation for the coalition's next-generation identity scheme.

• June 10, 2011 10 Jun'11

  Former T-Mobile employees ordered to pay nearly £80,000 for data theft

  The Chester Crown Court has ordered two former employees of UK mobile operator T-Mobile to pay a total of £73,700 after stealing and selling customer data from the company in 2008.

• June 07, 2011 07 Jun'11

  UK government to propose national website blocking list

  The UK government is considering setting up a national blocking list of violent and unlawful websites in plans to tackle radicalisation to be unveiled by Home Secretary Theresa May.

• May 27, 2011 27 May'11

  DWP prepares alternative to identity cards for Universal Credit

  The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is grooming a British tech start-up to play a key role in its £2bn Universal Credit benefits system.

• May 23, 2011 23 May'11

  Twitter opens London office amid Premier League footballer super-injunction storm

  Microblogging site Twitter is preparing to open an office in London as it faces potential legal sanctions after users flouted a UK super-injunction granted to a Premier League footballer.

• May 18, 2011 18 May'11

  Future of NHS National Programme for IT in critical condition following NAO report

  The remaining NHS National Programme for IT could be scrapped entirely, as the project's aim to deliver electronic records for every patient has fallen far below expectations, according to a National Audit Office report.

• May 13, 2011 13 May'11

  US Attorney General Eric Holder dashes hope of UK trial for hacker Gary McKinnon

  US authorities are still insisting that self-confessed UK hacker, Gary McKinnon, face a US court, despite ongoing efforts to have the trial in the UK.

• May 13, 2011 13 May'11

  White House proposes cyber network security legislation

  The White House has proposed cyber security legislation to protect the US government and private computer systems from millions of daily cyber attacks.

• April 27, 2011 27 Apr'11

  MoD spends £6.6m on mobile phones

  The Ministry of Defence spent £6.6m on mobile phones and contract charges for ministers, members of the armed forces and civil servants last year.

• April 27, 2011 27 Apr'11

  HSBC Insurance works with IBM to solve Solvency II

  HSBC Insurance in the UK is using IBM Global Services to support its European Solvency...

• April 18, 2011 18 Apr'11

  Growth of NFC to drive overhaul of Chip and PIN equipment

  The growth of near-field communication (NFC) in the UK will drive the replacement of retailers' Chip and PIN point of sale (PoS) equipment, according to an analyst.

• April 13, 2011 13 Apr'11

  Developer renews court battle to claim 50% of Facebook

  A New York developer has renewed his court battle in claiming at least a 50% share of Facebook almost a year after his first attempt stalled.

• April 12, 2011 12 Apr'11

  ICO slams Cabinet Office and MoD for slow FOI responses

  The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has criticised the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence for failing to reduce the time they take to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

• April 12, 2011 12 Apr'11

  Infosec 2011: Compliance the biggest security juggernaut, says security expert

  The biggest security compliance juggernaut for businesses is concentrating on achieving compliance rather than changing they way they work, says Des Ward, president of the Cloud Security Alliance UK and Ireland chapter.

• April 11, 2011 11 Apr'11

  Copyright holders formulate ISP piracy website blocking scheme

  Copyright holders are urging UK internet service providers to block illegal file-sharing sites.

• April 08, 2011 08 Apr'11

  CIOs need IT governance rethink

  CIOs will need to rethink their IT governance policies as employees turn to social media tools to collaborate at work, according to research from analyst group Gartner.

• April 05, 2011 05 Apr'11

  City of York falls foul of data protection act following printer mix-up

  The City of York Council has fallen foul of the Data Protection Act after having accidentally disclosed personal data following a printer mix-up.

• April 01, 2011 01 Apr'11

  Sex discrimination rife in IT, says report

  Gender discrimination against women is rife in the IT sector, a report says.

• March 28, 2011 28 Mar'11

  ITC agrees to review patent ruling against Eastman Kodak

  The International Trade Commission (ITC) has announced that it will review an earlier ruling in a patent dispute between Kodak Eastman and mobile handset makers Apple and Research in Motion (RIM).

• March 28, 2011 28 Mar'11

  European Commission clears Atos bid for Siemens IT

  The European Commission has cleared the proposed €850m acquisition of Siemens' IT Solutions and Service (SIS) by French IT service provider Atos Origin.

• March 17, 2011 17 Mar'11

  Government Digital Service launched to oversee Whitehall websites

  Whitehall has set up a new organisation to oversee moves to improve the digital delivery of public services.

• March 17, 2011 17 Mar'11

  Ban threat looms for Blackberry services as India demand corporate data access

  India could block Research in Motion (RIM) from 31 March 2011 after government officials expressed dissatisfaction with access to Blackberry services.

• March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11

  US presses punitive copyright deal on trade partners

  The US is continuing its secret efforts to secure tougher copyright laws, even though its Hollywood-sponsored anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (Acta) has still to be validated, a leaked document has revealed.

• March 08, 2011 08 Mar'11

  Exclusive: Free software guru Richard Stallman on government IT and why he hates the cloud

  The founding father of the free software movement tells Computer Weekly why government just doesn't "get it"

• March 01, 2011 01 Mar'11

  Intel finalises £5bn acquisition of McAfee

  Intel has confirmed the completion of its $7.7bn (£5bn) acquisition of security software giant McAfee.

• February 22, 2011 22 Feb'11

  Middle East governments stepping up internet control, study shows

  The internet has proved to be a powerful tool for rallying social and political change, but Middle East governments have also recognised their capability to disrupt communications

• February 14, 2011 14 Feb'11

  Business Software Alliance fines company £24,000 for unlicensed Microsoft software

  Label company System Labelling has been fined £24,800 for using unlicensed Microsoft software.

• February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11

  ID card database is destroyed

  The National Identity Register (NIR), which was built to hold the fingerprints and personal details of millions of ID card holders, has been publicly destroyed.

• February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11

  Post Office faces legal action over alleged accounting system failures

  More than 50 postmasters are planning legal action against the Post Office to reclaim money they paid to the Post Office after being accused of theft and false accounting.

• January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11

  Parliament to debate cost-sharing element of Digital Economy Act

  Secondary legislation on sharing the costs of the Digital Economy Act's measures to tackle online copyright infringement has been laid in Parliament.