News

IT legislation and regulation

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.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
EU Law needs to be tougher to tackle online piracy

The European Commission believes ISPs need to take urgent steps to combat online intellectual property theft.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
Iran gets access to Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome

Google has announced that Iranians are to be able to download Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome, available for the first time following the easing of US export controls.
January 19, 2011 19 Jan'11
Government seeks £3bn traffic management technology agreement

The government is putting in place a framework agreement for traffic management technology worth up to £3bn.
January 10, 2011 10 Jan'11
US government issues Twitter subpoena over Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Twitter has been issued with a subpoena by the US government to release the personal details of people connected to Wikileaks, including founder Julian Assange.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Government unveils £200m tech centre network details

The government has published plans to spend £200m on a network of high-tech manufacturing centres
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Ofcom frees spectrum for better data, internet access

From Thursday UK mobile network operators will be allowed to offer data services over their 2G networks, giving consumers better indoor and outdoor access...
January 05, 2011 05 Jan'11
BCS CEO David Clarke talks about the future of the IT industry

David Clarke, CEO of the chartered institute of computing the BCS, talks to Computer Weekly about being awarded an MBE, the future of the IT profession and tackling a membership revolt against his leadership last year.
November 23, 2010 23 Nov'10
Martha Lane Fox calls for ‘revolution’ in online government services

Digital champion Martha Lane Fox has published a report calling for a centralised government internet address to replace 750 websites. In a review...
May 20, 2010 20 May'10
Hacker McKinnon to stay in UK, for now

Self-confessed hacker Gary McKinnon will stay in the UK for the foreseeable future following home secretary Theresa May's decision to adjourn a judicial review of his case due next week.
March 11, 2010 11 Mar'10
Microsoft loses appeal on Office XML patent dispute with i4i

Microsoft has lost an appeal in its dispute with i4i over XML support in Office 2003/2007, following a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
February 22, 2010 22 Feb'10
What was the 'dangerous' flaw in safety-critical Chinook system?

Defence contractor EDS - now part of HP - warned the Ministry of Defence that flaws in a Fadec safety-critical system fitted to the Chinook Mk2 helicopter could cause it to malfunction, months before a fatal crash on the Mull of Kintyre.
January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
MoD renews attack on dead Chinook pilots despite software flaw disclosures

The Ministry of Defence has renewed its attack on the dead pilots of Chinook ZD576, after the publication of documents that revealed a "dangerous" flaw in software installed on the type of helicopter that crashed.
December 01, 2009 01 Dec'09
Gary McKinnon must face US trial, home secretary tells parliament

Home secretary Alan Johnson has said the US is the proper place for self-confessed hacker Gary McKinnon to be tried, scotching any further hopes that the...
November 23, 2009 23 Nov'09
Post Office theft case deferred over IT questions

A sub-postmistress accused of theft from the Post Office has had her case postponed until next year to allow experts time to investigate the accounting system at her branch.
September 08, 2009 08 Sep'09
EDS v Sky: the most significant judgement in an IT case ever?

It is now about a year since the trial in the dispute between BSkyB and EDS drew to a close. At the time, judgment was expected within a couple of months. The absence of a judgment becomes more conspicuous by the day. We can surely expect a verdict ...
July 31, 2008 31 Jul'08
Minister hails Fujitsu’s leaving NPfIT as sign of strength

The termination of Fujitsu's...