Allgemein

Bereits mit einem normalen Handy kann laut einer aktuellen Studie ein Störsender betrieben werden. Dieser kann angeblich sogar zu einem Ausfall des Mobilfunknetzes in einer größeren Region führen, sofern die Attacke mit mehreren Mobilfunktelefonen betrieben wird. Vor dem Ausprobieren muss allerdings aus rechtlichen Gründen gewarnt werden.

Facebook recently relaxed its rules on contests and promotions to make it easier for businesses to promote their products. While many businesses welcome the simplified measures, there are legal aspects to consider.

After losing a trademark dispute with the British Sky Broadcasting Group plc, Microsoft has agreed to change the name of its Skydrive cloud service.

Recent studies show that 750 new phishing websites are discovered daily. As one of the most popular online payment services, PayPal is a prime target for hackers. Now online consumers are reporting of a new PayPal phishing e-mail scam.

The German Federation of Consumer Associations has sent a warning letter to Google about its dead-end customer enquiries e-mail address.

The German government has published proposals to amend Germany’s Designs Act. The language of the current act will be adapted to international parlance and a new procedure for challenging the validity of designs will be introduced.

Seit Ende Juni 2013 ist die Änderung des TKG in Kraft getreten und stößt unter anderem bei der Piraten Partei auf Widerstand. Diese haben nun Verfassungsbeschwerde in Karlsruhe gegen die Regelung zur Speicherung und Herausgabe von Kundendaten im Telekommunikationsgesetz eingereicht.

After customers expressed anger at their Amazon accounts being suspended without warning, it has become clear that Tchibo also closes accounts if consumers return too many products.

„Achtung, Rutschgefahr!“ oder „caution, slippery when wet! . Diesen Warnhinweis findet man oftmals bei frisch gewischten Böden am Flughafen oder im Schwimmbad. Doch sind die Reinigungsfirmen tatsächlich verpflichtet, solche Warnschilder aufzustellen? Das Oberlandesgericht Bamberg hat in seinem Beschluss vom 20.03.2013 (Az. 6 U 5/13) zur Frage der Verkehrssicherungspflicht bei einer […]

Wilde Beuger Solmecke recently explained why Amazon’s aggressive tactic of closing customer accounts without warning is unlawful. One person contacted Amazon using the arguments we suggested and asked for his account to be re-activated. The reply he received is striking.

The international ministry, Victory Outreach International, has accused Twitter of contributing to the infringement of its trademark rights by refusing to delete the username @VICTORYOUTREACH. The civil action has been brought before a court in Missouri USA.

Following criticism of German rapper Bushido’s new music video, “Stress without reason”, Berlin’s prosecution service has now commenced criminal proceedings. In light of the unacceptable lyrics in the video, the rapper should do well to anticipate civil consequences as well.

Ob privat angefertigte Videoaufnahmen in ein Gerichtsverfahren eingebracht werden können hängt von einer Interessenabwägung ab. Gleiches gilt auch für Tonbandaufnahmen. Besonderes Gewicht wird dabei den Persönlichkeitsrechten der betroffenen Personen zugemessen. Nach einer Entscheidung des AG München vom 06.06.2013 (Az. 343 C 4445/13) kann die Verwertung dann zulässig sein, wenn zum […]

Germany’s controversial ancillary copyright legislation (Leistungsschutzgesetz) comes into effect on 1st August 2013. The legislation brings with it uncertainty which has led many online content aggregators to remove snippets from their websites.

Google has denounced a judgment (14.05.2013 Az. VI ZR 269/12) holding the technology company liable for its auto-complete function. It has emerged in a recently published decision, that Google challenged Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) judgment on fair trial grounds, but lost.

Details of how Yahoo was forced by a court order to participate in the US intelligence surveillance programme, PRISM, are to be made public.

In 2010 Apple was accused of conspiring with numerous publishers to artificially and illegally keep the price of e-books high. Now, a New York court has ruled that Apple played a central role in leading the price-fixing racket.

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has ruled that internet advertising aimed at children is prohibited. It is now illegal, for example, to aim internet advertising for toys directly at children (17.07.2013 Az. I ZR 34/12).

The media group RTL has recently started sending warning letters for alleged copyright infringements. The warning letters concern the TV series “Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten”. Recipients of the letters should not be intimidated into reacting too briskly.

The regional court in Frankfurt recently ruled that holiday home owners cannot always be held liable for a guest’s file sharing activities, even if they own the internet connection (28.06.2013 Az. 2-06 O 304/12).

Many people in Germany receive warning letters for allegedly illegally exchanging copyright-protected material on file sharing websites. According to new statistics for the first half of 2013, the number of file sharing court claims has now risen dramatically.

On 4th July 2013, the European Parliament voted in favour of a draft legislative proposal calling for tough new measures against cybercrime. The new rules will introduce minimum sentences for cybercriminals and better cooperation between member states.

The new music video from Bushido entitled “Stress without reason” has been sharply criticised. In light of the extreme lyrics, many believe the boundary to freedom of speech has been crossed and that the German rapper should face criminal and civil consequences.

Wenn Detektive im Rahmen eines  Unterhaltsrechtsstreites den Ehepartner heimlich im Wege des GPS-Tracking überwachen, kann das ärgerliche Folgen haben. Der BGH hat jetzt klargestellt, dass dadurch entstandene Kosten nicht erstattungsfähig sind.

Wenn Dateien von A nach B übertragen werden sollen, stellt sich oft die Frage, welcher Übertragungsweg der ideale ist. Insbesondere werden ungesicherte E-Mail-Versendungen vermehrt abgelehnt, da nicht sichergestellt werden kann, dass dies auch ohne Sicherheitslücke passiert.

The Deutsche Journalisten Verband (DJV) has called for rules on the clear division between journalism and advertising to be more rigorously enforced.

On 26 June 2013 members of the group europe-v-facebook.org lodged complaints with data protection commissioners around the EU. The group is alleging that European subsidiaries of Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Skype and Yahoo illegally transferred data to the NSA under PRSIM.

Germany’s Federal Administrative Court has decided that WDR is bound by the German Freedom of Information Act and must therefore publish information when it is requested.

According to a court in Germany, the purpose of a Facebook group is to facilitate freedom of expression. A Facebook group is not a legal entity. Therefore rights and responsibilities cannot be derived from it and consequently a person cannot possess a right to be appointed group administrator.

Microsoft has lost in a trademark dispute over the trade name “Skydrive”. The British TV broadcaster, British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB) brought the claim after fears arose that customers may confuse Microsoft’s services with its own “Sky” services.

The law of landlord and tenant in Germany has a reputation for being one of the most tenant-friendly in Europe. Accordingly, a landlord can only terminate a tenancy agreement in certain circumstances.

Users of the internet payment service, PayPal, have recently been receiving so-called phishing e-mails. These fake emails are sent by criminal gangs in an attempt to obtain the credit card details of PayPal users.