Intimidated by the press, disappointed by the PCC and thwarted by the courts, the ICO decided to go public about data theft, in May 2006 publishing the report What Price Privacy? which discussed Motorman, inter alia. It also raised the question of the inadequacy of the penalties for breaking the DPA: Continue reading
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In March 2003, investigators from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), raided the offices of a private detective, Steve Whittamore. As Tom Watson and Martin Hickman put it: “They were amazed at what they discovered: Britain’s best-selling newspapers and magazines were driving a thriving black market in illegal data, requesting (and receiving) ex-directory numbers, car registration numbers, health records and criminal records. The targets ranged from glamorous actresses such as Elizabeth Hurley to the families of victims of newsworthy crimes, such as the parents of Holly Wells, a child murdered by the paedophile Ian Huntley at Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002. (28-9). Continue reading
Clause 5 of the Defamation Bill is entitled “Operators of Websites”. Its purpose is to provide a new defence for website operators in circumstances where the claimant can pursue his claim for defamation against the person who posted the statement. It has been extensively debated on this blog and elsewhere. On 19 December 2012 it was one of the clauses considered by the House of Lords Grand Committee. Continue reading
This is the third part of Judith Townend’s review of the media and legal news for 2012. Part 1, covering January to April was published on 31 December 2012 and Part 2, covering May to August on 2 January 2013. Continue reading
This is the second part of Judith Townend’s review of the media and legal news for 2012. Part 1, covering January to April was published on 31 December 2012. The final part will be published tomorrow. Continue reading
Following the runaway success of our Media Law quizzes for 2010 and 2011 we are repeating the exercise for 2012 – with one important change. The runaway winner in 2010 and 2011, Benjamin Pell, has graciously agreed to forego the chance of an hat trick and has, instead, agreed to take on the role of quiz master. This should encourage all our readers to take part. Many of the answers can be found in Inforrm’s comprehensive 2012 media and law coverage. Continue reading
This is the final part of Lara Fielden’s analysis of the Leveson Proposals in the context of overseas models of press regulation. The first part was published on 30 December 2012.
Leveson makes three core recommendations on the way the new regulatory body should be organised (summarised in The Leveson Inquiry Report Volume 4 at p.1759 (Figure K7.1) and p.1777 Figure K7.2). He proposes it should have three arms: complaint handling, standards enforcement and the arbitration service. Continue reading
With the Leveson Inquiry, ongoing phone hacking litigation, several police operations investigating press activity, a growing number of prosecutions around social media use and continued parliamentary scrutiny of defamation and privacy, it has been a busy year for media and communication related law. That’s before we’ve even mentioned scandal at the BBC, the royal family, significant libel trials or contempt of court. The Inforrm blog followed and discussed all these developments in nearly 600 blog posts – reaching an overall total of over 1,500 in less than 3 years. Continue reading
In drafting his recommendations for reformed press regulation in the UK, Lord Justice Leveson has looked with evident interest at how things are done overseas. A chapter of his report considers ‘international comparators’ (Part K, Chap 5) and while none can provide an off-the-shelf blueprint for future regulation in the British context, elements of a variety of overseas models form key components of his proposals for a voluntary, independent, self-regulatory framework. Continue reading
The Inforrm blog will be taking a short winter break again this year to allow our editorial team to relax. We will have a few “seasonal” posts over the next fortnight – in particular Jude Townend’s “Media Law Review of the Year” and the eagerly awaited and hotly contested “Inforrm 2012 Quiz” – but normal service will not be resumed until the second week in January 2013. Continue reading
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