The Select Committee on Communications of the House of Lords (Committee) published a report discussing UK regulation of ‘digital services facilitated by the internet’. We summarise some of the key recommendations of the report, which was published on 9 March 2019: 1. A central regulatory body called the Digital Authority should be set up to co-ordinate internet regulation. 2. All future internet regulation should be informed by 10 common principles: Parity: ensuring online and offline…

In a recent request for a preliminary ruling in a case concerning Amazon, the Advocate General Pitruzzella (AG) has given his opinion that the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) (CRD) requires traders to offer their consumers a choice of means of communication, but this is not confined to the trader’s telephone number. The CRD includes the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, “where available, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate with…

The Winter 2019 edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released. We provide updates on Facebook Custom Audiences, social plug-ins, influencer advertising, withdrawal right information, the EU copyright law reform and more. The newsletter also includes multiple recommended reads on the GDPR. We hope you enjoy reading it.…

On 18 February 2019, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an aim to reinforce and develop their cooperation, collaboration, and information and intelligence sharing. Cooperation and information sharing The ICO and FCA have set out what matters they will communicate with each other and the exchange of information between them. Subject to legal restrictions on the disclosure of information, the ICO and FCA…

On 26 February 2019, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, published his first annual report since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force last year. This is a short overview of some of the key themes in the EDPS’s annual report: Overview of 2018: GDPR: This is the first annual report of the EDPS since the GDPR ((EU) 2016/679) came into force on 25 May 2018, bringing in…

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California recently changed course in an enforcement action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against cryptocurrency company Blockvest, LLC and its founder. In doing so, the court granted the SEC’s request to preliminarily enjoin the defendants from violating the securities laws and analyzed what exactly it means to “offer” securities in the context of crypto-tokens. To review the full article on our…

Recently, a draft for the 3rd Amendment to the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Staatsvertrag zum Glücksspielwesen in Deutschland – “GlueStV”) has been published (“3rd Amendment”). The draft for the 3rd Amendment is available in German here. Proposed changes under the draft for the 3rd Amendment The key changes under the proposed 3rd Amendment are as follows: The current version of the GlueStV contains a rather restrictive quota for governmental sports betting licenses in…