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Use of the Internet has been proven to provide significant, wide-ranging benefits for disabled people research, however, such as a large scale global study commissioned by the United Nations, has determined a low level of accessibility. These findings have been supported by further multi-disciplinary work.

While in other jurisdictions there have been definitive rulings on the need for the provision of accessible websites, a UK court has yet to lay down such a duty in relation to a website. It is accepted that there are a number of wide ranging issues interacting in this multi-faceted area, such as standardisation, industry self-regulation and the determination of an international consensus on what constitutes accessible design. However, this paper will focus upon the Equality Act 2010 and the changes it makes which could impact upon the creation of a definitive precedent.

The Equality Act 2010 amended and combined pre-existing anti-discrimination provisions into one overarching piece of legislation. An analysis can be undertaken of how this legislation through its reasonable adjustment duty, public sector duty and the potential to validate regulations may be able to bring clarification in the area of website accessibility.

Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its Article Nine specifically applies to access to the Internet. Given the international nature of website accessibility and the innovative provisions contained in the Convention, its impact on website design and inclusion could potentially be far-reaching. This article analyses the area of website design in the light of these recent legislative developments.

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After the Chinese Tort Liability Law was enacted in 2010, many discussions focus on the liability regime of internet intermediary service providers for illegal content on the internet under the Internet Clause. An online intermediary shall bear joint civil liability with the internet user when it knew that the internet user was taking advantage of its service to commit a tortuous act on its system, but failed to take action to stop that unlawful activity. The main controversy is what standard the court should adopt when examining an online intermediary’ knowledge of the disputed content. There is a critical interplay between the level of knowledge possessed by service providers and the amount of monitoring and removal demanded of service providers to avoid any kind of liabilities for users’ misconducts. This article will start from an introduction of various opinions on the knowledge standard, and then will review the approach adopted in statutory provisions and case decisions before the Chinese Tort Liability Law came into force. Finally, by clarifying the meanings of related legal terms and analysing the knowledge standard under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act, I tend to propose a reasonable interpretation of the knowledge standard for the Internet Intermediary Liability in China.

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The purpose of this article is to consider the approach that should be taken to determine whether a browse-wrap contract has been formed. As acceptance of such contracts is by an action, which could occur without reference to the offer, the fundamental question must be considered as to whether an acceptance can take place without subjective knowledge or intention. However, the rules that should be applied in principle in implementing an ‘objective approach’ to such contracts will be considered. They will be seen to be restrictive of when a contract will be found and it will be contended that the objective line can therefore be maintained.

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Technological protection measures (TPMs) are the hard core of digital rights management (DRM) systems, which enforce the rights of the copyright owner in the digital environment. Copyright scholars expressed concerns that TPMs do not comply with copyright exceptions and limits (Hugenholtz 2000; Koelman 2000; Dusollier 2003; Westkamp 2004). A few solutions to this problem have been proposed in the field of internet services (Mulligan and Burstein 2002; Erickson 2003; Cohen and Burk 2001; Sobel 2003). However, none of these proposals is tailored to optical disks (CDs and DVDs). Yet, the report ‘Digital Broadband Content: Music’ of the OECD (2005) states that TPMs implemented on optical disks hinder copyright exceptions more often than those applied to internet services. Moreover, in Europe the Copyright Directive exempts TPMs implemented on internet services from compliance with copyright exceptions. This paper therefore outlines possible ways to implement TPMs on optical disks in Europe, in order to achieve their compliance with a list of fundamental copyright exceptions, as identified by previous research (Favale 2008).

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This article discusses legal implications for businesses which engage in viral marketing. In the wake of the adoption of social media such as Facebook and YouTube, viral marketing has become much cheaper, which in combination with an increased trust in other people’s opinions makes viral marketing very efficient and widespread. The article focuses on EU legislation concerning identification of marketing, unsolicited commercial messages, and marketing buzz. The nature and quality of the business’ encouragement of private individuals to spread its marketing material is essential in determining whether the business is liable for activities carried out by private individuals. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive adopts a tradition of applying an average-consumer-test, which in the light of the low-cost communication platforms utilised for viral marketing is likely to lead to lawful deception of a large amount of consumers.

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This article discusses legal implications for businesses which engage in viral marketing. In the wake of the adoption of social media such as Facebook and YouTube, viral marketing has become much cheaper, which in combination with an increased trust in other people’s opinions makes viral marketing very efficient and widespread. The article focuses on EU legislation concerning identification of marketing, unsolicited commercial messages, and marketing buzz. The nature and quality of the business’ encouragement of private individuals to spread its marketing material is essential in determining whether the business is liable for activities carried out by private individuals. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive adopts a tradition of applying an average-consumer-test, which in the light of the low-cost communication platforms utilised for viral marketing is likely to lead to lawful deception of a large amount of consumers.

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Giovanni Sartor, Mario Viola de Azevedo Cunha<br />Dec 1, 2010; 18:356-378<br />Articles
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Okechukwu Benjamin Vincents<br />Sep 1, 2008; 16:270-296<br />Articles
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