Good vibrations from Hamburg court; latest edition of Computer Law

Eagle-eyed Simon Haslam was swift to spot this BBC item, a follow-up to an item the IPKat dug up a year ago on the late lamented Ananova news service. In short, German sex toy company Beate Uhse has been ordered by a Hamburg court to pay German football stars Michael Ballack (Chelsea) and Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich) 50,000 euros each after it used their names to sell vibrators. Michael Ballack's season has been a disappointing one, notes the IPKat, but at least he can say he has won something. Merpel adds, does anyone have the original transcipt or, better still, an English translation? If this case is reported in the European Trade Mark Reports it might just boost that worthy publication's subscriber appeal.

A bone of contention: part of Michael Ballack's body that he can do without, here


The sixth edition of what has become the standard text on the subject, Computer Law: the law and regulation of information technology, was published earlier this year by Oxford University Press. Edited by Chris Reed (Professor of Electronic Commerce Law, Queen Mary, University of London) and and John Angel (Consultant to Jomati Ltd, Chairman of the Information Tribunal, and Senior Visiting Professorial Fellow, Institute of Computer and Communications Law, Queen Mary University of London), it contains a strong line-up of specialist contributors including Christopher Millard (Linklaters), Jenni Rutter (Baker & McKenzie), Jeremy Newton (Technology Law Alliance), Ian Walden (Queen Mary) and Mark Lewis (Berwin Leighton Paisner).

What the publisher says:

"Early treatment of computer law was no more than the application of existing principles to novel sets of facts. Today it has been recognized generally that computing technology does indeed give rise to unique legal problems which are not resolvable by applying existing legal principles. This is particularly apparent where transactions are carried out through the exchange of digital information rather than human interaction. The developing law which seeks to resolve these problems is at the heart of the latest edition of this book, now established as a standard text on computer and information technology law for both students and practitioners. Topics covered range from contractual matters and intellectual property protection to electronic commerce, data protection and liability of internet service providers. Competition law issues are integrated into the various commercial sections as they arise to indicate their interaction with information technology law.

The new edition of this established book has been completely updated to cover the significant changes in information technology law since the last edition, which have included the landmark Supreme Court decision in MGM v Grokster . The book has also been restructured for ease of reference into sections dedicated to broader topics.

Right: the IPKat and Merpel review Computer Law (illustration from the Infinite Cat Project)

What the IPKat says:

"Spare a thought for Tim Press, whose very clear account of the principles of the patenting of computer-related inventions has been hijacked by the Court of Appeal decision in Macrossan and Aerotel and by subsequent events. Mark Lewis's excellent contribution on outsourcing - a subject the IPKat reads only rarely and under duress - is however relatively timeless, since it is relatively rarely challenged by fundamental case law these days. Taken as a whole, this edition seems to hang together better than its predecessors - where once there was a little too much overlap there is now plenty of helpful cross-referencing and the overall effect suggests that computer law/IT really is a subject in its own right and not just a collection of stray legal occurrences that affect the computer/IT industries".

Bibliographical details:Price: £35.00 (paperback). ISBNs 10: 0-19-920596-5 and 13: 978-0-19-920596-7. lxiii + 610 pages (that's rather more than the publisher says on the website). Rupture factor: none.

Full details of this book and how to order it here