http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/information-technology-and-software-law.htmlRostron Carlyle Legal Publicationsen-auCopyright Rostron Carlyle Solicitors 2009 saw a gradual evolution of the law in relation to social networking in all jurisdictions. It's possible in certain circumstances, for website owners to have a duty of care to their users, individuals can now be served via their Facebook profile if they can't be located, and in the US, there is a continued debate over online privacy. In Australia, individuals profile page can be used in evidence there has also been comment about organisations wanting to own their employees "Tweets". The point of this is that the legal risks for organisations participating in social networking are evolving at the same pace as the technology is.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/social-media-law-articles/submarines-online-legal-risks-of-social-networking-for-organisations.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/social-media-law-articles/submarines-online-legal-risks-of-social-networking-for-organisations.html Datalex plc (Datalex) in a Notice Provided to Shareholders has denied the allegations made by Flight Centre Limited (Flighties) in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The claim filed by Flighties on 4 November 2009 alleges misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of contract in relation to a software development contract. http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/datalex-denies-allegations-made-by-flight-centre-regarding-breach-of-contract.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/datalex-denies-allegations-made-by-flight-centre-regarding-breach-of-contract.html Flight Centre Limited (Flighties) and its South African subsidiary have brought an action in the Supreme Court of Queensland alleging misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of contract in relation to a software development contract. In its 53 page Claim Flighties outlined their argument for more than $USD14 Million in damages associated with the contract and conduct of Datalex PLC (Datalex). http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/flight-centre-limited-and-datalex-alleged-breach-of-contract.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/flight-centre-limited-and-datalex-alleged-breach-of-contract.html auDA, the body that manages Australia's domain name system, has invited people to submit proposals for the creation of new 2LDs in the .au domain space. Applications close 30 November 2009.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/call-for-submissions-on-second-level-domain-names-by-auda.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/call-for-submissions-on-second-level-domain-names-by-auda.html Do your public documents have your Australian Company Number (ACN) on them? Surprisingly, many businesses are not complying with the section 88A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) by omitting their ACN from their public documents.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/corporate-law-articles/is-your-companies-acn-on-your-public-documents.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/corporate-law-articles/is-your-companies-acn-on-your-public-documents.html It’s quite common in what would seem to be simple business transactions for people to draft their own agreements in an attempt to save money. The internet and ubiquity of information has made it possible to find almost any sample legal agreement, but the pitfalls of using such agreements can be extremely costly for the untrained in the event of a dispute.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/do-it-yourself-legals-dont-risk-it.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/do-it-yourself-legals-dont-risk-it.html The aim of Australia's safe harbour scheme for copyright infringement as contained in Division 2AA of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Act) is to ensure that carriage service providers (CSP's) who take reasonable measures to limit and deter copyright infringement are able to attract the benefit of reduced liability for copyright infringement if they introduce certain policies and procedures. Basically, the remedies available against online service providers are limited if they have complied with the conditions as contained in Division 2AA of the Act.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/is-there-a-safe-harbour-for-user-generated-content-sites-in-australia-for-copyright-infringement.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/is-there-a-safe-harbour-for-user-generated-content-sites-in-australia-for-copyright-infringement.html The general rule is that terms and conditions are incorporated into a contract if a party has done all that is reasonable to bring the proposed terms and conditions to the attention of the other party at the time of the transaction. How does this apply to internet transactions?http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/are-the-terms-and-conditions-on-your-website-binding.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/are-the-terms-and-conditions-on-your-website-binding.html ecent guidance from Coco-Cola Company v Shea [2009] ATMO 49 confirms (not surprisingly) that applications for trade marks that are be seen as brand extensions are likely to be prohibited from registration. Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) (Act) provides that “a trade mark is a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person”.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/what-is-a-registered-trade-mark-lessons-from-a-naughty-mother.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/what-is-a-registered-trade-mark-lessons-from-a-naughty-mother.html Software developers need to be mindful to ensure that statements made in precontractual negotiations (and during iterative development processes) regarding the likely performance and functionality of systems are not misleading and deceptive. Particular care should be taken to ensure that representations made whilst collaborating using development methodologies such as rapid application development (RAD) or AGILE are not taken to be misleading and deceptive.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/racv-insurance-pty-ltd-v-unisys-australia-ltd-2004-vsc-81-lessons-for-software-developers.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/racv-insurance-pty-ltd-v-unisys-australia-ltd-2004-vsc-81-lessons-for-software-developers.html With the introduction of the internet and email communications, as well as mobile telephones and the resultant use of text messaging, we live in a communications era unparalleled in previous times. Today more than at any time in history we have seen a massive increase in both written and oral communications and this is especially so in the world of commerce and industry. http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/employer-liability-for-employee-defamation.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/employer-liability-for-employee-defamation.html I recently had the opportunity of hearing a presentation about "working in the cloud"- at Barcamp Brisbane in other words using internet websites as applications and not needing to load software such as wordprocessing or spreadsheets onto a computer. According to Wikipedia the term cloud is used as a metaphor for the internet, based on how the internet is shown in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure behind it. http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/working-in-the-cloud-should-I-be-worried-legally.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/working-in-the-cloud-should-I-be-worried-legally.html Software Development Agreements (Agreements) are unique. In principle, they are not dissimilar to construction contracts, although clear issues arise that are unique to the information technology industry. Broadly speaking the issues that both Software Developers (Developers) and purchasers of programming services (Clients) should consider can be categorised into the following non exhaustive listhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/drafting-software-development-agreements.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/drafting-software-development-agreements.html For Software Development Agreements (Agreements) that involve mission critical systems or high volume transaction websites the software owner or user (Client) may face significant losses in the event of interruption or catastrophic failure of the system.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/negotiating-liability-issues-in-software-development-agreements.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/negotiating-liability-issues-in-software-development-agreements.html In Australia, the organisation that administers the domain name regime is .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA). The Commonwealth Government holds reserve powers to regulate domain names under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth). The auDA also accredits and regulates Australian domain name registrars.http://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/com-au-domain-name-eligibility-criteria.htmlhttp://www.rostroncarlyle.com/legalarticles/com-au-domain-name-eligibility-criteria.html