JISC Legal : Hosting Liability

Our Mobile Technologies and the Law webcast (streamed live on 14 March 2012) can now be accessed in captioned, bite-sized segments.  

JISC Legal is pleased to present our free Cloud Computing and the Law toolkit for FE and HE professionals. 

In this guide, you’ll find summaries of the key legal considerations of using Facebook in an FE and HE context.

An up-to-date, accessible guide for senior managers on ICT law within FE and HE.

This is a recording of our Recording Lectures and Screencasts webcast from April 2011, available in captioned, bite-sized segments. It is a practical, relevant guide to the legal, technical and accessibility issues involved in recording lectures and screencasts.   

This paper considers the legal issues which arise in relation to the taking of or possession of images (still and moving) of children for use in an Open Education Resource. 

This guidance document examines the Digital Economy Act 2010 and its implications for universities and colleges in the UK.

A checklist of questions for institutions to consider when updating or framing an e-safety policy.

This webcast was designed to assist institutions in meeting their legal duties and inspection needs in relation to safeguarding and e-security.   

This webcast tackles the legal risks of Web 2.0 technologies and suggests how they can be mitigated.    

An examination into the extent to which FE or HE institutions are responsible for content which is made available on their computer systems. 

Essentials guide for FE and HE on ISP liability for online content.

The law has changed that applies to how institutions must use cookies.

Data protection and other legal issues remain the same for a college or university when hosting, offering or using blogs, wikis, and any other ... (cont)

There are two legal issues here, the first concerns data protection, and the second concerns your duty of care to employees.

Under the Data Protection Act 1988 (DPA)  a college or university must ensure that the personal data relating to its staff, students and others remains secure including protecting such data from accidental loss (the seventh data protection principle)...  (cont'd)

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires colleges and universities, directly or indirectly, to take action to reduce carbon emissions in order to contribute to the national targets for carbon reduction... (cont'd)

Copyright in a work is not infringed by lending by an educational establishment. However you may find that a restriction ... (cont)

We are pleased to announce the launch of JISC Legal Plus - a new staff development service bringing JISC Legal's expertise to your institution at competitive prices...  (cont'd)

Firstly it is necessary to try and distinguish between emails which contain information which are business records and emails which are just  ... (cont)

This is a decision for the institution to make. There have certainly been various news articles highlighting privacy and data protection concerns related to Facebook, and similar issues apply to other external social networking sites ... (cont)

 In short where the institution does not own the copyright in materials and where the copyright period has not expired, permission, a licence or ... (cont)

 Email disclaimers are designed as an attempt to limit the sender's liability for the content of a message. However, their ability to prevent  ... (cont)

A Statutory Instrument has been set out on costs sharing for rights holders and ISPs in implementing the Digital Economy Act. 

The High Court recently decided, in relation to copyright law, that the term ‘making available’ to the public, that the 'making available' happens where the servers send the files, rather than where received.

The European Commission has announced a consultation on the Commission report on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

This significant case confirms that copyright can subsist in a newspaper headline. It also confirms that a user that pays for a web monitoring service requires a licence from the newspaper or the NLA.

The controversial Digital Economy Act (DEA) is to be reviewed by the High Court and subject to a Parliamentary enquiry

Data protection law needs to provide more clarity on what actually constitutes personal data.

A consultation by the GEO seeks views on proposals for draft regulations on the new public sector equality duty.

On 8 April 2010 the Equality Act received royal assent after completing its parliamentary process.

This amendment directive requires consent for the placement of cookies on the Internet by tightening existing legislation in this regard, namely the, e-Privacy Directive, 2002/58/EC.

A surprise amendment forced through for controversial clause 17 of the Digital Economy Bill could lead to entire sites being forced offline if it becomes law.

The Royal Bank of Scotland recently lost their appeal against the decision that they were in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.  

The third sector will see copyright exemptions for public playing of sound recordings and music removed from April 2010

Removing potentially libellous material posted by website users as soon as possible can protect from liability

Institutions falling to report data breaches can face financial penalties from April 2010

Illegal downloading of copyrighted material is being tackled by the UK Government with a new Digital Economy Bill.

The Ministry of Justice seeks views on updating defamation law so it is fit for the modern age.

Court of Appeal finds that website owners can avoid liability for statements made on a website where users are encouraged to make 'further enquiry'. 

European Court of Human Rights maintains a new defamation action can be brought for every access to online defamatory material.

ACAS guide offers practical tips on the impact of social networking on discipline and grievances, bullying, defamation, data protection and privacy.

The European Commission has launched a consultation on cloud computing.  This will feed into the European cloud computing strategy due to be presented in 2012.

A dedicated 'one stop shop' has been produced, telling the public about their FOI rights, and a step by step guide on how to use them.

This toolkit aims to guide information professionals in assessing cloud computing services for information use and storage, including development of a cloud computing strategy.

Janet Guidelines to assist universities and colleges in handling indecent images of children found on their information systems.

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published its report ‘Security and Resilience in Governmental Clouds’ which assesses the operational, legal, and security requirements of cloud computing.

This project will provide IPR and licensing support for JISC/HEA funded OER Phase 2 projects with particular emphasis on the use of Creative Commons Licences.

A resource from the Higher Education Academy English Subject Centre aimed at those developing courses which suggests that it is necessary to consider copyright clearance from the start.

Guidance for public sector organisationsaims to make current equality law more consistent, clearer and easier to follow in order to make society fairer.

Information on and examples of acceptable and unacceptable use of computer systems as well as practical tips on dealing with computer crime.

The EDUCAUSE Information Resources Library includes a collection of policies from the education sector. It includes example policies on acceptable use, copyright, data retention, e-mail, licensing, security and general use of the web.
http://www.educause.edu/browse/647.

This report has been extracted from BitLaw - an Internet resource on technology law, patent, copyright, trademark, and Internet legal issues.  
BitLaw was created by Daniel A. Tysver, a partner with the intellectual property law firm of Beck & Tysver.
http://www.bitlaw.com/internet/isp.html.

Full text of an article by Michael L. Siegel, published in the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology [4 Va. J.L. & Tech.7 (Fall 1999)].
http://www.vjolt.net/vol4/issue/v4i2a7-siegel.html.

Full text article by D. Lichtman and E.Posner of the University Of Chicago Law School, written July 2004.
http://papers.ssrn.com/soL3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=573502.

A hypothetical case of ISP liability produced by the Harvard Law School.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/ISP/overview.html.

A JISC Legal paper written by Gavin Sutter June 2003, it is available here - http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/publications/thirdpartycontent.htm.

The resources on this webpage provide links to information on liability for hosting institutions.  They are available on external websites.

This DTI consultation investigating proposals to extend the limitation of liability allowed to hyperlinkers, location tool services and content aggregators focuses on Articles 12-14 of the Electronic Commerce Directive. It was published in December 2006 and is available on the BERR website at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page13985.html.

If you are looking for an Internet and E-mail Policy then the guides on the OUT-LAW website are a useful starting point . A user login is required and registration is free at - http://www.out-law.com/page-2.