Author Archives: Andrew Sharpe
Spycatcher and Reds under the Bed
It is hard to explain to my junior colleagues how seriously we considered the threat to Western Europe from Warsaw Pact invasion in the 1980s. When I was commissioned in the RAF in 1984, its manpower strength was over 93,000 … Continue reading
Filed under Commercial, Data Protection
CTB -v- Twitter, Inc. and Persons Unknown (Case No. HQ11XO1814)
Royal Courts of Justice (ValP) / CC BY-SA 2.0 If you do not know what the outside of the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London looks like, the picture above may help. However, we expect that if … Continue reading
Filed under Commercial, Data Protection
Footballer CTB is suing Twitter
A “guest” post by Charles Russell partner Nick Armstrong, in our Sports & Media Group: Twitter Inc. and some of its users are being sued in the High Court in London by the individual who obtained an injunction against The … Continue reading
Filed under Commercial, Data Protection
Revised cookies’ law and lack of guidance takes the biscuit
I was asked a couple of days ago to prepare an email alert for clients on a commercial law update circulation list to describe compliance steps required for the new cookies law. This turns out to be virtually impossible. Much … Continue reading
Filed under Data Protection
Is 17p per unsecure online file a fair monetary penalty?
On 10 May 2011 the Information Commissioner imposed a £1,000 monetary penalty on Andrew Crossley, trading as ACS Law, for a serious breach of security that permitted over 6,000 individuals’ details to be accessible on an unsecured website. Already, there … Continue reading
Filed under Data Protection
School or Home Tuition Sales Agency?
An article in yesterday’s EducationGuardian caught my eye, and not because of the parental anger at schools pressure selling private tuition. What concerns me is the blatant direct marketing of a third party’s services by a school. The story, if … Continue reading
Filed under Data Protection
Ofcom’s Sitefinder: rumours of its death have been greatly exaggerated?
I’ve always had more than a passing interest in the Ofcom Sitefinder, because prior to re-qualifying as a lawyer I was a communications engineer. I was also a specialist radiation safety officer. Sitefinder allows you to search any location or … Continue reading
Filed under Administrative Law, Freedom of Information, Telecoms Regulation
The law moves slowly – 24 years too slowly
Almost 3 years after this photograph was taken in Dover, on the cold evening of 6 March 1987, the Herald of Free Enterprise sailed from Zeebrugge bound for Dover with 459 passengers and 80 crew. Tragically the roll-on-roll-off ferry was … Continue reading
Filed under Commercial
In memory of Hannah Foster
Usually I give Ofcom consultations a quick speed read, just to be aware what’s happening. Sometimes I even get lucky and a competitor writes up a consultation before I’ve even read it, saving me more time. (Hat tip, as we … Continue reading
Filed under Telecoms Regulation
We’ll keep the Red White & Blue Flag flying here
A personal view from a Pompey fan. If you are ever at a match at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, take a short detour on your way back to Fratton railway station to drop in on the Red White & Blue pub on Fawcett Road … Continue reading
Filed under Administrative Law, Telecoms Regulation
Andrew Sharpe
