Month: May 2020

29.05.20

Court of Appeal refuses to reinstate Bitcoin libel claim

In Wright v Ver [2020] EWCA Civ 672, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Claimant’s appeal against a decision by the High Court to strike out his libel claim on jurisdictional grounds.  The case is the first occasion that the Court of Appeal has considered section 9 of the Defamation Act 2013 which limits the…

Uncle ordered to pay niece £15,000 for sharing private information on Facebook

In JQL v NTP [2020] EWHC 1349 (QB), the Claimant sued the Defendant, her uncle, for publishing a post on Facebook that identified her as having received “treatment for mental health and self-harm”, that was said to be a misuse of her private information.  The post was part of a thread between family members, several…

22.05.20

Press Release: NoFap LLC and Alexander Rhodes secure substantial libel damages and apology from Scram News

Scram Media Limited and two of its contributors have apologised and agreed to pay defamation damages to US-based NoFap LLC and its founder Alexander Rhodes after publishing an article on ScramNews.com titled “Academic receives “death threats” from far-right after crowdfunding campaign to sue her.” NoFap runs an online pornography recovery platform that enables users to…

21.05.20

EasyJet victim of massive cyber attack

EasyJet has reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’) and the National Cyber Security Centre that is has been the subject of a ‘highly sophisticated’ cyber security breach affecting close to 9 million customers. It became known to the airline in January 2020 that sensitive data, including email addresses, travel details and credit card details…

19.05.20

Restrictions of creditor rights during Covid-19

Following on from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announcement on 28 March 2020 addressing protective measures for companies facing major funding and operational hardship during Covid-19, on 23 April 2020, the Government has further announced that it will introduce temporary restrictions on creditor rights to pursue aggressive debt recovery….

12.05.20

Dear Court of Appeal: Can we have your final answer?

In recent weeks, ITV’s dramatisation of Major Charles Ingram 2001 “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” appearance proved hugely popular, netting nearly 6 million viewers.  Adapted from the stage play, Quiz was undoubtedly an inspired piece of television with an all-star cast.  The loveable Major Ingram is eventually convicted of “procuring the execution of a…

Jury trials to resume in selected courts

Following the suspension of jury trials on 23 March 2020 due to the Covid-19 lockdown it is anticipated that a small number of trials will begin to be heard in the week commencing 18 May 2020. Since the suspension of all trials, the Jury Trials Working Group chaired by Mr Justice Edis has worked to…

7.05.20

COVID-19 Contact tracing apps and your right to privacy

Contact tracing apps are being developed and rolled out by many countries around the world, including the UK, as a tool in the global fight to control the spread of coronavirus.  The UK government has announced that it intends to introduce a contract tracing app later in May, and trials are being conducted this week…