Allgemein

Search engine marketing or search engine optimisation is becoming an important part of any business marketing strategy. Many internet users, consumers rarely go directly to a website. Instead, they let search engines such as Google or Yahoo do the work of finding a website.

The Regional Appeal Court of Cologne has ruled that displaying prices in small footnotes can breach German competition law (Az.: 6U 114/12). Prices on advertising posters must be clearly visible to the consumer when standing in front of then.

Judges in Germany have ruled that mobile phone companies are no longer permitted to require customers to immediately repay negative pay as you go balances.

A company in Germany has been ordered to pay compensation after illegally passing on consumer personal data to the German credit rating agency Schufa. A court ruled that the company breached strict legal requirements for transferring personal data by failing to give prior warning to the consumer.

Google has admitted breaching privacy legislation by collecting personal data without authorisation. While capturing images for its Street View service, Google collected passwords, e-mail addresses and other private information through unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.

Wenn ein Unternehmen bei Unstimmigkeiten voreilig Daten an Auskunfteien wie die Schufa übermittelt, bekommt es schnell Ärger. Die Firma muss damit rechnen, dass der Kunde sie auf Schadensersatz wegen des unberechtigten Schufa-Eintrags in Anspruch nimmt. Dies ergibt sich aus der neuesten Rechtsprechung.

In November 2012 the German Federal Supreme Court reached the landmark decision that parents are not obliged to constantly monitor their children’s internet usage to prevent copyright infringements.

Does your business use the slogan “Made in Germany” to advertise its products? A German court has ruled that it is misleading to use of the slogan “Made in Germany” where products are predominantly produced in another country (OLG Hamm 20.11.2012 – Az. I – 4 U 95/12).

Does your business use the word “from” to advertise its prices (for example “from €14.99”)? In a recent decision, a German court held that such pricing strategies mislead consumers and breach German competition law.

Inwieweit haftet der Inhaber eines eBay-Kontos, wenn Dritte unbefugt Zugriff auf sein Konto nimmt und es für unbefugte Bestellungen missbraucht? Eine Haftung scheidet hier normalerweise aus. Hierauf verweist das Landgericht Gießen.

Cybercrime – A 34 year old man from Bonn has been sentenced to six years in prison for five hundred instances of fraud and falsifying documents. The man, a ringleader of a gang of four hackers, stole T-Online customer data and credit card data to shop online.

In a preliminary ruling, the European Court of Justice has found that the transfer of standard terms and conditions from consumer gas contracts into “special” consumer gas contracts is illegal (Az. C-92/11).

A US court has declared the resale of used digital music files to be illegal on the grounds that it breaches copyright law.

Do you regularly receive cold calls? In a recent decision the Regional Appeal Court of Cologne ruled that the prohibition on cold calling applies to charities too. Read more here!

For a small fee or sometimes even for free, stock photo agencies such as Fotolia offer the use of professional photographs. However, restrictions can often apply to the use of downloaded photos and reference to the copyright holder must almost always be made.

Nachdem die RTL Group angekündigt hat, die DVB-T-Verbreitung ihrer Sender aus Kostengründen nach Ablauf der Verträge nicht mehr fortsetzen zu wollen, hat ProSiebenSat.1 nun bekannt gegeben, auch weiterhin an der terrestrischen Übertragung der Programme festhalten zu wollen.

Der Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) in Luxemburg hat den Übertrag von Klauseln aus Standardgasverträgen in Sonderverträge als nicht rechtmäßig erklärt (Az. C-92/11).

The technology company Apple has fallen victim to a cyber-attack. Hackers managed to break their way into the company’s computer systems.

Under plans to implement the EU’s directive on consumer rights, online businesses will once again have to modify the information given to consumers about exercising the right of withdrawal from a contract.

The founders of the file sharing website, The Pirate Bay, have lost their appeal against convictions for aiding the commission of copyright infringements.

The German government has approved plans to protect consumers and small businesses from unfair and improper business practices. Under the draft law, which will now pass to Germany’s lower house (the Bundestag), costs of so called warning letters will be capped, cold calling will be restricted and debt collection processes […]

One area the Federal Ministry of Justice’s current working draft implementing the EU’s directive on consumer rights addresses is pricing transparency. When receiving online purchase orders, traders will be required to clearly state any fees charged for choosing particular payment methods. This means consumers will be protected from hidden charges.

Existing consumer rights legislation provides that consumers making online purchases (distance contracts) must receive information, before committing to a contract, about the services being received and their rights. Through the transposition of the EU’s directive on consumer rights the scope of pre-contract information to be provided to consumers will be […]

At the end of last year, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice published a draft law designed to implement the EU’s directive on consumer rights. We have published a number of articles on this topic. Now, Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, has published recommendations for improvements.

Empfänger von gefälschten Rechnungen des Rabatt-Unternehmens Groupon, die sie per E-Mail zugesendet bekommen, sollen derzeit dazu gebracht werden, einen verseuchten Anhang zu öffnen. Hinter dieser Masche verbergen sich Online-Verbrecher, die die Opfer bei Öffnung des Anhangs erpressen.

In December 2012 Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice published a revised working draft of a proposed law to implement the EU’s directive on consumer rights. The directive aims to improve and expand consumers’ rights in distance transactions. Consumer protection in the area of distance communications will also be expanded to […]

Businesses providing IT services have a new reason to exercise care when choosing a marketing direction. If a business infringes the trademark rights of a competitor, it can quickly receive a warning letter. A recent decision of the Düsseldorf Regional Court shows that the whole episode can quickly escalate and […]

Die Fachkommission Gesundheitspolitik der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung appelliert in ihrem Gutachten „Wie geht es uns morgen? Wege zu mehr Effizienz, Qualität und Humanität in einem solidarischen Gesundheitswesen“ für eine Rückbesinnung auf Qualität und Durchsichtigkeit im Gesundheitswesen.

Bundesinnenminister Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich hat die Sozialen Netzwerke aufgefordert, den von ihnen bereits angekündigten Verhaltenskodex in die Tat umzusetzen. Dazu gehört auch die Verbesserung der Datenschutzrechte.

Muss Google den Namen eines Bürgers als geschützte persönliche Daten wieder aus seinem Index entfernen? Hiermit beschäftigt sich derzeit der europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH).

Is it permissible for Facebook to enforce its real name policy? The administrative court of Schleswig had no privacy law concerns with this requirement and in a preliminary relief procedure overturned an injunction by the independent State Data Protection Office (ULD). The court thus rejected the injunction by the ULD […]

Neuerdings darf die Bank bei der Umwandlung eines Giro- in ein Pfändungsschutzkonto nicht die Kontoführungsgebühren erhöhen. Das setzte der Bundesgerichtshof nach einer Klage des Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverbandes gegen die Sparkasse Bremen durch.