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The full update is available through the PDF icon.

The European Commission has formally approved Israel’s status as a country that provides an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the EU.

David Mirchin explains the EU decision and its importance for Israeli businesses.
The full update is available through the PDF icon.

Typically, Israeli employers do not have an “email use” policy for their employees. If they do have a policy, it usually grants them wide-ranging powers to monitor and review their employees’ internet usage and email correspondence.

According to a recent major decision by the Israeli National Labor Court, however, this situation is likely to dramatically change. Generic, sweeping or vague internet use policies of employers will no longer be allowed. In this Privacy Update, David Mirchin reviews the court’s decision and the new guidelines for monitoring and examining the content of employee email and online activity.

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

A recent US federal case permitted a class action to proceed based on a site’s violation of users’ privacy. The problem was that the site’s privacy policy was not sufficiently well- drafted.

In this Privacy Update, David Mirchin explains what websites need to do to minimize their exposure for violations of users’ privacy.
The full update is available through the PDF icon.

If a website is full of infringing material posted by third parties, can it still enjoy immunity from copyright infringement claims? Yes! In perhaps the most closely watched case on this subject for the last 15 years, a U.S. court recently awarded YouTube a clear-cut victory.

The court held that the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) protects website operators from infringement claims even if they had general knowledge that infringement is “ubiquitous” on their site. David Mirchin analyzes this case and suggests how Israeli websites may take some tips on how to handle material posted by their users.

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

In this annual update from Meitar’s Technology and Intellectual Property Group, David Mirchin, head of the practice group, presents what he considers to be five of the most important developments during 2009 in Israeli law impacting e-commerce and technology companies.

The five topics are:

• The Premier League Loses Big: Streaming of Sport Events is a “Fair Use”
• The Score is Tied at 2-2: Initial Judicial Decisions under the new Israeli Spam Law
• Proposed Electronic Commerce Law Withdrawn
• Courts Regulating ISP Liability in Light of Failure to Enact Electronic Commerce Law
• Liability of Cell Phone Companies for Third Party Content

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

The Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee issued a new ruling that raises questions as to the ability of employers to obtain royalty-free assignments of inventions developed by employees during their term of service.

The full update is available through the PDF icon.