Newsletter March 2008
TECHNOLOGY
Bill to Extend Applications in the Field of Electronic
Traffic
On 25 February 2008 bill 31358 was sent to the
Dutch Lower House of Parliament. In this bill various amendments to
the Dutch Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure were proposed. The
purpose of the amendments is to relax the requirements "being
in writing" set out in these Acts. As a result of this bill,
it will become possible to conclude contracts which currently may
only be concluded in writing also electronically.
read more
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Duty of Care of ISPs: Self-Regulation or Additional
Legislation?
Who is responsible for safety on the Internet in
the context of the duty of care as described in the
Telecommunications Act? This was the central question during the
so-called "Third House of Parliament Discussion" on 13
February 2007. The outcome of this discussion is that for the time
being no further legislation will be made to give substance to the
duty of care of providers of public electronic communications
networks and services mentioned in Section 11.3.
read more
CORPORATE
Breaking Off Negotiations Is Allowed!
In its judgment dated 29 February 2008 the Dutch
Supreme Court made it clear once more that the breaking off of
negotiations will not easily lead to liability of the party that
does so. In the past the picture was that after breaking off
negotiations a party could expect successful claims for damages.
This judgment makes it clear, however, that only if a party
abruptly breaks off negotiations when these negotiations are at an
advanced stage, a limited compensation of the costs directly made
must be paid.
read more
EMPLOYMENT
Supreme Court 'breaks through the B.V.' for the
first time
It regularly happens that directors perform their
work for a company under a management agreement by placing their
B.V. (Dutch private company) in between themselves and the company.
The management agreement as such is not regulated by law, but is
often a contract for services. A management agreement is usually
used in order to avoid having to pay wage tax and social security
contributions, and in order to exclude a number of employment law
provisions.
read more
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
New Developments
Regarding .nl Domain Names
On 28 February 2008 the new Dispute Resolution Rules for .nl
domain names have entered into force. These Rules offer more
possibilities to sue domain name holders. As of the same date, it
has also become possible to register purely numerical domain names.
read more
Music Publisher Loses Exploitation Rights Due to Radio
Silence
In the seventies and eighties Hans van Hemert was a
famous songwriter for, inter alia, André Hazes, LUV and Ramses
Shaffy. At the beginning of February, the Court of Amsterdam
decided that Van Hemert could terminate the contracts with his
music publisher for breach of contract, for the sole reason that
his publisher had been idle for too long.
read more
MEDIA
An Outing
to the Beach
The publication of photographs of Máxima, Amalia and Alexia at
the beach of Wassenaar is unlawful. The fact that the public likes
to see that Máxima is also just a mother cannot justify an
infringement of privacy.
read more
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