The Dawn of the Electronic Age for South African Litigation
The High Court Rules of South Africa have been amended so that from the end of July 2012, parties will be able to serve documents or notices on each other via facsimile or electronic mail. Before this this change, documents had to be served on the other party's physical address or the physical address of more...
Safeguarding Payment for Creative Services
I am often asked to assist web designers and other creative professionals who have not been paid for work produced for a customer. The designer is often left with no reward for his hard work, while the customer has the benefit of a completed product. There are a few practical steps that a designer can more...
PAIA manual deadline exemption – does the exemption apply to you?
In terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, No 2 of 2000, all private entities are obliged to prepare a manual that will describe the type of records that they hold and the way in which those records may be accessed. This is an onerous task for small or low income entities and more...
When can an employer intercept employee communications?
Communication is central to modern business, and employers provide their employees with communications facilities to allow them to operate effectively. These facilities usually include access to a telephone and email, but as technology progresses, new media such as instant messaging, VOIP and social media are becoming available to employees. While new technology brings great benefits more...
The new “hot” top level domain – .xxx
So what is .XXX? This sponsored top level domain (“TLD”) has been designed specifically to cater for the adult entertainment industry. It was approved by the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Board on 18 March 2011 and went into operation on 15 April 2011. Who operates the .XXX domain? It is operated more...
What is the difference between dark and lit fibre?
Recently I was looking into the issue of whether an Electronic Communications Service Provider License (ECS License) or an Electronic Communications Network Service Provider License (ECNS License) would be required in order for an entity to own infrastructure over which Electronic Communications or Broadcasting Services could be provided. The regulatory framework relating to ECS and more...
Introduction to King III from an IT perspective
Basic Principles of the King III Code as it relates to IT: A board of directors can delegate responsibilities of risk management to risk committees; The audit committee should be an integral part of any IT risk management process; and The board of directors should ensure that IT is aligned with greater business objectives and more...
Google Adwords and TM term keyword searches
South Africa: As it stands the policy with regards to TM’s and Google’s attitude with regard to policing TM’s has varied from region to region. In South Africa, Google only monitors the use of TM’s in ad text and not in the keywords themselves. Instituting a TM complaint procedure in terms of Google Adwords’ Terms more...
Employees Who Write Software: Who Owns the Copyright?
In 2006 I distributed a short guide to software development and copyright, dealing with amongst other things ownership of the copyright in a computer programme written by an employee in the course of his employment. At the time the law on the matter was somewhat uncertain, but the recent case of King v SA Weather more...
Can you put a Business’ Standard Trade Terms on a Website?
I was recently asked for my opinion on whether a business a using paper service order form could save space and hassle by referring on the form to standard terms located on the business" website. It seems natural that in this day and age this should not only be possible but actually encouraged, but the more...