Category Archives: UK

This England (War On Terror ed.)

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Sierra Charlie, who blogs as a bobby on the beat, tells a tale of Terror!. Worth the click.

Spotted via schneier.

Posted in UK | Comments Off on This England (War On Terror ed.)

Something About International Conferences Brings Out the Worst in Police

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

There must be something about a boatload of visiting foreign dignitaries that brings out the worst in police. Miami's cops have had to pay out substantial damages for their civil rights violations when we had trade talks here.

And now the British police in London appear to have misbehaved rather badly in their attempt to clear out a peaceful static protest during the G20 summit. See Indymedia London | Videos | Show | film of police attack on G20 climate camp.

Spotted via The Magistrate's Blog, What Should We Make Of This?.

Posted in UK | 6 Comments

Why the Queen Can Enjoy Her New iPod

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

EFF's Fred von Lohmann has a very nice analysis of the copyright law quagmire caused by President Obama's gift of an iPod with 40 show tunes to the Queen of England.

I am not a copyright scholar, but I think Fred may have left out one aspect of the issue which I think means that the Queen can enjoy her iPod in peace: sovereign immunity.

In the US “sovereign immunity” is something that keeps you and me from suing the government for certain classes of misdeeds. But, as I understand it, in the UK sovereign immunity means…sovereign immunity. The Queen IS the THE sovereign. She has immunity. It's really pretty much that simple.

The government in the UK doesn't have “sovereign” immunity because it's not sovereign. Sovereigns have two legs. The UK government just has “government” immunity. In practice that works like our sovereign immunity, so no one minds. But the distinction matters when you are thinking about the Queen's legal exposure in what are “her own courts.” And although I don't know UK copyright law, I'm guessing she didn't waive anything….

(As Fred noted when I sent him an earlier draft of the above, Obama's import to the UK is likely protected by diplomatic immunity. So the issues, whatever they are, are US law issues.)

Posted in Law: Copyright and DMCA, UK | 16 Comments

DataBase State (UK)

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

A quarter of the UK's largest public-sector database projects, including the ID cards register, are fundamentally flawed and violate European data protection laws, according to DataBase State, a report published today. The report also fingers the UK's national DNA database and the Contactpoint index of all children in England as particularly flawed.

Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, the report identifies 46 UK government databases and systems, more than half of which it says fail tests of privacy or effectiveness, and thus could be illegal under European privacy law.

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Law: Privacy, UK | Comments Off on DataBase State (UK)

Cambridge University — the Unauthorised History

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Ross Anderson, Cambridge University – the Unauthorised History

Cambridge University — the Unauthorised History

Cambridge University is celebrating its 800th anniversary in 2009. The official history tells the tale of the buildings; but what about the ideas?

Down through the years, Oxford has produced many powerful men and Cambridge many iconoclasts – scientists, philosophers and revolutionaries. The polarisation is by no means total: Oxford's alumni include the reformer John Wyclif and the father of economics Adam Smith, while ours include the Prime Minister Charles Grey, who abolished slavery and passed the Great Reform Bill. But we've long produced more of the rebels; way back in the Civil War, for example, we were parliamentarian while Oxford was royalist. Why should this be?

I can't find anyone else trying to tell the tale, so I'll try. This web page explains how disruption has been in our DNA from the very beginning.

I spent two very happy years at Cambridge. But it seemed more middle and upper class than iconoclast. Still, who can resist an account that proclaims,

Just as fire regenerates the forest, so a great university regenerates human culture – our view of the world and our understanding of it. We incinerate the rubbish. And Cambridge has long been the hottest flamethrower; we're the most creatively destructive institution in all of human history.

Posted in UK | 4 Comments

How to Complain in British

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

The British press are suggesting that this missive to Virgin Airlines might be is The best complaint letter ever.

I think the US version, were there one, would be a little less…polite…

Posted in UK | 3 Comments