Mar 2007

In our first article, Karen Ngan and Jenny Te review the Court of Appeal's approach relating to sentencing levels for the specific computer offences under the Crimes Act when dismissing an appeal by the "Trade Me hacker" against his sentence of almost 3 years for Internet fraud.

Next, Emma Shearing and Earl Gray of our Intellectual Property team examine the trademark controversy surrounding Apple Inc's new multi-use hybrid phone device - iPhone. Their article looks at the legal battle that arose between two of the technology giants - Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc., and ways to avoid such disputes.

Finally, late last month the anti-spam bill that was first introduced in 2005 was passed. The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act that was passed on 27 February, 2007 will come into force after a six-month transition period.