eNews December 2006

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill (the Bill) which is currently working its way through Parliament, introduces new procedures for banning unsuitable people from working with children. Among the list of activites relating to children that are regulated under the Bill is "moderating a public interactive communications service which is likely to be used wholly or mainly by children".

A person is deemed to fall within this provision if, for the purposes of protecting children, he or she has any function relating to:

  • Monitoring the content and matter which forms any part of the service
  • Removing matter from, or preventing the additon of matter to the service
  • Controlling access to, or use of, the service.

The Bill is intended to provide a single list of people barred from working with or engaging in activities relating to children and a new statutory board is intended to be established to take decisions on whether or not a person should be included in or removed from that list.

A person who is on the barred list will commit an offence if he or she engages in any regulated activity. "Regulated-activity providers", which includes employers, will be required to check whether people applying for jobs or who are already employed in a regulated activity are on the list.

Regulated-activity providers will commit an offence where they employ someone to work with children who are on the list or employ someone to work with children who they know or have reason to believe is barred or employ someone who has not been through a vetting process.

Penalties currently proposed under the Bill include a fine of up to £5,000 and in exceptional cases imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Companies operating chatrooms need to keep a close eye on the Bill as it proceeds through Parliament and companies that host chatrooms for customers should similarly be aware of the implications of the Bill.

Companies Act empowers IP owners

The new Companies Act provides that public authorities (for example, Trading Standards) holding information on IP infringement can disclose it to the rights owner for purpose of enforcing or defending intellectual property rights (including IPR in software).

IP owners will be able to obtain sufficient information on suspected infringers and software pirates to assist in legal actions.

Environmentally Safe Disposal of Batteries Legislation

The EU have recently published Directive 2006/66/EC in relation to regulating the environmentally friendly disposal of waste batteries and accumulators.

The Directive follows close on the heels of the WEEE and ROHS Directives which deal with the disposal of electrical and electronic products and limits the content of harmful substances in them.

This new Directive on batteries is intended to come into force in EU member states by September 2008 and subject to certain exceptions, member states must limit the mercury and cadmium content of batteries and:

  • set up collection schemes or require Producers to set up such schemes for the safe disposal of waste batteries and accumulators
  • provide that Producers of batteries meet the cost of disposal
  • require Producers to register with the environmental regulatory agency in each member state where their batteries are sold; and
  • provide mechanisms to encourage the development of new recycling and treatment technologies.

In the new Directive, the definition of "Producer" is different to that in the WEEE and RHOS Directives. In the new Directive a Producer is defined as any person in a member state that, irrespective of the selling technique (including sales on the internet), puts batteries or accumulators on the market for the first time within any member state, in the course of business. In the WEEE and RHOS Directives, the definition of a Producer is a person anywhere in the world who places electrical and electronic products on the market in the EU. Thus the new Directive appears to offer a narrower definition of Producer.

Manufacturers and resellers of products which incorporate batteries and accumulators as well as standalone batteries and accumulators will need to follow the implementation of the Directive from now on as it will impact on product marketing requirements and registration requirements.

The new Directive (like WEEE Directive) requires compliant batteries to display the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol.

For more information, contact robert.bond@speechlys.com