E-Legal
The law as a whole is really lots of separate laws. These laws are sometimes made by the government and sometimes made by Judges making decisions in court. With new crimes (like mobile phone cloning, which didn't exist 20 years ago) a lawyer will take a case to court and see if a judge will decide if it's illegal or not, thus making a new law.
Spam Law
EU Privacy and Electronics Communication Directive
It's an offence for a UK company to send an e-mail or SMS without first getting the OK from the person due to receive it (unless that person was already a customer before december 2003).
Any UK company sending Spam without permission could be fined £5000
Report an EU based company sending SpamIf the Spam comes from outside the European Union, things are different. For example, the US has almost the exact opposite rules for governing Spam. in the US, customers must "opt out" of receiving Spam mail - if you get it, it's up to you to say stop. This is the reason most Spam mail now comes from outside the EU and why most online companies are committed to developing technological solutions.
Premium rate services and scams
No direct law applies to premium rate numbers.
Instead, there is self-regulation through a code of practice which all companies must agree to before offering services.
Premium rate companies rent their premium rate lines in the UK. Even a foreign company running a premium rate scam will still usually buy numbers from a UK supplier. They can all be traced and their profit withheld if they are ripping it.
ICSTIS was established to make sure everybody plays ball. If there is a problem, they will investigate it and take the necessary action.
Complaining long and hard enough to your network might also get you your money back.
What to expect from premium rate services
- The most you will ever be charged by a UK premium rate numbers beginning 090 is £1.50 per minute - the missed calls, £50 per minute scam was a myth
- Overseas premium rate numbers beginning 00 can go up to £4.50 hour
- No service should charge under 16s more than £3.00 for a single download
- Premium Rate Short SMS numbers usually begin with an 8 or 6
Copying Stuff
Copyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002
Copyright is simply reusing anything without the permission of the person who created the original. You probably know all about copying music, but what about ripping images and using them in your own stuff? Or lifting whole sections of text for your own writing?
Read about intellectual propertySmall cases (individual theft)
The police don’t get involved in small cases because it isn't a crime. That's why at the moment you see record labels rather than the police taking individuals to court for downloading tunes.
Worst case scenario, the person whose work it is (or who owns the work) will sue for damages.
If the copyright owner can't afford to sue, there are organisations who might do it on their behalf.
See a list of copyright enforcement organisations Big cases (piracy and warehouses of stuff)
Where there are copies of an original work being made and distributed for a profit, it becomes a criminal offence. This includes dealing in equipment designed for making copies, such as decoders.
The 2002 Act applies to all big cases. You might have encountered people selling DVDs of the latest cinema releases. These people are usually at the exposed end of a long chain of criminal activity.
Reprogrammed Mobile phones
The Mobile Reprogramming Act 2002
It's not difficult to reprogram the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which is why mobile phones continue to be stolen.
However, The Mobile Reprogramming Act 2002 makes changing or reprogramming any mobile phone IMEI from any network an offence.
It's ok to unlock the phone from a service provider, but it's illegal to unlock or offer to unlock the IMEI or other identifying features. If you're caught with one of these phones, you'll be asked plenty of questions.