what's in the news

Courtesy of Thames Valley Business Magazine March 2012

In a quiet corner of Caversham a squad of athletes of the GB Rowing Team are training to exhaustion just a mile outside Reading in the charge of the famous sporting alchemist and coach Jurgen Grobler. The squad has a reputation: it has achieved gold at every Olympic Games since 1984, Jurgen since ‘72. Great titans of the sport have come and gone in this squad and the current generation of followers have no lesser ambition.

There is one difference – this time the team selected will be able to mine gold from a quarry not much more than a training row from HQ, at Dorney Lake, near Eton, home of the rowing competition of the 2012 London Games. It is ‘home water’ writ large.

Home water has been an advantage before. Previous success to the tradition started by Sir Steve had last come (literally) down the road at Henley in 1948 and now the current athletes all have gold on their mind.

Pitmans SK clients Andrew Triggs Hodge MBE and Zac Purchase MBE have both already won Olympic Gold Medals but are not satisfied until they have repeated their feat in front of their fans.

In order to do this, they, like the rest of the squad, must compete in repeated and relentless trials to determine whether they are worthy of a seat in a competing boat they may have qualified themselves. Team GB may take a team of 47 out of 48 athletes, having ensured that each boat (save one) has already pre-qualified for the Olympic regatta.

This might seem like room enough for all the contenders but the heavyweight sweep rowing (as opposed to sculling which involves one oar in each hand)  line-up has only 14 places, which will necessarily leave at least one world silver medallist on the bank. There are similar log jams among the women, lightweights and in the sculling squad: there is prodigious strength in depth.

“Everyone is fighting for those top seats” says Andrew.” Already there is furious racing going on.” He has however won every trial so far.

A trip to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley [also a Pitmans client] will trace why this is and will show more: that the Thames Valley, its River and institutions are at the heart of the sport from its source deep in the eighteenth century to its rise and now its (hopefully continued) flood. Baron de Coubertin (himself a sculler) drew the connection to the Olympic Games in drafting the Olympic Charter leaning heavily on the statutes of Henley Royal Regatta, which is over half a century its senior. This last Regatta hosted Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948 and many local oars shared in the gold rush. FISA, the world governing body [and a Pitmans SK client], organised World Championships at Eton Dorney in 2006.

Nowadays the source of the athletes has expanded in keeping with a successful, nationwide, professional sport with National Lottery support and commercial sponsors. While Oxford University, Leander Club and the Thames Valley’s great rowing schools still contribute athletes, other local institutions have provided several candidates such as Reading University and Molesey Boat Club high performance centres (among others round the country), thanks to British Rowing’s Start Programme sponsored by Siemens. Indeed a local Marlow boy became the greatest Olympian in Britain and possibly the world, Sir Steve Redgrave of Marlow Bottom.

Once these athletes have shown serious potential, they are cloistered within the Redgrave- Pinsent Rowing Lake and GB Rowing Team citadel, a modern, high performance facility hidden behind fences among the reeds at Caversham. They are now professional athletes. They train 3 times a day, on the water, in the gym and on rowing ergometers, which monitor every watt produced, in the obsessive care of the finest coaches and physiologists. This centre produces the best in the sport, which is crucial for the nation’s prestige, especially if it is the host of the Olympics.

While they are supported by the National Lottery Sports fund, the sums amount to subsistence allowances gratefully received. These men and women are motivated by gold rather than ’silver’. They have careers planned and are often studying. Triple silver medallist Katherine Grainger for example is studying elements of psychopathy in crime. These are serious, disciplined and driven people. She will be wanting gold this time.

Currently it is mooted as possible that the reigning World Champion four, might be broken up to allow 2 Olympic Gold Medallists aboard. It has happened before, such is the level of commitment to excellence and to ensuring gold for Britain being provided by this squad. It is an epic blow to those who are demoted, but most have the tenacity to carry on and produce gold from whichever boat they gain selection for. This too has happened before. Sir Steve Redgrave made history by winning 5 Olympic gold medals and on the undercard, the Eight, often seen as the blue riband event, were inspired to take gold too, for the first time since 1912. History may repeat itself this summer.

For some athletes repeated success makes them household names and Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Sir Steve have gained wider acknowledgment for their excellence and attracted endorsement deals and sponsors have benefitted from their association. Those mentioned above in the current squad do much for British Rowing’s sponsors and have attracted personal sponsors, such as Next, Omega, Allianz and locally Thames Water.  Pitmans has advised on a number of such deals and in comparison with other sports in which we practice such as cricket, rugby and football, rowing represents great value for money and excellent role models both during the Olympics and afterwards.

Meanwhile the machines keep whirring and the boats pound up and down the lake awaiting the opportunity to grab gold. This is an unique opportunity to watch and support this golden sport in the valley which is the cradle of this sport among many other modern sports which grew here. World sport is coming to the Valley, in many ways its birthplace, join in!

The Thames was described by the Queen at the opening of the River and Rowing Museum as the golden thread running through the fabric of the nation’s history. A number of her subjects in Caversham are hoping to add to the gold in this her Jubilee year.

Contact us for help or advice with any sport since we have dealt in most, through our offices in London and Reading, the homes of sport.

James Felt
Consultant, Sport, Media & Entertainment
T: 0207 634 4628
E: jfelt@pitmans.com

Jeremy Summers
Partner, Head of Intellecutal Property
T: 0207 634 4622
E: jsummers@pitmans.com

Pitmans hosted an evening seminar on 1 February, sponsored by Prolinx, a specialist IT security solutions provider, at which delegates were stimulated by a panel of experts who highlighted some of the current threats and challenges posed by cyber risk.

The key note presentation was made by Professor Sadie Creese of Cybersecurity at the University of Oxford. Professor Creese kicked off with the scale which faced today’s society, highlighting that by 2020, there will be 31 billion connected devices and 50 trillion gigabytes of data created. This, in turn, will result in an increasingly vast ‘attack surface’ which presents those seeking to protect cyber assets with an enormous challenge. Professor Creese, amongst other things, pointed out the scarcity of meaningful metrics in relation to data security as well as the importance of preparing to ‘respond and recover’. As part of current research, it was clear that much needed to be done to develop invaluable analytics to measure security. And that, above all, the ability to attribute an identity to hackers or intruders remained a perennial vulnerability.

Philip James, a Partner who leads Pitmans’ Data Privacy & Information Law team, explained that the World Economic Forum’s recent Risk Report now lists cyber threats as one of the top 5 most risks threatening society in terms of likelihood. Philip highlighted the risks this poses to the current intellectual property enforcement regime: in the absence of identifying culprits, it remains difficult to take criminal action against those responsible and that all that will be left will be a dispute between the victim and its suppliers as to who is to blame. In addition, investors and companies will be increasingly reluctant to invest in R&D if valuable intangible assets cannot be protected from extraction. Philip also summarised the EU’s recent draft Data Protection Regulation which seeks to introduce a much stricter regime for serious breaches of data security (calculated as a percentage of global turnover) and a concept of accountability so that data controllers are encouraged to take responsibility for the protection of personal data.

Simon Milner, Head of Cyber Risk at JLT Speciality Limited, then provided a realistic explanation of the insurance landscape and what solutions are available to customers on today’s insurance market. Simon picked up on some of the themes touched on by previous speakers including the need to develop better analytics to assist risk grading and assessment. In particular, it was clear that many in industry were not necessarily aware of the variety of products currently available in this space, e.g. to cover reputation management, legal costs and re-constitution of lost data.

Finally, Nick Baskett, Chairman of Matta Consulting, a penetration and vulnerability consultancy, provided an invaluable insight into the gaps and strengths in existing data security systems, including:

• an amusing, if scary, expose on how effective intrusion detection systems can be when they are not correctly implemented; and
• how a software house subsequently discovered (after passing on the opportunity to carry out a security audit on a number of previous occasions) that a trojan was residing in its primary code repository.

Nick then stressed the distinction between carrying out a forensic investigation following an incident dependent on whether it was necessary to collect evidence or not (and the related costs involved). 

A copy of the WEF Global Risks Report is available here.

Following the session, McAfee have also released their 2012 Threats Predictions – click here for further details.

For further discussion of this seminar or other issues, please contact:

Pitmans’ Data Privacy & Information Law team

Pitmans’ Cyber Risk Management team

Philip James
Partner, Head of Data Privacy & Cyber Risk Management
T: +44 (0) 207 634 4655
E: pjames@pitmans.com

Award winning law firm Pitmans LLP has acted on behalf of Kinetic Facilities Limited, part of the Panalux Group, in its acquisition of the Direct Lighting business from Metro Imaging Limited for an undisclosed consideration.  The transaction was led by Pitmans Corporate Partner, Stephanie Perry.

Panalux offers the world of film and television production the very best in lighting rental Equipment and facilities.  With bases located throughout the United Kingdom, this vast production resource is home to a huge inventory of modern equipment maintained by a team of highly skilled, experienced professionals.

A small selection of their portfolio of credits include: X-Men: First Class; Clash of the Titans 1 & 2; Pirates of the Caribbean; Quantum of Solace; Harry Potter Series; Dr Who; Casualty; Holby City.

Commenting on the transaction, Steve Smith, Managing Director of Panalux Worldwide said: “We are immensely proud to have worked alongside Pitmans in order to extend our presence in the photographic market through the acquisition of the UK’s largest photographic rental facility, Direct Lighting, and the subsequent inception of our new brand, Direct Photographic. I have no doubt that we will continue to obtain Pitmans invaluable assistance as we develop and expand all our operations both in the United Kingdom and overseas”.

Stephanie Perry, Pitmans Corporate Partner added: “The Kinetic team are long-standing clients of the firm and we were delighted to help them with this “bolt on” acquisition which will enable the business to expand further”.

Created by Panalux, Kinetic Facilities Limited provides a flexible, competitive service combining an extensive range of cameras, lights and expendables with the support of experienced, friendly staff.

Direct Lighting has a long history of hiring lighting equipment for a range of productions.  Contracts comprise television commercials, broadcast television and feature films, with a small selection including: Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness; The Inbetweeners; Auf Wiedersehen Pet: Series 4 & Christmas Special; and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Direct Lighting is a patron sponsor of the British Society of Cinematographers, and an approved lighting contractor to both the BBC and ITV.

Courtesy of Data Protection Law & Policy – May 2011

Last November, the EU Commission set out its aims to modernise the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive in a November 2010 Communication. Philip James, Partner at Pitmans, reviews some of the responses to the Commissioner’s consultation in relation to a particular conundrum facing the Commission – data portability.

This long-overdue overhaul of the existing data protection framework is intended to address some of the key challenges facing current data privacy regulation, namely: the collection and use of personal data via new technologies, harmonisation and simplification of notification throughout the EU, and globalisation and cross-border data flows.

The purpose is to reinforce an individual’s right to privacy, whilst on the other, to harmonise and simplify data privacy regulation. The Commission has indicated that the revised framework may include a possible EU-wide notification process, involving a central EU Information Commissioner.
 
A key part of this harmonisation process will depend upon the establishment of precedents, template data processing agreements and fair processing notices. In addition, organisations will be required to adopt Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and Privacy by Design (PbD) into new technologies from inception through to implementation and day-to-day operation, rather than immediately prior to launch. In short, privacy is to be embedded into the development of business and technology from the word go.

A Refresher of the Review

Key objectives of the modernised data privacy strategy are to:

- Strengthen individuals’ rights and clarify what types of information will fall into the definition of ‘personal data’, such as user profile information.

- Increase transparency for data subjects, for example, by introducing mandatory personal data breach notification.

- Create new responsibilities for data controllers by making the appointment of an independent Data Protection Officer mandatory.

- Place a duty on data controllers to carry out PIA where appropriate, and promote the use of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET) and the PbD model of system design.

- Enhance individuals’ control over their data including the socalled ‘right to be forgotten’ and empower users with a right to port their personal information, otherwise known as data portability.

- Raise and finance public awareness and promote the application of approved ‘privacy seals’ for organisations which meet certain minimum privacy standards.

- Ensure informed and free consent (and, in so doing, provide pre-approved data privacy notices on EU standard forms).

- Harmonise the conditions for processing sensitive data and review the categories of information which may be classed as sensitive.

- Make remedies and sanctions more effective and promote an active infringement policy.

- Clarify and simplify the rules for international data transfers.

- Encourage self-regulatory initiatives.

Data Portability

Cloud providers and social network providers will need to pay particular attention to the proposed right for users to port their personal information to an alternative provider, as well as their right to erase their digital footprints, pursuant to their right to be forgotten. It may not have gone unnoticed that Google has recently launched a range of Chrome laptops, in conjunction with Acer and Samsung, which provides users with a suite of solely cloud-based applications, i.e. just the barebones on the machine itself; applications aren’t installed locally but accessed remotely. The service is a direct challenge to Microsoft’s enterprise offering. What is clear is that cloud-based computing isn’t going away anytime soon.

The right for consumers to port their data to a new provider will also be of a specific concern to social networks whose servers continue to brim over with usergenerated content.

In theory, the right for users to require providers to transfer their data to a new provider should promote cloud shopping. This, in turn, will promote greater competition between providers. One of the most effective weapons customers have in their armoury is to switch providers. Permitting users to transfer their personal portfolios of friends, photos and documents to an alternative supplier offering greater control and security will be a powerful means of promoting privacy. This is an ideal that should be pursued.

Data Liberation

Notably, Google is supporting this initiative by means of its Data Liberation campaign. This is to be welcomed, although it remains uncertain whether the genuine motive is to relieve its competitors of their data buckets, rather than liberate its customers’ own data. This will come as no surprise, given the continuing data and PR battle between the digital woolly mammoths, Facebook and Google.

In practice, the story is somewhat different. There are some significant hurdles to truly liberal customer data migration policy. The Commission asked organisations and interested sector groups to respond to its consultation in relation to the Directive review by 15 January 2011. There is a wealth of feedback, and after reviewing some select responses, the following were of particular interest.

Microsoft’s response to the Commissioner’s consultation is particularly helpful on this issue. In recognising the brand value of winning customers’ trust, the report starts with ’Microsoft’s success depends on users having confidence in our ability to responsibly manage and protect their data’ and continues the theme in Section C. (Enhancing control over one’s own data): ’An essential element of a user’s control over that data is the ability to retrieve that data in a simple and costefficient way….Microsoft strives to build capabilities into those services to give the user that control’.

Practical Challenges

However, at the same time, the response outlines the practical and commercial realities that may inhibit data portability:
 
- Any right must draw a distinction between a user’s own data and underlying applications or related metadata or stats generated by use of the service.

- The right should be limited to data held by the provider.

- Any data transferred will depend on the format of the data and APIs (application programme interfaces) in question. Whilst there are industry standard formats and APIs, few service providers store data in the preferred format for data exchange.

- In addition, the richer the data format, the harder it may be to transfer data to a new provider.

The more raw the data, the easier the transfer.

In short, there are significant, technical challenges and users cannot have it both ways – have a specialised, slick user interface, then expect to be able to click a button and transfer their whole data suitcase to a new data ‘hotel’.

The risks of data portability cannot be understated. In Nokia’s response, the risks of failing to identify correctly the user who is requesting the data transfer are significant (page 10). One recommendation is to ensure that only ‘identified individuals’ can exercise their rights. In addition, there may be some benefit to limiting the frequency with which a user can exercise this right.

Promoting a Privacy Market

Cloud customers often marry at haste and repent at their leisure. In other words, unless users are provided with clear information about what will happen to their data at the end of the relationship (call it a ‘data pre-nup’ if you will), privacy is likely to suffer. In reality, a limited number of data oligarchs are likely to retain market control over customers’ data, based on first mover advantage, rather than necessarily providing the most effective platform for maintaining their customers’ privacy. Facilitating data portability will in itself generate healthy competition in relation to privacy enhancing technologies and empower customers’ with control over their data. Comparisons can be drawn with the mobile network market and the ability of customers to switch provider. For a long time, there was great resistance which was eventually overcome.

Industry Standards

Requiring providers to allow competitors access to their technology to produce compatible exchange interfaces and promoting common, standard industry data exchange formats (where reasonably practical) should assist users in migrating to a new provider. However, as ever, where there are associated costs of porting data, such costs should be reasonable and users should be informed of what these costs are in advance of ‘moving in’.

What Questions Should I Ask?

Google has succinctly distilled the questions a user should ask before signing up to a cloud service, in its Data Liberation site, as: 

- Can I get my data out at all?

- How much is it going to cost to get my data out?

- How much of my time is it going to take to get my data out?

These are questions both consumers and businesses should be asking before they embrace the economically attractive cloudbased services on offer. It may come as no surprise that many cloud services offer low introductory fees, whilst the costs to switch to a new provider in the future may be astronomical.

Directive or Regulation?

The Commission will propose legislation this year. It should be borne in mind that the option remains open to the Commission to introduce new legislation in the form of a Regulation, rather than as a Directive. The upshot of this being that the law would be directly applicable and there may be a genuine opportunity for the Commission to achieve greater harmonisation within the EU.

Philip James
Media & Entertainment Partner
+44 (0)207 634 4655
pjames@pitmanssk.com