Examining the current challenges presented to the law by the rapid changes and developments taking place in the field of information technology, this new edition, written with students in mind, provides technical explanations where necessary and is supported throughout by extracts from a wide range of cases and materials. Exploring developments in the areas of criminal, tort, contract and intellectual property law, this fully updated and revised edition discuses a wide range of new issues, including: recent case law on software patents and a consideration of the EU proposals for harmonization new developments in data protection and the internet including cookies, spam and data retention Internet auction fraud viruses, Trojan horses and denial of service attacks the responses to the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention the impact of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Directive 2001/29/EC copyright and file-sharing, including the recent Supreme Court decision in MGM v Grokster. This is an essential read for all those interested in the interface between law and technology and the effect of new technological developments on the law