Over the last twelve years, Nicholas Higham has been consistently rated as an expert in telecommunications law and in information technology, eCommerce and Internet applications. Before this, Nicholas worked in the fields of copyright and Intellectual Property.

Telecommunications

Nicholas has immense experience of the development of telecommunications policy and of international and domestic regulation and licensing; see www.nicholashigham.com  

Internet

Nicholas Higham represented one of the UK's leading Internet service providers for many years and helped develop all the procedures and standard documentation used by that company, alongside numerous special deals concerning access, capacity, content, IT procurement and privacy. He was also involved in advising on a number of acquisitions of Internet businesses.

Nicholas has represented rights owners in licensing access to materials over the Internet, and advised on privacy and data protection issues. Nicholas has also carried out studies for the Commission of the European Community concerning the protection of rights. Nicholas is also familiar with the law affecting a number of specialised areas, including distance selling and Internet gambling.

Information Technology

Over more than twenty-five years of practice, Nicholas Higham has handled every type of legal issue concerning software, systems and data, ranging from software development and licensing, through system procurement to outsourcing projects and data management. Some projects have been very large, including advising the Department of Finance and Pensions in Northern Ireland on its recent outsourcing of systems for managing Human Resources, the National Audit Office on the outsourcing agreement entered into by the UK Inland Revenue and the British Library on its digital library programme.

Other projects have been smaller, but no less important to the companies involved. Nicholas has very considerable experience in advising on copyright and ownership issues and on contracts of all kinds, from the perspective of both supplier and customer, and he has helped companies find a commercially-sensible resolution when disputes arise.

E-commerce and Digital Media

Nicholas Higham has advised traders and Internet Service Providers on how to form clear and binding "electronic" contracts over the Internet, and on the new legal framework arising under the Distance Selling Directive and the Electronic Commerce Directive, and the Regulations that have implemented these rules in the UK. Nicholas also has considerable experience in dealing with the complex legal issues that arise out of the processing of customer data and has good knowledge of current - and emerging - rules on marketing by electronic means, including by email, SMS and telephone.