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Hi, here is your weekly round-up of highlights from Out-Law News. As always, there are plenty of other stories from this week. You can also access our archive of weekly emails    This week's highlights from Out-Law News TMT & Sourcing and Intellectual Property Scottish council fined £250k following recycle bin data breach A Scottish council has been fined £250,000 by the UK's data protection watchdog after a firm it hired to process its employees' pension records failed to dispose of that information properly. 13/09/2012   New Singapore data protection law places emphasis on businesses to develop compliant policies, says expert Businesses operating in Singapore will have to adopt new data protection strategies in order to comply with a proposed new "framework law" in the country, an expert has said. 11/09/2012 ICO sets cookies law compliance deadline for some websites The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has set some website operators a deadline to begin efforts to comply with UK regulations that set out rules for the use of 'cookies'. 11/09/2012 Government to strip away planning 'red tape' to help deliver on fastest broadband pledge Telecoms firms will be able to install overhead broadband lines anywhere without having to obtain planning permission to do so under new Government plans. 11/09/2012 Microsoft will 'comply immediately' with browser-choice obligations, EU Competition Commissioner says Microsoft has agreed to comply with European Commission demands that it offer users of its Windows operating system the choice of using non-Microsoft internet browsers, according to the European Commission's Competition Commissioner. 10/09/2012 Consumers buying direct can sometimes sue in home courts, rules ECJ Consumers who buy goods direct from traders abroad can sue the traders in their home country's courts if certain conditions are met, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. 10/09/2012 Insurance Insurance fraud register launched to aid crackdown on fake claims Individuals that make false insurance claims will have their details added and stored on a new 'Insurance Fraud Register' (IFR) for five years in a bid by the insurance industry to crackdown on fraudsters. 13/09/2012 Pensions Actuaries have been too cautious when estimating life expectancy, expert says After years of underestimating how much longer pensioners are living, new data appears to show that actuaries are now overestimating longevity, a pensions expert has said. 13/09/2012 Financial services Financial services in the cloud, more IT failures and taking on the FSA's adviser charging stance John Salmon's Financial Services blog 13/09/2012 Competition OFT able to levy fines up to 30% of firms 'relevant turnover' for anti-competitive behaviour Businesses now face fines worth up to 30% of their annual turnover in a particular market if they engage in anti-competitive behaviour, following an update to the UK competition regulator's penalties regime. 12/09/2012 Energy Foreign joint ventures invited to bid for shale gas exploration licences in China Foreign joint ventures (JVs) will be able to bid for the next round of shale gas exploration rights in China, the country's Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has announced. 12/09/2012 Infrastructure UK rail projects to receive share of €200m EU transport grants Upgrades worth €5 million to the rail connection between Southampton Port and the West Coast Main Line and an electrification project in the North West of England are to receive a share of €200m in EU funding, the European Commission has announced. 11/09/2012 Pinsent Masons: combining the experience, resources and international reach of McGrigors and Pinsent Masons   About this email This is a weekly email for subscribers of Out-Law.com, a website with more than 10,000 pages of legal news and guidance. If and when you need further advice, we hope you'll choose Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com .   Please forward this email to your friends. If someone forwarded this email to you and you'd like your own subscription, register here