Alexander Savelyev
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
The paper focuses on civil law remedies for violations of data subjects’ rights: claims for damages and claims for compensation of moral harm. Based on an analysis of academic literature, as well as of Russian and international case law, it is argued that, although these remedies are endorsed by the GDPR and other laws, they are inadequate and do not conform to the requirements for an “effective remedy” stipulated by major international legal documents on human rights. The main reasons are: 1) difficulties in proving the fact and the amount of a legally recognized category of damage because the typical …
Lindsey Whitlow
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems have become vastly more sophisticated since the term was first used in the 1950s. Through the advent of machine learning and artificial neural networks, computers utilizing AI technology have become so advanced that a team of attorneys in the United Kingdom claim that their AI machine, DABUS, actually created patentable inventions. The team went so far as to file patent applications with the European Patent Office, the UK Intellectual Property Office, and the US Patent and Trademark Office. All applications named DABUS as the inventor. This sparked a heated debate within academic and legal communities that …
Christophe S. Hutchinson
Published: July 25, 2020
Blockchain is a catch-all term for a combination of three technologies: distributed ledger, cryptology and network protocols. The first enables storing the same info in different places, the second allows secure transactions to be recorded and then encrypted on the distributed ledger. The third element governs the network and verifies transactions across the network automatically and independently. Considered by many as “the biggest technological innovation since the Internet”1, blockchain is a decentralized, more secure and transparent model for transactions that operates on an encrypted peer-to-peer basis. This model makes trust between parties superfluous by instead placing trust in the underlying …
Roman Yankovsky
Published: July 25, 2020
For the last five years there has been a global boom of interest in cryptocurrencies, followed by the fall of their rates; at the same time, there was a wave of enthusiasm regarding the public offering of tokens (ICO) and disillusionment in them (due partly to the active counteraction by American and other influential regulators). Disputes on doctrine moved from suggestions of a new object of property rights to prohibitive initiatives. As these eventful years have shown, the global financial system is sufficiently stable to digest even such a decentralized phenomenon as cryptocurrency. In my opinion, it is now time …
Ilya Ilin
Published: July 25, 2020
Language technology (LT) in its broad sense comprises speech technology, computational linguistics, and natural language processing technology. These technologies are expected to have great economic potential and a considerable impact on the everyday life of society. The development of LT fosters applications for artificial intelligence (AI) and broadens the horizon for its advancement. LT deals not only with written forms of linguistic expression but also extends to voice and speech. Voice excluding speech or its contents is a combination of unique physical patterns, such as vocal qualities, volume, speed, and certain other biometric data. Voice can provide medically relevant information, …
Vladislav Arkhipov
Published: July 25, 2020
The restrictions for disseminating certain kinds of information that is considered publicly offensive and (or) dangerous has made topical a fundamental problem of the limits of reasonable interpretation and application of law to the contexts that could be characterized as virtual, playful or otherwise non-serious. From the standpoint of interdisciplinary approach including mostly philosophy of law and game studies, the underlying problem reflected in the representative examples above, has substantial similarities with the “magic circle” concept studied in the research direction that is conventionally called “videogame law”. However, existing theories of magic circle, both in game studies and law, are …
Nikolay Dmitrik
Published: July 25, 2020
The world is connected — governments, business and people are increasingly living and working in a globally connected digital space. People no longer identify themselves as belonging to spatial communities (neighborhood, town, city or country) but by subscribing to digital ecosystems like Apple or Android, Facebook or VKontakte, etc. Governments use digital platforms at the local, regional and national levels to administer certain powers and procedures (even electoral campaigns) and to get feedback from their citizens. As citizens become digital citizens — connected to a wide range of internet resources including electronic government, banking, local management systems, as well as …