Legal Issues in the Digital Age
More information...Legal Issues in the Digital Age
More information...Published: April 11, 2023
The paper provides an analysis of virtual reality as a subject of regulation while underlining the similarity of principles in gaming and regulatory activities as the elements of virtual reality. A deeper insight into the relationships between regulatory and gaming activities allows to make a statement that gaming provides a tool for situational analysis to identify the most rational action among the available alternatives thus offering a way to construct a legal reality. Assuming that people will make decisions by weighing costs and benefits to maximize the “utility”, and will interact with others by balancing preferences and constraints, the immersion …
77-92
Published: July 24, 2023
The information society of our time is characterized by large-scale and intensive use of computer technologies in most areas of economic relations. Many procedures of interaction between people and business entities are computerized and digitized. Remote technologies used on the Internet allow groups of people, in particular, to perform mathematical calculations and use the data obtained in the interests of participants in such collective calculations. The totality of such electronic data in the Russian Federation is legitimized as a digital currency. The legal content and place of digital currency in property turnover and the system of its state regulation seems …
4-25
Published: April 30, 2022
The comment reviews key positions in the rulings of the Presidium of the Russian Intellectual Property Court (IPC) issued in October and November 2021. This Chamber hears cassation appeals against the decisions of the IPC first instance and deals primarily, but not only, with matters of validity of registered intellectual property rights. Therefore, this review predominantly covers substantive requirements for patent and trademark protection, as well as procedural issues both in the administrative adjudicating mechanism at the Patent office (Rospatent) and at the IPC itself. The current review covers such issues as the procedure for challenging a Eurasian patent term …
95-110
Published: April 30, 2022
The paper describes the impact of the EU ‘Digital Single Market Strategy’ (DSMS) on consumer law. The essay analyses, in particular, the new Consumer Sales Directive [Directive (EU) 2019/771] and its recent transposition into Italian Law. Starting from the assumption that the Information-Digital Age certainly has social-economic impacts, therefore also legal ones, the paper first of all illustrates the Strategy promoted in 2015 by the European Commission. In order to represent how the Commission intends to face the new digital “revolution” and its economic opportunities, this essay — through a brief description of the main pillars of the DSMS — …
81-94
Published: Nov. 2, 2022
The paper is focused on the problem of regulating the operation of data systems of road transport telematics in the Russian Federation to satisfy the widening needs of governments and municipal authorities, natural and legal persons who access and use the relevant data. The authors identify two main approaches to improving the law applicable to road transport telematics: comprehensive regulation and selective, point-by-point regulatory changes. Both approaches envisage introducing amendments to the law, removing gaps including by defining the legal regime applicable to data generated through the use of transport telematics, creating an environment for efficient operation of the Autonet, …
86-100
Published: Nov. 2, 2022
Language in this paper is understood as a system of signs of various physical nature, which serves cognitive and communicative functions in human thinking. Languages are formed naturally or created by man artificially for certain purposes. The graphic language as a class belongs to artificial language systems. Graphic language in law is not a unique phenomenon. The system of state symbols studied by heraldry is a variety of the graphical language, just as traffic signs and other signs in transport — water, sea, air, rail, pipeline. The military have a system of symbols of their own such as grade and …
47-67
Published: Nov. 2, 2022
The article explores the key issues that arise when digital assets make part of the estate. It considers how the classical theory of inheritance law could be used in the case of digital inheritance and what clarifications should be made to this theory. The purpose of the study is to examine the features of the category “heritable digital assets” and how it evolves as society undergoes digital transformation. To achieve this purpose, the first part of the study is focused on the general issues of the theory of heritable assets while the second part explores the problems of qualifying assets …
68-85
Published: Dec. 14, 2022
The article deals with the development issues of e-government and e-governance in Russia and elsewhere. In modern society the social relationships appeared to be as evolving under the notable impact of information and communication technologies. The functioning of the state also changes in a number of aspects, with all three branches of governance affected by transformations. Executive authorities are subject to the most significant changes. With the emergence of e-government in countries with different political and legal traditions, the procedure for the provision of public and municipal services is changing and executive authorities become more transparent. The ongoing processes have …
67-87
Published: Dec. 15, 2022
In the prefatory article, the author analyzes the general legal aspects of e-government. As a complex phenomenon, e-government has to be studied on the basis of multi-disciplinary approach including technical, sociological and legal. It is such approach that allows to reveal its essence. However, each multi-disciplinary approach has to be specifically developed. As regards the legal approach, it will be shaped by the changing social relationships brought about by IT technologies. The legal analysis amounts, in its turn, to the formal logical, historical and comparative legal methods. The formal logical method allows to analyze the law which supports the development …
4-13
Published: Dec. 14, 2022
The paper is focused at the correlation of state regulation and deregulation in the communication industry. The regulation of major sectors such as the communication industry should be up to the challenges of today. In the current context of building a new digital economy and reducing administrative barriers, a special importance is attached to how state regulation and deregulation correlate in the communication industry. The paper provides an analysis of regulation in the industry to identify the sectors may be excluded from state regulation or may benefit from self-regulation or deregulation. It purports to identify (based on analytical findings) the …
52-66
Published: Dec. 14, 2022
The right to informational self-determination, as the authority of the individual to decide fundamentally for herself, when and within what limits personal data may be disclosed, was formulated by German jurisprudence and has become a model for many States as well as for European Law in general. It is seen as a necessary tool for maintaining a vibrant democracy, on the basis that privacy is an “integral part” of society. The basis for the judicial decision was the Kantian theory of the moral autonomy of the individual. This explains the close connection of judicial reasoning with human rights and their …
34-51
Published: May 4, 2021
Analysis of ways of limiting secrecy of correspondence in Russian judicial practice
160-168
Published: May 4, 2021
The purpose of the present article is to gain an understanding of the opportunities and difficulties created by the introduction and development of the practice of network (smart) contracts. Our research methodology is based on a holistic set of principles and methods of scholarly analysis employed by modern legal science. It uses a dialectical method involving both general approaches (structural system method, formal logical method, analysis and synthesis of individual elements, individual features of concepts, abstraction, generalization, etc.) and particular methods (legal technical, systematic, comparative, historical, and grammatical methods, method of the unity of theory and practice, etc.). We analyze …
100-122
Published: May 4, 2021
The broad use of artificial intelligence in creating intellectual works poses difficulties for legislators and courts in choosing the proper legal framework for such works and defining the place of artificial intelligence in the legal system as a whole. In this article, we shall study different models of regulating such issues and analyze the prospects and consequences of their use. We show that only a few of many different models for copyrighting AI-generated works are viable and that the most promising among them is the introduction of a special limited related right for the person who organizes the use of …
42-63
Published: May 4, 2021
For several years, almost everyone has been talking about blockchain. The underlying distributed ledger technology has become (in)famous as the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. But what about blockchain and intellectual property like patents and copyright? Could this technology be used for the protection and enforcement of such rights? Which role can smart contracts play in this regard? This article focuses on questions concerning the requirements for provingthe protection of technical inventions as well as on the administration and exploitation of intellectual property rights. The latter could play an important rolefor intellectual property, which has not been …
17-41
Published: May 4, 2021
Digitalization has become omnipresent today. No longer limited to the security sphere, digital technologies are actively transforming society as a whole. However, the conservative institution of law does not always respond promptly to changes, and many lawyers believe that the traditional legislation in force is sufficient to handle this new object of regulation. Yet the fact is that this object cannot be called traditional from the regulatory standpoint. Technology has a powerful impact on both law and the state and so requires new solutions. Under such circumstances, it is important to gain a legal understanding of digitalization without delay. The …
3-16
Published: July 27, 2021
The author examines a special approach to establishing the sovereignty of the state in relation to cyberspace, the extraterritorial characteristics of which determine the question of the implementation of the territorial supremacy of the state. The author concludes that the understanding of the state’s sovereignty in relation to cyberspace lies not in detailing a set of measures in the form of sovereign powers undertaken in this area, but in constructing the boundaries of cyberspace both in relation to the technical component of the network infrastructure that supports the smooth functioning of the Network, and in in relation to the virtual …
49-69
Published: Jan. 27, 2021
The coexistence of digitization and law fuels their mutual influence and calls for scholarly inquiry into their mutual impacts and the effects thereof. Technization of society has contributed to society’s development, and the objectives and vectors of this process have been in many ways informed by public and other social institutions, including law. Like before, digitization at its current stage combines social and technological mechanisms of managing societal processes, ingrained into the wide socio-economic context and connected with the implementation of the nation’s strategic objectives. Similar phenomena and processes have a strong impact beyond Russia’s borders as well. All this …
3-20
Published: July 27, 2021
The dawn of the neocolonial project has seen the emergence of a new space: data. Data is a raw material that can be stitched, processed and marketed in the same way as the East India Company (EIC) used to do with India’s cotton. EIC, which started as one of the world’s first joint-stock companies, turned into a wild beast, building a corporate lobby with the help of lawyers and MP shareholders to amend legislation in its favor. The EIC became a particularly atrocious and innovative colonial project that directly or indirectly controlled continents, thanks to an army larger than the …
70-81
Published: Dec. 9, 2021
The topic of this article is relevant, first of all, due to the fact that at the moment it is objectively impossible to deny the acquisition of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences as a kind of main indicator of socio-economic processes and a mechanism for legitimizing the state system of regulation and management in covid and post-covid conditions. The subject of the article is the legal regulation of mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. The purpose of the study is to identify the problems of legal regulation of the process of mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 through the prism of the human …
151-167
Published: Dec. 9, 2021
In the creative industry, performers’ interests cannot be met solely through their own actions and the realization of their own creative abilities. Coordinated interaction of representatives of creative professions and show business is necessary. In this area, various kinds of agreements are concluded, which do not always relate to the exercise of intellectual rights. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulates in more detail the contractual relations associated with the use of works of authorship, without paying due attention to contracts with performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations, which leads to the problem of double interpretation in the …
77-97
Published: Dec. 9, 2021
The article reviews the new Russian legislation introducing the experimental legal regime for the use of highly automated transportation vehicles (HATVs) (driverless vehicles) on public roads. The article analyzes strategic planning documents related to the subject, such as the governmental Traffic Safety Concept for Public Roads with Driverless Transportation Vehicles (DTVs) and the European Union’s documents regulating the use of robots and artificial intelligence (AI). Drafts of the relevant laws presently at the stage of public debate or discussion at the Duma are reviewed. The Russian experience of legal regulation is compared to the international experience, with conclusions made about …
33-57
Published: Dec. 9, 2021
The article analyzes the “making available” power presented in Russian copyright law, as well as the specifics of obtaining permission to use musical works and phonograms on the Internet. The right to “make available” has been known to Russian law since 2004. This eligibility appears to be very close to the traditional uses of works that existed long before the advent of the Internet. These include, in particular: public performance, broadcasting and cable retransmission. At the same time, “making available” power is presented in Russian law less fully than the indicated powers. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation describes …
58-76
Published: Dec. 9, 2021
Law as a regulatory system based on the principle of formal equality in freedom is a social phenomenon immanently inherent in a technogenic civilization with its cultural matrix, in which “gene” of techne (skill based on knowledge) was rooted. The specifics of the current stage in the technogenic civilization development are determined by NBIK technologies, NBIK technologies, which contain not only tremendous opportunities to improve the quality of human life, but also no less large-scale dangers of dehumanization, due to their intentions on the posthuman perspectives. The need to resist the destructive potential of these technologies in order to keep …
3-32
Published: Dec. 23, 2021
At present, algorithms are becoming the heart of society by taking control over the decision-making process as societies are increasingly getting digitalised. There is a consistent theme that an unaccountable, black box technology has taken over the stage and is now making decisions for us, with us, and about us. But the contention around public participation in making decisions in science and technology needs to advance to a stage where there is a more direct conversation between the public and those developing the technologies. With the above mentioned conception of moderating emerging technologies’ development, primarily digital technology due to its …
70-97
Published: Dec. 23, 2021
The paper looks at improving the judicial system in Russia facing the rapid technological change of modern society in which new relationships are largely associated with different areas of intellectual property. Today biotechnology, digital rights, computer programs and scientific research materials have become widely used in civil circulation and their intellectual property rights should be effectively protected. The paper discusses different issues of protecting intellectual rights provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, aimed at both suppressing and preventing their infringement, and assesses the statistical indicators of the courts. The practice of the Intellectual Property Rights Court …
130-142
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 …
32-53
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 …
3-31
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 …
79-98
Published: July 25, 2020
Analysis of causes and outcome of recent judicial conflict between solid database companies.
124-134
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 …
54-78
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, …
99-123
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) official website for coronavirus, the disease has spread to approximately 214 countries and regions. While the disease is spreading mercilessly around the world, science and technology are giving it an equal fight. The pandemic is a test of governments’ medical capacity and their political will; it also raises several philosophical questions. It is a test of humans as a unit. A test of humanity as a whole. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intended to imitate human cognitive functions. It will bring significant change to health care, driven by the growing accessibility of healthcare data …
63-91
Published: Dec. 17, 2020
We are experiencing a digital revolution that is changing the very nature of law. Digital code becomes a form of regulation through which private actors link their values to technological artifacts that prove capable of conditioning their operations both on a material and moral level. But technological artifacts appear to be non-neutral means, reflecting choices of different nature, among which those of a political nature stand out. The more the regulatory provisions are implemented through the use of technologies, the more the codes acquire the status of a regulatory technique, which can be used both to define and incorporate regulatory …
3-34
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
Digitalizing the court activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan
173-177
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
The rapid development of information technologies and digitalization of the global economy is compelling the Russian customs service to quickly create an electronic customs system that can coexist alongside the traditional paper customs control. The creation of electronic customs aligns with the development strategies outlined in Presidential Decree No. 204 “On national goals and strategic development tasks of the Russian Federation through 2024” of 7 May 2018. Electronic customs contributes to the development of international cooperation, exports, and an attractive investment climate. The first results of electronic customs are impressive: more than a third of all customs declarations are registered …
144-162
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
The pandemic is a watershed event that has prompted both an evaluation of the achievements of information and communications technology (ICT) and also a re-evaluation of the prospects for developing social processes compatible with ICT. Much has been already been accomplished in Russia and throughout the world. But in the current pandemic, telemedicine is facing new challenges. This article discusses the state of the art in telemedicine and the prospects for its development in the changing conditions wrought by the pandemic. Examples are provided of the solutions that telemedicine can offer in such a difficult period, and the risks due …
92-143
Published: Nov. 4, 2020
Analysis of confidentiality of communications in Russian judicial practice.
153-172
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 …
24-62
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 …
2-23
Published: Dec. 17, 2020
Internet technology makes digital value transactions between anonymous individuals possible, but leaves unanswered the question of how to resolve disputes between unidentified parties. Blockchain dispute resolution platforms provide a response to this problem. In the social dispute resolution systems for blockchain currently in use, pseudo anonymous jurors can resolve disputes between pseudo anonymous parties. This paper presents Kleros as the most illustrative blockchain dispute resolution platform BDRP. To describe the features of the Kleros dispute resolution platform and the qualification of jurors, this research employs an online dispute resolution survey of both the jurors and stakeholders of the Kleros platform. …
59-77
Published: Dec. 17, 2020
While the Internet promotes widespread communication, this communication is often anonymous. How to draw the line between freedom of speech and privacy? The specifics of protecting privacy and business reputation against violation by rating sites are discussed in this article. Do the activities of rating sites need special legal regulation? The author believes that the general rules on privacy and freedom of speech are sufficient for regulating these new relations. The respective court practice of Germany, the UK and the USA is analysed. The tentative conclusion is that rating sites do not contradict the law if they do not disseminate …
125-139
Published: Dec. 17, 2020
The article examines relations new to Russian practice regarding the introduction of the concept of “fake news” into the legal field, dissemination of fake news and the problems of legal enforcement of the indicated norms, including administrative and criminal liability.
140-147
