This is a compilation of lecture + working group notes relevant to the ‘Technology Law’ course offered at the University of Groningen. It provides an extensive insight into the course and all the content that was covered which will be helpful for the exam.
Relationship between law and technology: dilemmas
● Right to be forgotten
● E-commerce within European Union
● Data protection
● Jurisdiction: which laws apply when, where + how
○ Law is usually applied based on territorial jurisdiction, however this is
complicated to apply to the Internet as it crosses borders
Technology around us and Law
- At home
- Computers
- Phone
- Wifi
- At workspace
- At university
- Public spaces
- Cameras (for protection and safety)
- To make decisions
- Google Maps
- GPS
- To facilitate lives/activities
- Robots
- Who is liable for the conduct of robots?
- Do they have a legal personality?
- Can robots be held in captivity?
● Individual technology vs technology around us (data being gathered, cameras in the
world)
Functions of law
1. Relations between State and individuals
, - Criminal activity in digital society
- Cyber speech and social networking; obligation to protect human rights + possibly set
limitations
- Privacy and data protection in the information society
● States have power to rewrite the certain human rights, such as freedom of speech, by
setting parameters; all about how States behave towards individuals
2. Relations between States
- Governance in the digital environment
3. Relations between people (legal persons; includes B2C + B2B)
- Cyberspeech and social networking
- Privacy + data protection in the information society
- Intellectual property and the information society
- E-commerce
Is Technology Law new?
Lines of argument
No need for new law, use old principles for new realities (law of
horses; just because we have horses on the street, does not mean
we have to create a law of horses)
Technologies of today are so different that we need new laws
and new legal principles; would lead to legal uncertainty
What is included in the name ‘Technology Law’?
● Do we need to call the law(s) applying to technology, technology law?
- Is there a need for new principles and rules for technology?
Definition: technology law is the set of rules regulating technology
,Is it only about ‘law’?
Regulations should be made to not only address the complexity of new technologies but also
in terms of development; how do we design these technologies and what are our choices
based on this?
- How can we regulate this space?
● Difference between laws regulating behaviour + design of technology
○ Design of technology determines behaviour + choices we have:
- Access to certain information/things
- Limitations to certain things/information
- Using school email limits you to certain websites but also gives you
access to specific websites of the university
What technologies are we talking about?
1. Information Technologies: technologies based on data
Shift into the digital world; implications from a legal perspective:
- Rivalrous to non rivalrous goods
- Depends whether it affects the enjoyment of a particular service/good of
another whilst in possession/use of the service/good in question
- Single ownership to more users at once
- Buying music to downloading/(streaming/licensing music
- Economic value of bits
A&M Records Inc. v Napster Inc. 114F. Supp. 2d 896 (ND Cal 2000)
● Effect on law: not just a matter of applying general principle as it is a fundamental
change; must adapt them
○ Do we have to change the law with every new development? Leads to legal
uncertainty
Information
- Information society
- Information economy
- Use a lot of data, reconfigure connections, create new services, etc.
Legal challenges that come from information society
- Shift from ownership of things to ownership/control over information
- New + revolutionary model to market and deliver products/services
, - Shift from rivalrous to non-rivalrous & tangible to intangible
These seriously challenge the traditional legal values and rules
What is a good?
Are NFTs a good?
● NFT: non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain that can be sold and
traded
○ Does it fit the definition of a good? Is the definition of goods wide enough to be
applicable to NFTs?
What is a good?
● Tangible vs intangible
● (Fulfill needs and wants)
● Value attached to it
Is information ‘good’?
● Tangible/intangible; can it be stolen?
● Value: monetary or otherwise
● Information is valuable; it is also (almost) infinitely scalable, nonrivalrous and intangible
How can law protect the value of information where it is instantly in an age where it is
instantly replicable, transmissible and almost infinitely scalable?
Digital convergence
- Combination of functions into one device; simple camera or phones —> developed into
smartphones with cameras
● Challenges legal traditions: do we need new laws or can previous legislation apply to
new technologies?
○ Traditional legal distinctions attached to the medium used are blurred
■ Ex. Do laws on cameras and surveillance apply to mobile phones?
Digitisation
- Costs of storing bits drastically cheaper
- Cost + speed of transmitting bits across computer network has equally fallen
- Demand (of consumers) for digital services to access, store, and retrieve bits
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