new technologies | In Principle

What legal traps can a developer fall into when creating a game? Find out by playing the role of Creative, Manager, Accountant or Consultant in the Gamedev CEO simulator game created by the Gaming practice at Wardyński & Partners.

This year’s three-day programming marathon will be held under the theme “AI to spur legal innovation.” Participants will look for innovative solutions to help revolutionise lawyers’ work, client relations, and access to justice. Our In Principle portal is a media partner of the event.

The Digital Markets Act or DMA (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector), which entered into force on 1 November 2022, creates many new obligations for businesses operating in the digital sector, particularly so-called “gatekeepers.” The DMA will impact the functioning of the entire digital ecosystem—not only gatekeepers, but also other participants in digital markets, including business users and end users of core platform services, competing providers of core platform services, and providers of other digital services.

How VAT should be charged on trading in NFTs is of interest to taxpayers and tax authorities in various European Union countries, which sometimes take different approaches. On 21 March 2023, the EU VAT Committee published Working Paper no. 1060, entitled “Initial VAT reflections on non-fungible tokens,” touching on a number of issues concerning the VAT treatment of NFTs. As NFT transactions, including high-value ones, become more common, the tax treatment of these tokens and operations involving them, including on VAT grounds, should be fairly assessed, and the working paper may have a significant impact on this assessment.

“Dark patterns” used by online platform providers have been controversial for some time, but recently there has been a growing buzz about them, in particular due to actions undertaken by EU and national data protection and consumer protection authorities. (For an overview of cases and decisions by EU and national authorities, see the European Commission’s “Behavioural study on unfair commercial practices in the digital environment: Dark patterns and manipulative personalisation, Final Report,” pp. 61–70.) Primarily, these measures are intended to combat deceptive practices in the digital environment, but also to educate consumers and draw their attention to the most common types of practices.

The world pins high hopes on the development of artificial intelligence systems. AI is expected to generate huge economic and social benefits across various aspects of life and sectors of the economy, including the environment, agriculture, healthcare, finances, taxes, mobility, and public administration. The progressing development of AI systems is forcing the creation of appropriate legal frameworks, which on one hand should facilitate further growth of AI technologies but on the other hand should ensure adequate protection of persons using such systems and raise societal confidence in the operation of AI systems.

On 30 November 2021, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the final wording of a draft Data Governance Act (DGA) (COM/2020/767 final). The aim of the proposal is to promote the availability of data and to build a trustworthy environment facilitating the use of data (both person and non-personal) for research and creation of innovative new products and services. It is also intended to create a legal framework for easier sharing of data and mechanisms facilitating re-use of certain data held by the public sector, including data involving health, agriculture and the environment.

Sharing, exchanging or jointly collecting data may be valuable for the businesses involved and for the development of a given industry sector, technological innovation, and, as a result, consumers. Indeed, data are of fundamental importance for the development of the digital economy, either alone or as a basis for functioning of artificial intelligence. Hence, the competitiveness of companies on the market depends on access to relevant data.

The activity of public sector entities often involves generation and use of extensive sets of data. These datasets serve to perform public tasks, but often have measurable economic value. Here we will examine the rules under which entities from outside the public sector can gain access to data of this type and use them to create new products and services.

In recent days, it was widely reported in the media that a well-known manufacturer began testing a system allowing for display of personalised ads in cars. But attentive drivers are not surprised. It is no secret that a modern car is a computer on four wheels, as it processes large amounts of data to ensure safety, transport efficiency, and access to navigation and infotainment services.

To complement our previous considerations about the civil-law status of data, we should analyse the possibility of using data to create security interests in business transactions. The increasing economic value of data inspires a search for effective ways to collateralise these assets.

A natural extension of the consideration of the legal status of data is the question of whether data can be inherited. This is no longer just a theoretical issue. Data are increasingly valuable, making it vital to answer the question of whether data constitute an asset of the decedent’s estate that can be taken over by the heirs.