Innovations
The internet of things, artificial intelligence, quantum computers, robots, blockchain databases, neural networks, and many other things that look like an outtake from a sci-fi geek’s fantasy are now real, or at least are likely to become real in our lifetime. How do lawmakers react to those new developments? Can their regulations strangle innovations to death? Should they follow in their wake, or it’s better to set out the rules in advance? Let’s journey to this brave new world together.
GDPR vs. Blockchain: The Saga Continues
The popular French privacy watchdog, the CNIL, is on fire these days. After being the first EU authority to issue warnings for the GDPR violations to Teemo and Fidzup, it discovers new playgrounds – this time it’s all about matching blockchain technology and the GDPR. With the recently issued official English translation of the recommendation, …
Xenotransplantation: Playing God Because At Least Somebody Should
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) statistics, there are about 114,600 people in need of an organ transplantation in the US. About 20 die waiting each day. This year over 24,200 transplant have been performed and over 11,600 donors took part, but the shortage of organs and tissues is apparent. This problem …
Is Autonomous Car Data Subject to Copyright?
Autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, are getting conceptually closer to smart gadgets, rather than mere means of transportation. Such vehicles are equipped with a multitude of sensor arrays, such as LIDARs, conventional radars, cameras, accelerometers, and thermometers. Over a single ride to work your smart car would generate an exhaustive log featuring every bump on …
ICO Regulation: a Competitive Advantage?
This article was previously published on heconomist.ch in French. Some minor changes have been made by the author. The Chamber of Digital Commerce, the world’s largest professional association representing the blockchain industry, recently published a 108-pages document that analyses the regulation of ‘Initial Coin Offerings’ in 5 leading common law countries. Meanwhile, the blockchain/ICO working group …
Internet of Things: What It Is and Why It’s Not Here Yet
Internet of Things or smart devices are not quite what some people picture them to be, but they sure are buzzwords that are sometimes used very liberally and with only a very loose connection to the actual subject. These days, market specialists and PR experts like to add the word “smart” to the name of …
Cryptocurrencies Regulation: It’s Getting a Bit Philosophical
The world of crypto, like the world of politics, can create curious bedfellows. This is now becoming clear in the move by some jurisdictions to create a regulatory and supervisory regime around distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and the opposition by others to do so. Similarly some industry players, such as the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, are …