Month: October 2021
ICLR.4 and the genie in the bottle
Some years ago the editor of this Newsletter complained of the over-use of the description “artificial intelligence” in legal products: “hyping AI is unhelpful”, he said. “AI is just what computers do.” And he’s not alone in expressing scepticism about the often extravagant claims of AI. Much of the mystique around it stems from simple […]
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GDPR fines: implications of the WhatsApp decision
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) recently issued its largest ever fine in respect of a breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by WhatsApp. Following an extensive investigation, it concluded that the messaging service, owned by Facebook, had failed to meet the transparency requirements under articles 12–14 of the GDPR. The DPC had […]
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The internet as a commons
Since the beginning of the “information revolution” there has built up a tension between the rights of the owners of information and other intellectual property and the practical ability and desire of others to exploit that property using the developing technologies. This tension heightened considerably with the popularisation of the internet and the web as […]
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Future Legal Worlds 2050: into the unknown
In June 2021, the Law Society of England & Wales published its report Future Worlds 2050: Images of the Future Worlds Facing the Legal Profession 2020-2030. This project was “set up to bring an exceptional group of thinkers to the table for raw, frank and honest discussions around future client needs, to postulate the legal […]
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