Showing papers in "International Review of Law, Computers & Technology in 2022"
TL;DR: It is argued that most African countries’ educational systems are unprepared for the sudden switch to online learning and access to quality learning and that future policy strategies in bringing more Africans out of the digital desert are investigated.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Teaching and learning were disrupted due to lockdown imposed as part of efforts to curb the spread of the COVID19 virus that hit the world in 2020. As a result, many national governments requested educational establishments to migrate their teachings online. In Africa, internet penetration has improved in the last decade. However, the continent still lags in integrating the Internet into learning. Besides, there is unequal access to technologies used in online education and unequal access to data and connectivity. Regarding access to quality learning, the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap between the rich and the poor and has exposed society's fragility. This paper evaluates the strategies of African leaders in sustaining access to learning and the experience of learners during COVID19 lockdown. It argues that most African countries’ educational systems are unprepared for the sudden switch to online learning. Finally, it investigates future policy strategies in bringing more Africans out of the digital desert.
9 citations
5 citations
TL;DR: The article concludes by advocating the need for a separate horizontal legislation on cybersecurity for connected products based on the principles of the New Legislative Framework, with ex-ante and ex-post cybersecurity requirements for all IoT sectors and products categories.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article aims to cast light on how the fast-evolving European cybersecurity regulatory framework would impact the Internet of Things (IoT) domain. The legal analysis investigates whether and to what extent existing and proposed sectoral EU legislation addresses the manifold challenges in securing IoT and its supply chain. It firstly takes into account the Cybersecurity Act, being the most recent and relevant EU legal act covering ICT products and cybersecurity services. Then, EU product legislation is scrutinised. The analysis focuses on the delegated act recently adopted by the Commission under the Radio Equipment Directive (RED), strengthening wireless devices’ cybersecurity, the Medical Devices Regulation, the Proposal for a General Product Safety Regulation and the Proposal for a Machinery Regulation. Lastly, the proposal for a revised Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS2) is assessed in terms of its potential impact on the field of IoT cybersecurity. Against this backdrop, the article concludes by advocating the need for a separate horizontal legislation on cybersecurity for connected products. To avoid fragmentation of the EU's Single Market, a horizontal legal act should be based on the principles of the New Legislative Framework, with ex-ante and ex-post cybersecurity requirements for all IoT sectors and products categories.
4 citations
3 citations
TL;DR: This paper argues information rights offer significant potential to enable victims/survivors to gain control over personal information, feel empowered, and improve their mental health and wellbeing.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a compulsory retreat from public spaces. While, for some, this displacement has brought about engagement with digital technologies in new and interesting ways, for others, digital technologies have proved to be the site of technology-facilitated abuse (TFA). Consequently, there are renewed calls for regulation of TFA, with a great deal of this discussion focussing on the design and enforcement of criminal law. However, the scope of behaviour perpetrated with, or through, digital technologies is much broader and demands a range of responses that offer access to justice. This paper argues information rights offer significant potential to enable victims/survivors to gain control over personal information, feel empowered, and improve their mental health and wellbeing. First, it defines information rights and how they are accessed from an EU perspective. Second, it addresses the relationship between legal rights and empowerment in this context. It reflects on if, and how, information rights have been used within the UK specifically, to provide reflections on harnessing their potential. And lastly, explores the viability of advocacy in this area.
1 citations
TL;DR: The existing laws of India are overviewed as well as the changes Indian law is currently undergoing in these regard are assessed to assess the changes they are currently undergoing.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Safeguarding national security requires ensuring cyber security of a nation. While India has a wider law framework to ensure national security as against wrongs committed in real world, it is yet to match this framework to suit to the regulatory framework essential to address concerns raised due to the abuse of cyber technology. Though Indian laws including substantive legal provisions empowers the State to regulate acts affecting national as well as cyber security, its procedural rules suffers from being outdated and thereby irrelevant in addressing the concerns specific to cyber space. Ensuring national security requires access to data, both personal as well as non-personal data. While recent legal developments have been focusing on extending wider protection to privacy including data privacy, the State agencies strive to access data, which at times are crucial to the enforcement of laws in general and to ensure national security in specific. Jurisdictional issues further complicates the matter. As a result, the law enforcement agencies expect proactive coordination from internet intermediary in facilitating access to data, e-surveillance, decryption, internet traffic data monitoring, etc. Intermediaries on the other hand are also legally mandated to ensure data privacy, freedom of speech and other rights of internet users. This often has led to the conflicting concerns requiring new legal response. This paper will overview the existing laws as well as assess the changes Indian law is currently undergoing in these regard.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors model data business model and strategy and model co-relation between evolving privacy regulations business model restructuring, and re-strategise to re-stategise.
Abstract: Modelling data business model and strategy. organisation co-relation between evolving privacy regulations business model restructuring. to re-strategise
TL;DR: Byron et al. as discussed by the authors investigated the preservation of traditional knowledge under a sui generis regime in Nigeria and concluded that technology should be utilised to document and preserve cultural heritage rather than being regarded as a threat.
Abstract: The African continent has experienced virtually uninterrupted growth since the mid-1990s. Besides the abundance of natural resources, IP and technology have played a significant role in Africa’s ongoing economic growth and development. This first issue of Special Edition of International Review of Law, Computers & Technology Journal on Africa explores the intersection of IP and technology in the areas of tax, education, agriculture, among others. The edition opens with Afolashade Adewunmi’s paper, which evaluates how intangible cultural heritage could be protected in the face of rapid technological development. For a continent that survived colonialism and suffered an erosion of its heritage in the process, Adewunmi is concerned that this may be exacerbated by technological advancement. She notes how existing IPs like copyright are inadequate to protect intangible cultural heritage. Although with some challenges, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage provides some solace and nudges some countries to establish appropriate laws. The work summarises the landscape of protection in Africa and provides a case study on traditional craftmanship from Nigeria. Rather than being regarded as a threat, the author concludes that technology should be utilised to document and preserve cultural heritage. Ibijoke Byron, in the following article, tackles a related but different issue on heritage, the protection of traditional knowledge. The paper investigates the preservation of traditional knowledge under a sui generis regime in Nigeria. Her discussion of protection of TK under customary law, international law, such as (Convention on Biodiversity and Nagoya Protocol and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation) is illuminating. This illustration underscores that traditional knowledge ‘is vital for life in a natural environment as it can be of benefit to health, food security and agriculture’. However, it is faced with threats from intellectual property regimes and economic globalisation processes. It decries the legislative gap in Nigeria and recommends the implementation of a sui generis regime that will take cognisance of international initiatives on the protection of TK. Our next paper, ‘the Digital Tax Reform for Africa: Customised or One-Size-Fits-All Approach?’ aims to formulate high level-level international tax policy suitable for the peculiarities of the African continent. Nikolai Milogolov and Azamat Berberov underscore the evolving nature and the role of digitalisation in African economies and why the continent must participate in debates on shaping future tax reform policies. Africa faces higher fiscal risks from the potential inability to tax income obtained by foreign digital businesses but do not have a physical presence on the continent. In making its argumentations, the work adopts analytical, case study and economic approaches to address the continent’s current challenges. African countries’ diverse economic development and digital readiness should not be barriers to Africas’ formulating its tax policies. Leaders on the continent must embrace collaboration and cooperation in designing customised tax regimes for the region. The excellent contribution of Helen Chuma-Okoro and Ifeoma Oluwasemilore introduces the theme of COVID-19 into the IP-Technology dialogue. One of the resultant effects of the COVID-19 virus is its threat to food security. The disruption of the food industry left stakeholders to re-evaluate their business models. Examining the tripartite interconnection of IPR, Agricultural biotechnology and food sufficiency in Africa, these authors navigate how the IP system could strengthen self-food sufficiency from Nigeria’s perspective. They argue that experience from COVID-19 lockdown shows that achieving food self-sufficiency
TL;DR: In this paper , target market determination (TMD) obligations for financial products and their interplay with data protection rules are examined. But the authors focus on the impact of data profiling on consumers' access to financial products.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Increasingly precise data profiling of consumers is one of the drivers of profit for the financial industry in the digital age. However, data profiling may also bring about harm to consumers, ranging from data breaches to unfair pricing, digital manipulation, discrimination and exclusion of vulnerable consumers, which is particularly problematic in financial services context due to the consequences it has on consumers’ access to financial products. The focus of this article are target market determination (TMD) obligations for financial products and their interplay with data protection rules. It asks if financial product governance rules, requiring TMD and distribution of products within the target market, may further incentivise data profiling of consumers by financial services providers. I analyse this issue looking at two sets of rules applicable to financial firms in Australia: (1) the new financial products governance rules, which came into force in October 2021, and (2) the data protection rules: Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the GDPR. If these frameworks fail to strike a balance between (surprisingly) competing interests of consumer protection regarding the provision of appropriate financial products and the use of consumers’ data in digital profiling, the new rules may backfire, resulting in unintended consumer harms.
[...]
TL;DR: In this article , the effect and content of competition law engaged in the app-based ride-sharing industry has been studied with the help of critically analysing case law across three jurisdictions adjudicated by competition regulatory authorities with respect to the ride sharing industry.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This study studies the effect and the content of competition law engaged in the app-based ride- sharing industry. This has been done primarily with the help of critically analysing case law across three jurisdictions adjudicated by competition regulatory authorities with respect to the ride sharing industry. The three jurisdictions chosen for the study are India, Singapore, and the European Union in order to analyze a variety of the perspectives of the competition regulatory authorities. The primary objective of the study is to understand the meaning of the term market definition and how competition regulatory authorities have delineated the relevant market with respect to this industry since it is a part of the digital economy and is relatively new. Through this study, hurdles to delineating a relevant market were analyzed through the case law as well as understanding why a common market definition has not been framed across jurisdictions as well as within the same jurisdiction, as seen in the case of India.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the imperatives of self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria from the experience of the COVID 19 pandemic, and examined the role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRS) in boosting productive capacity.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article focuses on the imperatives of self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria from the experience of the COVID 19 pandemic, and examines the role of intellectual property rights (IPRS) in boosting productive capacity. While the different types of IPR protection standards remain relevant to the overall goal of food self-sufficiency in respect of the different activities and outputs along the food value chain, the main emphasis of the article is on patent and plant varieties protection (PVP) in connection with agricultural biotechnology. The article is library-based and explains the meaning and import of food self-sufficiency, the factors responsible for the weak capacity for food self-sufficiency in Nigeria in particular, and other African countries vis-à-vis potentially enabling factors. It also examines the strength and weaknesses of the current IP laws in Nigeria, and how Nigeria could repurpose or improve her laws to achieve the objective of food self-sufficiency. The article found that IPRs are relevant in boosting greater efficiency and productivity of Nigerian agriculture to strengthen food self-sufficiency, but the current IPR framework are not designed to circumvent the perils and leverage the benefits of IPRs that would help unlock the potential of the sector for food self-sufficiency.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present an analysis of the effect of the limitation of Zoom's liability in both the Emirate and the French laws on video conferencing services in the post-pandemic world.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic led to a surge in the use of video-conferencing services offered by Zoom, which has continued in post-pandemic times. This paper sheds light on Zoom’s contractual terms related to governing law and jurisdiction, and its applicability in Emirate and French laws. It attempts to answer the question about the circumstances in which the local courts will take jurisdiction over a dispute, notwithstanding that the parties agree that such disputes will be resolved in the jurisdiction stated in the clause. It also provides an analysis of the exclusion and limitation of Zoom’s liability clause. Specifically, it looks at the effectiveness of the limitation of Zoom’s liability in Emirate and French laws. The study emphasizes the need for policy and legislative framework to address this new area of law and technology to protect users from contractual terms in e-services agreements since video conferencing services continue to thrive and drive growth in the post-pandemic world.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that the normalisation of transnational and extraterritorial cybercrime jurisdiction should be resisted, arguing that the foundations of international law, human rights, the interests of justice, complexity and cost and the underlying purposes of criminalisation conspire to demand a reconsideration of the use of Transnational and Extrritorial jurisdiction in the fight against cybercrime.
Abstract: Cybercrime is a scourge that blights the lives of many around the globe. It has a significant transnational component. Despite established international and national regulation, its growth in scale and breadth persists. One result of which has been increased recourse to transnational and extraterritorial jurisdiction. This is misplaced. There are a number of factors militating against it. The foundations of international law, human rights, the interests of justice, complexity and cost and the underlying purposes of criminalisation conspire to demand a reconsideration of the use of transnational and extraterritorial jurisdiction in the fight against cybercrime. While there are undoubted difficulties attendant to the alternative, enhanced subjective territorial regulation and enforcement, it is undoubtedly the most effective long-term means of fighting cybercrime. The normalisation of transnational and extraterritorial cybercrime jurisdiction should be resisted.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that the CCI should use a framework of market definition that accounts for interdependencies on both sides of the platform and provides clearer guidance for when platforms may be defined from one or both sides.
Abstract: One of the challenges before competition law today is to develop criteria for market definition in platform markets. The traditional tests for market definition do not serve to identify the boundaries of competition in multi-sided platforms due to the complexity of competitive constraints operating on each side of the platform. An important question that arises is whether platforms should be defined as one or separate markets on each side. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has generally defined platform markets from one side only. However, academic literature suggests that certain platform markets should be defined from both sides of the market. This paper argues that the CCI should use a framework of market definition that accounts for interdependencies on both sides of the platform and provides clearer guidance for when platforms may be defined from one or both sides. Applying this framework, the paper finds that the CCI did not account for certain sides of Google’s search platform. This prevented the CCI from evaluating the harm to third party content providers from Google’s conduct. Further, by overlooking the multisided nature of Oyo’s platform in its market definition, the CCI disregarded the sources of power and competition in this market.
TL;DR: The author’s thesis is that alongside privacy and security, the Internet of Things poses a threat to other fundamental values, from equality and freedom of expression to self-determi-nation through dignity.
Abstract: Dr Guido Noto La Diega ’ s monograph Internet of Things and the Law attempts to answer an overarching but crucial research question: ‘ how does the law mediate the power dynamics between IoT big tech and the end users and can the law steer the development of the IoT in a human-centric and societally bene fi cial direction? ’ . The author ’ s thesis – or main argument – is that alongside privacy and security, the key topic i.e. the Internet of Things (IoT) poses a threat to other fundamental values, from equality and freedom of expression to self-determi-nation through dignity. fi lling