Wojdyło - legal aspects of new technologies

Last year we discussed, in the context of copyright infringement, whether an Internet service provider could be required to block access to a specific web page. The conclusion was that current law did not expressly provide for such measures but attempts to apply them could not be ruled out. But a number of legislative proposals have appeared recently calling for blocking of Internet content that does not infringe copyright.

Recent terrorist attacks have revealed the dark side of new information technologies. Organiz­ers of attacks, or fighters for the “Islamic State,” have ruthlessly exploited the latest communica­tions technologies. For example, according to media reports, terrorists have arranged attacks via PlayStation tools or encrypted instant messaging services. Polish lawmakers decided to respond to this phenomenon by passing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 10 June 2016.

Operators of crowdfunding platforms should carefully follow the work on the Network and Information Security Directive. The last draft of the proposal suggests that crowdfunding platforms could be covered by the directive.

The EU’s eIDAS Regulation enters into force on 1 July 2016. The importance of this somewhat mysterious act is not yet widely appreciated. It opens up new possibilities and creates space for very interesting new services.

Work on the new Trade Secrets Directive is approaching the end. One of the most contro­versial provisions of the proposal concerns information obtained through reverse engineer­ing—examining a product to determine how it was made and how it works.

Several regulations setting maximum levels for interchange fees have entered the legal system recently. It is already clear that these regulations are having a major impact on the market, causing some enterprises to revise their business model. An interesting issue from the point of view of the law of new technologies is whether these regulations are technologically neutral, or apply only to a selected group of payment instruments.