changes in law - legal aspects of new technologies

On many occasions we have predicted that cryptocurrencies will soon become subject to Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.

This became clear in July 2016 when the European Commission announced that it will impose new regulations and presented its proposed changes. (Coming soon: A legal definition of virtual currencies).

In our 2014 Virtual currency report we analysed the anticipated impact of the potential regulations on the cryptocurrency market and discussed the subject again in 2015’s  Bitcoin and money-laundering regulations article. We have also brought attention to the subject during industry conferences and meetups.

Currently, legislative work on these regulations is nearing the end, both at the EU-level and in Poland. Below, we take a look at what the nearly-ready rules will contain and their practical impact.

As we discuss in another article, legislation extending the coverage of anti-money laundering/combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations to include cryptocurrencies is already at an advanced stage in Poland and at the EU level.

The General Data Protection Regulation entering into force on 25 May 2018 is not the only privacy revolution in store for the EU. The proposed ePrivacy Regulation is also generating greater and greater controversy and may change the shape of the internet as we know it.

Changes regarding EU trademarks entered into force on 1 October 2017.

Multimedia marks combine image and sound, and can be for example animations launched on mobile devices or apps, film studio jingles, brief video clips, and so on.

Now filings can be made to register multimedia trademarks in the form of an MP4 file of up to 20 MB.

While most countries have not given any thought yet to regulations governing artificial intelligence, and the European Union is only at the stage of adopting resolutions recognising the need to examine this topic, Estonia is not only drafting its own legal act but wants the law to be exceptionally innovative.

R&D relief was included in Poland’s income tax law from 1 January 2016. A year later, under the “Small Innovation Act,” major changes were introduced to make the incentives more attractive.