Computers & Law is the Society’s magazine available online, and in downloadable digital editions. To get full access to the content on this site plus the digital editions of C&L magazine, become an SCL member.
Latest Analysis
View more analysis >
The return of the great SaaS debate: is it goods or services?
James Gill and Fiona Vickerstaff of Lewis Silkin summarise a recent case on the legal status of software as a service. Those of us working in the tech space will remember the relatively recent case of The Software Incubator Ltd v Computer Associates UK Ltd in which the CJEU decided that a perpetual licence to use software constituted…
Read More… from The return of the great SaaS debate: is it goods or services?
Generative AI: Redefining Access To Justice
Amanda Chaboryk examines how policies and organisations may need to adapt if generative AI is to be used to improve access to justice. Introduction The legal field has consistently faced a growing and essential demand for innovation to tackle persistent issues related to access to justice. At a high level, the primary factors that impact access…
The UK Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill – a different approach to NIS2 or a British sister act?
It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that NIS2 is the acronym on everyone’s lips (at least in public sector IT circles that is). When coupled with its European sister legislation DORA, we encounter a regulatory twosome that makes the GDPR feellike yesterday’s news. And appropriately so given the EU’s second Network and…
Some comebacks work: the reformed Public Sector Tech Group
Mark O’Conor and Nick de Lacy Brown, co-chairs of the revived Public Sector Tech Group, on the reasons for the initiative and what the Group seeks to achieve. There has never been a more exciting time to work in technology law – we all know that. But it is not just the private sector taking…
Read More… from Some comebacks work: the reformed Public Sector Tech Group
The SCL AI Conference: Key Takeaways
Mauricio Figueroa summarises the key points from the SCL AI Conference hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills on 8th October. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics, trainees, in-house lawyers, and civil society representatives gathered at Herbert Smith Freehills’ offices in London for the annual Society for Computers and Law AI conference. The event brought together experts to explore the…
Latest News
View more news >This Week’s Techlaw News Round-up
UK law Ofcom publishes letter to online service providers on generative AI and chatbots Ofcom has published an open letter to online service providers in the UK about how the Online Safety Act 2023 applies to generative AI and chatbots. Websites or apps which use a generative AI chatbot that enables users to share text,…
European Commission and national authorities call on Apple to stop geo-blocking practices
Following investigation, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities (led by those in Belgium, Germany and Ireland) and the European Commission have notified Apple about several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices that the CPC Network has identified on certain Apple Media Services, including App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts….
European Commission and national authorities urge Temu to comply with EU consumer protection laws
Following investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission have notified the online marketplace Temu that some of its practices infringe EU consumer law. The CPC Network directed Temu to bring those practices in line with EU consumer laws. Temu remains under investigation and was…
ICO issues tech futures report on emerging genomics
Over the last decade there has been a rapid increase in investment and influence in genomic technologies in a range of sectors. The technology offers well-known benefits in areas like advanced disease treatment and personalised healthcare, and there is a drive to deliver a genomic-focused healthcare system. However, the rapid growth of applications in sectors…
Read More… from ICO issues tech futures report on emerging genomics
European Commission publishes results of Digital Fairness Fitness Check
The European Commission has published the findings of the Digital Fairness Fitness Check, which assessed if current EU consumer protection laws are fit for purpose to ensure a high level of protection in the digital environment. The Fitness Check covered three core Directives: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive, and the Unfair…
Read More… from European Commission publishes results of Digital Fairness Fitness Check
Latest Cases
View more cases >High Court considers cryptocurrency status in English law and key aspects of cryptocurrency fraud claims
For the first time following a full trial, the English High Court in D’Aloia v Persons Unknown, Bitkub and others [2024] EWHC 2342 (Ch) has confirmed that cryptocurrency, specifically USD Tether (USDT), can be traced and can constitute property under English law. The court also made observations as to key legal and evidential links needed…
Court of Justice rules in another case brought by Max Schrems
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in Case C-446/21 | Schrems. It said that an online social network such as Facebook cannot use all the personal data obtained for targeted advertising, without restriction as to time and without distinction as to type of data. In 2018, Meta Platforms Ireland started using…
Read More… from Court of Justice rules in another case brought by Max Schrems
CJEU considers police access to data in a mobile telephone
The CJEU has issued its ruling in Case C-548/21 | Bezirkshauptmannschaft Landeck. The Austrian police seized the mobile telephone of the recipient of a parcel following the discovery that the parcel contained 85 grams of cannabis. The police then tried unsuccessfully to unlock the mobile telephone to access the data it contained. The police were…
Read More… from CJEU considers police access to data in a mobile telephone
Online accommodation reservation platforms
The Court of Justice has ruled in Case C-264/23 | Booking.com and Booking.com (Deutschland) that price parity clauses cannot, in principle, be classified as “ancillary restraints” under EU competition law. Booking.com is incorporated under Netherlands law with its registered office in Amsterdam. It offers a worldwide online intermediation service to reserve accommodation. Hotels pay commission…
CJEU rules that a supervisory authority is not required to exercise a corrective power in all cases of breach of the GDPR
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in the case of Case C-768/21 | Land Hessen. A German savings bank found that one of its employees had accessed a customer’s personal data on several occasions without authorisation. The savings bank did not inform the customer of this, as its data protection officer…
Latest Event Reports
View more event reports >The SCL AI Conference: Key Takeaways
Mauricio Figueroa summarises the key points from the SCL AI Conference hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills on 8th October. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics, trainees, in-house lawyers, and civil society representatives gathered at Herbert Smith Freehills’ offices in London for the annual Society for Computers and Law AI conference. The event brought together experts to explore the…
SCL 50th Anniversary Conference 2023 – Rising Star Impression
Victor Gurr, Trainee Solicitor, Gisby Harrison Solicitors was nominated to attend the recent SCL 50th Anniversary Conference on 10 October 2023 as a tech law “rising star”. “Rising stars” are invited to record their impressions of the Conference in any form they choose (in previous years these have been event reports, infographs and even poems!). These…
Read More… from SCL 50th Anniversary Conference 2023 – Rising Star Impression
SCL 50th Anniversary Conference Event Report: “The Dragon Under the Sofa and other stories”
What separates humanity from technology? The sudden omniscience of ChatGPT in November 2022 has prompted a good deal of philosophising on that question with the apparent gap between the human and the machine growing ever less defined. There is as yet little common ground on where the boundary lies but one oft cited difference is…
The SCL 50th Anniversary Conference – a visual overview
Gerald Brent, Associate, Addleshaw Goddard, provides a visual summary of some of the key elements from the recent SCL 50th Anniversary Conference….
Read More… from The SCL 50th Anniversary Conference – a visual overview
Key Takeaways from the SCL Privacy and DP Group Event: Ad Tech – Bring Everyone to the Table
Speakers Anita Bapat (Kemp Little LLP) Tom O’Flynn (Google) James Evan (Verizon media) Alex Abrahams (DMGT) Karishma Brahmbhatt (Allen & Overy LLP) Event Overview With ad-tech a key focus for data protection authorities such as the ICO and CNIL, panellists James, Alex and Tom methodically described ad-tech infrastructure, and the various players involved within the…
