In our latest Public Law blog post, Andrew Lidbetter, Nusrat Zar, Jasveer Randhawa and Claire Hall discuss the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s recently published report on artificial intelligence and its impact on public standards. They comment on the Committee’s recommendations for the governance and regulation of AI in the public sector, aimed at … Read more
Ofcom looks set to become the first UK internet regulator following the Government’s publication of its response to the Online Harms White Paper. This is set against the backdrop of the progression through Parliament of legislation which was aimed at accelerating the appointment of a regulator for online harm, off the back of the White … Read more
In the latest episode of our Inside Tech podcast, Dorothy Livingston, Andrew Moir and Charlie Morgan discuss the UKJT legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts and a recent decision from the English court, which builds upon the conclusions of the legal statement. Read more
The High Court has held that cryptoassets (in this case Bitcoin) can be treated as property under English law. As such, the owner of a cryptoasset can, in appropriate circumstances, avail itself of the various proprietary remedies that a court is able to grant. The practical significance here was that an insurer that had paid … Read more
Following a public consultation on its draft code of practice with parents, children, schools, children’s campaign groups, developers, tech and gaming companies and online service providers which closed on 31 May 2019, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) submitted its Age-Appropriate Design Code of Practice on 12 November 2019 but due to restrictions in the pre-election … Read more
On 8 January, the national communications regulator Ofcom published its first combined review of the residential and business connectivity markets; the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (FTMR). Previously, the Business Connectivity Market Review was published separately from the residential Wholesale Local Access Market Review. The FTMR now covers a longer, 5 year period. Read more
The UK Jurisdictional Taskforce (UKJT) published a Legal Statement on 18 November 2019 concluding that there is no bar under English law for cryptoassets to have the legal status of property and for smart contracts to be legally binding. The UKJT is one of 6 taskforces under the Law Tech Delivery Panel (LTDP), a government–backed … Read more
Earlier this week, the UK’s House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published its report titled “Public Service Broadcasting: As Vital As Ever“, following its consultation on the impact of Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) services on the UK’s public service broadcasters (PSBs) such as the BBC, Channel 3, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Amongst other aspects, … Read more
Shortly after the release of the communiqué from the most recent ministerial meetings of the ‘Five Countries’ security alliance — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US — at the end of July, we warned that the issue of the use of, and access to, encrypted services and technologies ‘remains front of mind for … Read more
