Objective: tokenization of creativity, alongside with cryptoeconomy and Web3 network infrastructure, is a notable trend in the development of modern society in the third decade of the 21st century. The objective of this article is to explore the risks and prospects emerging in the process of disposition of the creative labor results in the form of non-fungible tokens.
Methods: the research methodology is based on analysis of varied viewpoints on the problem, including diametrically opposing concepts. The opposing views of the observers manifest their attitude to tokenization of creative products as a speculative scheme, on the one hand, and a promising tool of creative industries development, on the other.
Results: the probable negative consequences of tokenization of intellectual activity results are identified; author’s recommendations on managing these risks are given. Another result of this publication is analysis of economiclegal prospects stemming from tokenization of the objects of copyright and neighboring rights by the example of musical pieces.
Scientific novelty: it consists in presenting and substantiating a hypothesis that the relations formed in the musical industry under the modern sociocultural and technological realities will be reproduced in other creative industries. Also, scientific novelty consists in the analysis of prospects of tokenization of such results of intellectual activity as gaming artifacts, works of traditional and digital visual arts, patents and scientific achievements. The use of nonfungible tokens the ecosystem of network computer games will allow gamers to buy and sell rights to game pieces autonomously from game publishers. Tokenization of industrial property objects and individualization means will ensure protection of intellectual rights of their authors while waiting for the issuance of a state protection document. In the modern society, there will be many of those wishing to become an owner of a token for a scientific work, as the popularity of science and innovations is constantly growing in developed countries. Ownership of a token for a scientific work will be regarded a moral investment, increasing the prestige and status of its owner. Tokens for scientific works have a high potential as a means of measuring value in a post-economic society.
Practical significance: it consists in the description of innovative means of using creative products and business models based on tokenization of the results of intellectual activity, ready to be implemented in practice.
Objective: the present paper aims to analyse Case Decision 2022-001-FB-UA of Facebook Oversight Board, also known as the Knin cartoon case and attempts to put the case as well as its procedure in a historical and cultural context to set out a critical approach concerning Facebook’s content moderation.
Methods: the paper uses desk research as the primary source of method. The paper’s resource background builds upon comparative case studies and case analysis as well. The paper uses resources from various disciplines: legal philosophy, international law, media law, platform regulation, history.
Results: the paper presents the context of the Knin cartoon case as well as the key findings of the Oversight Board and the reasoning behind its decision. Furthermore, this paper aims to reflect on the idea of hate speech as interpreted by the Oversight Board and makes a tentative to contextualise and introduce the main problems and possible solutions regarding Meta’s content moderation in the scope of the present case.
Scientific novelty: the Knin case has not been analysed in such historical and contextual depth before as the case decision was issued in 2022. Only a few analyses from merely legal standpoints were published thus far.
Practical significance: the findings regarding the Knin case may be of importance of three main aspects: (1) it could be used for further critical analyses on Facebook’s content moderation, (2) it could serve as a recommendation regarding platform regulation and guideline development and (3) it presents the paramount relevance and significance of the holistic interpretational perspectives when determining hate speech. As for the latter the present paper argues that the historical, cultural, societal and symbolic interpretation and understanding of hate speech determination is not only instrumental, but the only viable method to understand, determine and judge upon alleged hate speech cases.
Objective: to research the trends of legal regulation of using intelligent transport systems under digital transformation of the transport sector of economy, namely, the growing importance of intelligent transport systems in the future transport system of the Russian Federation.
Methods: systemic-structural method is the basis for researching intelligent transport systems. It enables to study the architecture of intelligent transport systems as a complex structural unity. Also, comparative-legal method was used, aimed at illustrating the differences and similarities in the legal regulation of intelligent transport systems. Methods of legal modeling and forecasting, as well as formal-logic method, served as secondary methods to comprehensively study the legal regulation of intelligent transport systems.
Results: the article presents conceptual approaches to defining the notion of “intelligent transport systems” and outlining the hierarchy of intelligent transport systems, which play a fundamental role in building the transport sector. Based on the analysis, conclusions are made about the vectors of forming transport legislation, aimed at regulating the use of intelligent transport systems.
Scientific novelty: the article provides a conceptual approach to forming the legal regulation of intelligent transport systems. To this end, the issue is considered about the essential content of the notion of “intelligent transport systems” at legal and scientific levels; the current terminological problems in building the legal regulation are shown. Analysis of the architecture of intelligent transport systems allowed for the first time to formulate the basic approaches to shaping the legal regulation of its individual elements (including highly automated and fully automated transport means, “smart” infrastructure, etc.) not in isolation but as constituent parts of the whole matter.
Practical significance: the presented materials and conclusions facilitate the development of legal regulation of transport industry under digital transformation. The article accentuates the legal regulation of intelligent transport systems taking into account their technical and technological features. It is the intelligent transport systems that are de lege ferenda of the transport system, which determines the vector of transformation of transport legislation. In turn, development of the legal bases allows broadening the geography of introducing technical novelties and making their application much more large-scale.
Objective: to acquire new knowledge about the liability for violating the rules of managing technical means of counteracting the threats to information security; to elaborate theoretical recommendations and proposals for improving legislation and law enforcement.
Methods: the methodological basis of the research is a set of scientific cognition methods, including abstract-logic, dogmatic, comparison, etc.
Results: based on studying documents and publications, the following conclusions were made: 1) the measures taken at the national level for regulating the relations associated with introduction of technical means of counteracting the threats generally comply with the provisions of the Doctrine on information security of the Russian Federation; 2) one of the main directions of development of the foreign legislation on telecommunications is building a system of public-private interaction, in which communication operators would perceive the information security problem not as their internal task but as an element of the overall security of the state. In this regard, one may clearly trace the statement of the need to efficiently control the activities of communication operators, first of all, in the sphere of the newly introduced standards providing cyber resilience; 3) regulation of relations in the sphere of managing the technical means of counteracting threats in Russia is characterized by their multiplicity, multi-leveledness, hence, rather predictable complexity; 4) the model of communication operators’ liability for violations in the field of exploitation of technical means of counteracting threats, implemented in Article 274.2 Of the Russian Criminal Code, is not optimal. Rather disputable is the approach to describing the administratively prejudicial elements of crime. Despite the significance of the relations, the possibility of a criminal-legal reaction to a particular incident appears not in connection with the occurrence of certain publicly dangerous consequences and not even with the traditional recurrence, but only with the third documented violation. We consider more preferable the model of criminalization of violating the management of technical means of counteracting threats depending on infliction of substantial harm to the rights and legal interests of citizens or organizations, or the legally protected interests of the society or the state.
Scientific novelty: the novelty of the research is mainly due to the actual underdevelopment of the issues related to the legal definition and implementation of criminal liability for violating the rules of centralized management of technical means of counteracting the threats to sustainability, security and integrity of functioning of the telecommunication network Internet and the general purpose communication network in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the research can be used for improving the mechanism of criminal-legal protection of information security, further development of the Russian doctrine of criminal law on liability for crimes in the sphere of computer information.
Objective: the aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between sovereignty and digital sovereignty in order to determine whether they are linked or autonomous concepts and in which cases and to what extent there is or is not a connection between the two categories.
Methods: the methodology is based on the analysis of international, European and national practice and scientific discourse, taking into account sovereignty and digital sovereignty from a threefold perspective: contextual, conceptual and functional.
Results: 1) analysis of the correlation between sovereignty and digital sovereignty showed that both are related concepts; 2) important consequences that digital sovereignty has in the case of States and the European Union are defined: a) there is a substantial difference between sovereignty and digital sovereignty because the former is only applied to States, while the latter is also used in reference to the EU; b) digital sovereignty is not necessarily a consequence or an extension of sovereignty; c) while in the case of States, digital sovereignty is justified as a safeguard of traditional sovereignty, in case of European Union its function must necessarily be different, since the European Union lacks sovereignty.
Scientific novelty: the analysis of this relationship provides an objective scientific premise for a comprehensive understanding of the idea of digital sovereignty. From the perspective of the context where they operate, as well as their concept and functions, sovereignty and digital sovereignty seem to be autonomous and, in some cases, complementary categories.
Practical significance: the dual functionality of digital sovereignty as a concept attached to national sovereignty and as an autonomous concept helps to explain the use of this category in the case of states and in the case of an organization such as the European Union, as well as the differences in its scope and meaning in each scenario.
Objective: to research the features of online dispute settlement by e-commerce platforms in the People’s Republic of China, to reveal positive features and drawbacks of ODS technologies applied by the platforms.
Methods: empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic. Specific scientific methods were used: legal-dogmatic and the method of legal norms interpretation.
Results: it was found that the internal ODS model on e-commerce Taobao ODS platforms is a direct, clear and effective means of online resolution of consumer disputes. However, being a non-independent “third party”, the internal ODS mechanism of e-commerce platforms will never be able to substitute other external systems of dispute resolution. ODS relies on the data and Internet processes much stronger than traditional dispute resolution. Among the many safety factors emerging as a result of online processes, ODS creates the risk of data leakage, lack of confidentiality and unsafe consumer protection. ODS also causes concerns due to traditional principles of justice such as objectivity, confidentiality and safety of data in the process of dispute settlement. Not only the People’s Republic of China but any country introducing the ODS technologies into the procedures of dispute resolution should take serious measures to ensure the ODS processes are just, unbiased and guarantee observance of procedural rights.
Scientific novelty: consists in a complex research of online dispute settlement by e-commerce platforms in the People’s Republic of China, the practice of implementation thereof has its specific features stemming from the model of self-regulation of thee relations, further stipulated by normative legal acts of the People’s Republic of China and reflected in the activity of private ODS platforms.
Practical significance: is due to the current absence of possibility to apply the legal norms and rules, taking into account the specific features of ODS technologies on private platforms, to the relations using such technologies. The main provisions and conclusions of the research can be used to improve the mechanisms of legal regulation of ODS technologies in the procedural legislation of the Russian Federation.
Objective: This interdisciplinary review intends to inform legal scholars, practitioners, and users of language interpretation services in the judiciary of challenges encountered by professional interpreters in virtual hearings and remote settings.
Methods: Situated at the intersection of law, language, and communication, this review analyses the latest discourses about technology-enabled remote settings and synthesises insights into recommended practices in effective legal communication mediated by interpreters in virtual courts.
Results: With an overarching aim to improve effective collaboration between interpreting service providers and users in multilingual legal communication for procedural equity and access to justice, this review establishes three central claims: (1) the technology-enabled virtual hearings is accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic, (2) the need for effective legal communication mediated by the use of interpreters in remote settings is mounting, and (3) successful collaboration between the service user and provider can achieve a win-win outcome.
Scientific novelty: A review of existing studies in law and language reveals three main gaps: (1) procedural justice in videoconferencing hearings and remote technologies, (2) equity and access for people with limited proficiency in the official language of the court system, and (3) effective legal communication mediated by human interpreters in virtual courts. This review bridges the existing gaps in knowledge.
Practical significance: it touches on three aspects of the law-language nexus: (1) Covid-19 accelerated adoption of the virtual courtroom technologies in Australia and its impact on court interpreting, (2) challenges for interpreters in remote settings, and (3) achieving linguistic accuracy and intercultural appropriateness when preserving the manner in which the content is expressed as intended or implied by the original speaker. Grounded in courtroom interpreting practices, it highlights the importance of effective collaboration in successful multilingual legal communication rooted in mutual purpose, shared expectations, and interprofessional understanding.
Objective: to assess the Russian legislation for its compliance with the international-legal approaches to shaping symmetrical regulation of crypto-assets and possibility to complement it with new internationallegal categories reflecting the in-depth changes in the global economy and structure of international finance, determined by the broad introduction of new financial technologies based on distributed ledger technologies.
Methods: the methodological basis of the research is a set of general scientific methods of scientific cognition, among which of utmost importance are special-legal (formal-legal and comparative-legal) methods, complemented with risk-oriented approach, legal modeling and juridical forecasting. Applied integrally, they allowed comprehending the architecture, “letter and “spirit” of the modern international financial law and national legislation in their conceptual-terminological correlation and to forecast further development and adjustment of the legal regulation of crypto-assets turnover.
Results: it was found that there appears a stable trend in the crypto-assets turnover regulation, according to which “soft” law dominates among the law sources (this is especially notable in the sphere of international financial law compared, for example, with conventions or international treaties); at the same time, there is a strengthening trend of “fragmentation” of international law with regard to crypto-assets turnover; the authors mark inconsistency of the conceptual framework contained in international acts and in the Russian legislation, as well as the gaps in the regime of crypto-assets turnover at the level of national law; the trends and forecasts are presented referring to the development of international-legal regulation of the sphere of crypto-assets.
Scientific novelty: consists, first of all, in a complex comparison, based on, among other aspects, the fundamentally new concepts of regulation of such progressive international-legal categories as cryptoasset, virtual asset, cryptocurrency, stablecoin, etc., some of them rarely used in the Russian legal discourse and actually never applied in legislation.
Practical significance: the scientifically grounded proposals are formulated, aimed at improving the conceptual-terminological framework of the Russian legislation in the sphere of crypto-assets turnover, implementation of which will allow constructing a common legal space with the technologically most advanced states, will help to improve investment climate and financial attraction of the state; will improve the national-legal regime of crypto-assets turnover from the viewpoint of not only actual market demands, but also state security interests and improving competitiveness of the Russian legislation.
Objective: to research the existing problems and promising directions of the legal regulation of digital financial assets as a relatively new tool of the modern digital economy.
Methods: the methodological basis of the work is the set of scientific cognition methods such as theoretical analysis, research, comparison, synthesis, and summarization of scientific literature.
Results: the work analyzes the existing approaches to legal regulation of digital financial assets in the Russian Federation and some foreign countries, reveals the existing gaps in the Russian legislation in the field of circulation of digital financial assets, gives estimation to the prospects of development of the legal regulation of these tools and forms proposals for its improving. Also, during the research, the approaches to legal regulation of digital currencies and digital financial assets, adopted in certain foreign countries, were analyzed, the trends were considered, and the positive and negative aspects of using cryptographic algorithms for the goals in economic and juridical spheres of the global economy were reflected.
Scientific novelty: within the work, the topical issues of legislative regulation of such a relatively new notion as digital financial assets are considered. The positions of Russian and foreign jurist are considered concerning the existing problems and risks associated with “tokenization” and “blockachainization” of private law. Besides, the author comes to a conclusion about the existence of significant gaps in the current approach to legal regulation of digital financial assets, indicates them and proposes certain mechanisms to solve these problems.
Practical significance: is due to the imperfect current legislation in the sphere of relations occurring when using the technologies based of distributed ledger, including digital financial assets. Research of these problems allows evaluating the risks, considering the existing ways of overcoming and solving the emerging disputable questions. Also, the conclusions obtained can be used to improve the Russian legislation, as well as in the academic literature devoted to the topical issues of developing the digital legislation.
Objective: to elaborate scientifically substantiated proposals for improving the system of mandatory requirements in the sphere of business and other economic activity under formation of digital economy, taking into account the foreign experience of eliminating barriers for business and the available practice of legislation optimization in this sphere.
Methods: the research methodological basis consists of traditional general and specific methods of scientific cognition: dialectical, formal-logical, historical-comparative, systematic, terminological, general logic methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization, induction, deduction, etc.), as well as special methods: historical-legal, formal-legal, and method of comparative jurisprudence.
Results: the author investigated and systematized theoretical approaches and experience of improving the system of mandatory requirements in foreign countries and the Russian Federation; the possibilities of introducing the most successful innovative legal instruments and practices to improve the regulation of economic relations were considered. The role of a retrospective assessment of the regulatory impact of existing regulatory legal acts containing mandatory requirements in addressing issues of reducing burdensome rules and ensuring legal stability in the context of digital transformation of the economy was determined. The international experience of implementing the regulatory guillotine mechanism was considered; its essence, purpose, tasks, basic principles, and algorithm of operation were revealed. The issues of establishing and evaluating the application of the requirements for business contained in regulatory legal acts were analyzed.
Scientific novelty: the author’s comprehensive analysis of existing scientific developments on improving the system of mandatory requirements for business; systematization of scientific and theoretical approaches to the selection of innovative legal instruments to eliminate excessive legal regulation of economic relations; generalization of successful foreign practices in the implementation of “regulatory guillotine” measures.
Practical significance: recommendations were developed for effective reduction of burdensome requirements that negatively affect the development of business in the context of digital transformation of the economy. Conditions were determined for the implementation of a full-fledged regulatory impact assessment procedure and the successful implementation of regulatory reforms. The results of the study can be used in standard-setting activities and in the educational process when elaborating educational programs in Economics and Law.
Objective: to research the trends of development of the “smart cities” concept and their legal regulation.
Methods: general scientific (induction, deduction) and special (systemicstructural, comparative-legal analysis) methods were used. Also, review analysis was applied to analyze the status quo of “smart cities”. Innovative research approaches are still rare in considering the “smart cities” concept, as well as the prospects referring to targeted knowledge management and cooperation between the respective stakeholders. As for the special research methods for studying digital relations, we used content analysis (the method of creating reproducible and substantiated conclusions from texts (or other meaningful materials) in the context of their use). As the results of previous research and concepts referring to “smart cities” are available, we also used deductive content analysis.
Results: a characteristic is given to public relations formed within the process of development of “smart cities” concept. The key legal acts, principles of formation and functioning of “smart cities” are identified, taking into account the Russian and foreign experience. In this connection, the examples of successful practices are given, of the activities of both Russian and foreign municipal entities, taking into account the competitions held and rankings determined by the central structures. The popular directions are summarized, which are broadly introduced at the local level, and the probable problems are identified in the sphere of implementation of this project in our state.
Scientific novelty: the article carries out an analysis of the current legal regulation and the results of introducing the “smart cities” concept. The promising technologies and methods are identified, which are necessary to achieve the tasks of the concept implementation. The elements are specified, which ensure sustainability of “smart cities” complying with the future demands. An author’s position is expressed regarding a close interrelation of this phenomenon with the institute of local self-government in the context of possible development of the latter into the process of making managerial decisions involving artificial intelligence. This concerns, first of all, using the potential of the Internet of Things. In practice, a lot of problems occur, associated with the implementation of normatively stipulated provisions, which implies the need to perform further research in the sphere under study.
Practical significance: is due to the insufficient development of data about the features and prospects of introducing the idea of “smart cities”. The provisions of the research performed will allow effectively improving the mechanisms of legal regulation and broad implementation of the concept under study.
Objective: to specify the models of legal regulation in the sphere of biometric identification and authentication with facial recognition technology in order to elaborate recommendations for increasing information security of persons and state-legal protection of their right to privacy.
Methods: risk-oriented approach in law and specific legal methods of cognition, such as comparative-legal analysis and juridical forecasting, are significant for the studied topic and allow comparing the legal regulation models used in foreign countries and their unions in the sphere of biometric identification and authentication with facial recognition systems, forecasting the possible risks for the security of biometric data, taking into account the prospects of further dissemination of the modern facial recognition technology, and to shape recommendations on legal protection of biometric data.
Results: the ways are proposed to further improve legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other countries currently developing the legal regulation of biometric data, regarding the admissible criteria for using the facial recognition technology, the elaboration of categorization of biometric systems with a high and low risk levels (by the example of the experience of artificial intelligence regulation in the European Union), and the necessity to introduce a system of prohibitions of mass and unselective surveillance of humans with video surveillance systems, etc.
Scientific novelty: consists in identifying a positive advanced foreign experience of developing legal regulation in the sphere of facial recognition based on biometry (European Union, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), which can be used for further improvement of the national legislation in order to create more effective mechanisms of legal protection of personal data, including biometric information.
Practical significance: based on risk-oriented approach and comparative analysis, the research allows elaborating measures for enhancing the legal protection of biometric data and ensuring effective protection of civil rights and freedoms by forecasting further expansion of the modern facial recognition technology.
