James Humphrey-Evans and Nedko Nedev set out the corporate risk factors associated with communications networks, including those exposed by the recent Iberian outage. Along pavements and roads in major cities, you will cross over the groundworks and chambers used by telcos for the networks we all use, just as the utility networks bring power and…
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Chinese courts take a different approach to the issue of AI generating copyright protected images, the DLA Piper team reports. On 7 March 2025, the Changshu People’s Court (in China’s Jiangsu province) announced that it had recently concluded a case on the topical issue of whether AI-generated works can be protected by copyright. In the…
We have teamed up with the LIDC (International League of Competition Law) to share a series of podcasts examining some of the increasingly pressing questions around cloud computing, AI and competition law. Over seven episodes, recorded in November 2024, Ben Evans, Shruti Hiremath and guests will look beyond the current position to identify some of…
Read More… from Exploring Competition in Cloud and AI Podcast: Episode 1 – The Status Quo
Ryan E. Long warns of the US lawsuits currently targeting social media platforms The Set Up Great news! Your UK based social media dating company – “Better Than Cupid” – just got funded. It’s been launched in the US and is slated to be released in other countries. You just started celebrating. But then you…
Mauricio Figueroa argues why we need to look beyond the conventions of international law to regulate AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are being deployed across industries and sectors of the economy; it is certainly a global problem. At first glance, international law seems like an obvious way forward: a platform designed to address cross-border issues….
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Jagvinder Singh Kang provides some timely advice for your procurement projects this year. IntroductionTechnology procurement has evolved over the decades. Gone are the days of just procuring IT hardware alone, or standard software. Organisations have become more dependent upon Cloud solutions, usually in the form of SaaS, and now there will be an inevitable movement…
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Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No 4) Regulations 2024 made The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No 4) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1333) have been made. These Regulations are the fourth commencement regulations under the Online Safety Act 2023. They bring into force on 17 January 2025 the duties about regulated provider pornographic content in section…
The Basics and Beyond Rónán Kennedy reviews a book aimed directly at the legal professional who needs to understand the technology they advise on. Those who work in law and technology are sure to encounter some aspect of hardware or software that they do not understand, either because it is new or because they simply…
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Mark Ryan and Tom Sweet of SES Secure trace the evolution of software escrow and the impact of AI on its use As many readers will know, software escrow is a risk mitigation tool that safeguards the critical assets, such as software applications, organisations are reliant on. It typically involves a tri-party legal agreement being…
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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…
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…
The long-awaited Procurement Act is scheduled to come into force in February next year promising a more flexible regime. Professor Albert Sanchez-Graells picks out some of the challenges it will pose for those working in public-sector procurement. After a recently announced 4-month delay to its ‘go live’ date, the Procurement Act 2023 is now due…
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Amanda Chaboryk and Nicholas Cook highlight the importance of reviewing your information architecture before using your data for generative AI The advent of artificial intelligence (AI), and generative AI (GenAI) in particular, has resulted in a dawning era of transformative potential in the legal domain. It has been met with a range of reactions from…
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Product Regulation and Metrology Bill introduced to Parliament On 4 September 2024, the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords. The Bill aims to reform the UK’s product safety regime by addressing modern safety issues. The Bill’s second reading in the House of Lords is due to take…
Tom Whittaker and Ryan Jenkins look at the increasing importance of AI literacy in the EU and more globally AI literacy in simple terms is about developing skills and understanding regarding how to develop and use AI, its opportunities and risks. Contracts, governance and internal policies may require or encourage some form of AI literacy….
Sachin Bhatt, our regular cybersecurity contributor, highlights the threats to our universities from malicious activity…
A team from Hogan Lovells consider the regulatory regimes governing digital accessibility in the UK and EU. Summary: In the era of digital transformation, the need to ensure products and services are accessible to all, including those who experience some form of disability, is greater than ever. While there is not (yet) a global uniform…
Andrew Woolsey and Sophie Ashcroft take a fresh look at the legal issues surrounding defective software through the lens of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal…
Once upon a time technologies like artificial intelligence and the metaverse were confined to the annals of science fiction. No longer, both innovations exist in the here and now, with vast potential to transform our world. These emergent technologies, however, are not without attributes of concern, one of which is energy consumption and the consequent…
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IT contracts and disputes have long concentrated on functional specifications, tests and defects to assure that projects deliver what is intended. This is only part of what is required. William Hooper examines the role of design in contract and dispute….
A team from DLA Piper dig deeper into the House of Lords report on balancing risk and innovation in AI regulation, in particular, the open source question While much attention has been paid to the finalisation of the EU’s AI Act in recent weeks, developments in AI continue at a frenetic rate. On 2nd February…
The price of Bitcoin has climbed since the SEC allowed new trading funds. Martyna Dudek explains what’s changed and the FCA’s own moves to allow crypto trading….
Áine Rafferty knows an in-house legal team is a critical component for many technology firms and has been recognised by industry peers for leading high performing in house technology teams. Here she provides some steers on how to make sure the team is valued by the other parts of the business. The role of the…
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Adrian Aronsson-Storrier and Helen Hart look at the recent case of Harber, a tax case involving fictitious case references generated by ChatGPT…
The Online Safety Act 2023 established the basis for creation of an online safety super-complaints regime. The process will allow for complaints about systemic issues (features or conduct of regulated services) to be raised with the regulator where those issues are, appear to be, or present a material risk of: For the online safety super-complaints…
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UK law Data (Use and Access) Bill finally passes through Parliament and heads for Royal of Assent The Data (Use and Access) Bill finally completed its passage through the UK parliament on 11 June 2025. It was the third attemot at data protection reform in the UK and this final attempt was subject to a…
Ofcom has opened formal investigations into online discussion board 4chan and seven file-sharing services – Im.ge, Krakenfiles, Nippybox, Nippydrive, Nippyshare, Nippyspace and Yolobit. Ofcom has not received responses to its statutory information requests, to which services are legally required to respond. It also says that it has received complaints about the potential for illegal content…
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Ofcom has issued a report how it is supporting the safe innovation and use of artificial intelligence across the sectors it regulates, and streamlining the way it works. Smarter communications The industries Ofcom regulates have technology and innovation at their heart. As technologies evolve, new opportunities emerge that have the potential to drive better outcomes…
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, fake reviews are a blacklisted commercial practice which is always unfair. The CMA issued guidance on fake reviews in April. Under the DMCC Act, the CMA can now decide independently whether consumer law has been infringed, rather than going through the courts. It can also tackle…
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During its latest plenary, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted the final version of its guidelines on Article 48 GDPR about data transfers to third country authorities. The EDPB also discussed the European Commission’s request for a joint EDPB-EDPS opinion on the draft proposal on the simplification of record-keeping obligation under the GDPR. Finally,…
In recent years, a significant aspect of the Law Commission’s work has focused on emerging technologies, including smart legal contracts, electronic trade documents, decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and digital assets such as crypto tokens. These developments often rely on distributed ledger technology (DLT). It is now consulting on proposals for law reform. It focuses primarily…
The ICO has issued an AI and biometrics strategy. It says that from a data protection perspective, people need to be able to trust that organisations using AI and biometrics tech: ICO cites statistics that show that public concerns are especially strong in high-impact cases: The strategy sets out how the ICO will: As these…
UK law CMA consults on draft rules for digital markets competition regime levy The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is seeking views on the approach to a levy for the digital markets competition regime and draft strategic market status (SMS) levy rules under Section 110 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Section…
Amanda Chaboryk, Chris Cartmell, and Stephanie Baker, of PwC, raise some early considerations about the seemingly inevitable spread of agentic AI into legal departments IntroductionArtificial Intelligence (AI) has played an increasingly prominent role within legal, starting as early as the 90’s, when legal databases started incorporating natural language processing to optimise search and retrieval. Leaping…
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