Earlier this year the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport published its new Digital Charter. This short document outlines a UK rolling programme of work designed to make the UK a friendly environment to start-up and grow digital businesses. It is also designed to make the UK a safe place to be online. The charter will be updated as the government’s programme of work changes in response to technological advancements.

The goal of the charter is to establish rules and norms for the online world that can be put into practice.

Digital Charter

The principles outlined in the charter, guiding the government’s work, are:

  • the internet should be free, open and accessible;
  • people should understand the rules that apply to them when they are online;
  • personal data should be respected and used appropriately;
  • protections should be in place to help keep people safe online, especially children;
  • the same rights that people have offline must be protected online; and
  • social and economic benefits brought by new technologies should be fairly shared.

Continue Reading UK government publishes the Digital Charter and reaffirms creation of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

The EU Commission continues to show its support and investment in new technologies in the digital economy. On February 1, 2018, the Commission and the European Parliament launched the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, and earlier this month, the Commission also unveiled its FinTech Action Plan.

The Blockchain Observatory

The observatory is designed to be a comprehensive repository of blockchain expertise and a source of innovation and development. It brings together policymakers, technology experts, regulators, businesses and users with the goal of building on new opportunities offered by the blockchain technology. The initiative forms part of the drive towards the digital single market, a Commission strategy to boost e-commerce, modernize regulations and promote the digital economy. The observatory also aims to support the interoperability of blockchain, which is the ability of computer systems and software to exchange and utilize information without restrictions. It also seeks to address the varied challenges in the blockchain ecosystem – such as trust, compliance, security, traceability by design, among other issues.

The EU Commission has also called for a feasibility study on the opportunity of an EU blockchain infrastructure, with tenders closed in January. The study will research the opportunity, benefits and challenges of an enabling framework supporting blockchain-based services, and whether EU services could run on such an infrastructure.Continue Reading European Commission outlines blockchain development plans, calls for a feasibility study and unveils FinTech Action Plan.

Your business may license many different types of software and technology in the ordinary course. These licenses range from software installed on your internal network to use-rights in software-as-a-services (SaaS) models, where the programs reside on the vendor’s host systems and are accessed via the Internet (or in some other manner).

In each case, you are granted use-rights that define how the licensed materials can be used (for example, there may be a limit on the type of business for which the materials can be used), where they can be used (i.e., a territory or facility restriction), and who can use them.

Ensuring that the technology can be used by the appropriate people is one of the most overlooked items in a technology license.
Continue Reading Don’t Forget About Your Affiliates and Customers as Technology License End Users