Legal and Regulatory Landscape of Blockchain Technology in Various Countries

Blockchain technology can be leveraged to record information securely, ranging from public sector data to private records. It has the potential of being ubiquitous due to its far-reaching use cases and revolutionary features. The deployment of blockchain technology can radically transform corporate and government operations and services. The blockchain legislative landscape is rapidly evolving, and an in-depth analysis is provided to offer a legal and contextual perspective of the regulatory trends across the globe. Part I explores the widespread use of blockchain technology for various industries and business applications. It also outlines two types of legislation that can be enacted, namely enabling and prohibitive legislation, to advance the policy objectives of a country. Part II examines the regulatory responses of various countries relating to blockchain use cases and applications.

A Decade of Pollen Phosphoproteomics

Angiosperm mature pollen represents a quiescent stage with a desiccated cytoplasm surrounded by a tough cell wall, which is resistant to the suboptimal environmental conditions and carries the genetic information in an intact stage to the female gametophyte. Post pollination, pollen grains are rehydrated, activated, and a rapid pollen tube growth starts, which is accompanied by a notable metabolic activity, synthesis of novel proteins, and a mutual communication with female reproductive tissues. Several angiosperm species (Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, maize, and kiwifruit) were subjected to phosphoproteomic studies of their male gametophyte developmental stages, mostly mature pollen grains. The aim of this review is to compare the available phosphoproteomic studies and to highlight the common phosphoproteins and regulatory trends in the studied species. Moreover, the pollen phosphoproteome was compared with root hair phosphoproteome to pinpoint the common proteins taking part in their tip growth, which share the same cellular mechanisms.

News aggregators and copyright in the European Union and the United States in the digital age: Evolution, comparisons, and implications

News aggregators have triggered copyright-related disputes between tech companies and news publishers. In the EU and the U.S., copyright systems have developed distinct characteristics. Because American tech companies stand to be hugely affected by the EU’s new copyright rules, some observers point out that the copyright war in Europe is fundamentally a collision between European and American copyright law systems. To respond to this observation, this study examines and compares European and U.S. perspectives on copyright and uses copyright as a lens to explore how digital platforms that aim at global influences provide the opportunity for different legal systems and legal traditions to converse and conflict. Through the comparison, this study argues that fundamental issues such as the nature of news are not effectively addressed in either system. While the EU and the U.S. present different regulatory trends in the case of copyright, a two-way shaping is at play.

Diabetes Technology Meeting 2020

Diabetes Technology Society hosted its annual Diabetes Technology Meeting on November 12 to November 14, 2020. This meeting brought together speakers to cover various perspectives about the field of diabetes technology. The meeting topics included artificial intelligence, digital health, telemedicine, glucose monitoring, regulatory trends, metrics for expressing glycemia, pharmaceuticals, automated insulin delivery systems, novel insulins, metrics for diabetes monitoring, and discriminatory aspects of diabetes technology. A live demonstration was presented.

Measuring the impact of publicly funded open innovation programmes: the case of Data Market Services Accelerator

One of the current goals of the European Commission is to stimulate the development and uptake of data and AI technologies in the economy. Substantial funding has been invested in programmes that help startups and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to assimilate the latest technical and regulatory trends. In order to assess the efficacy and impact of such initiatives, their specific social and economic objectives must be taken into consideration. Our paper proposes a generalisable mixed-methods approach for assessing the impact of publicly funded innovation programmes across multiple dimensions, including their effect on the market, fundraising capabilities of companies, innovation, and socio-economic aspects. We apply this framework to evaluate the recent performance of the Data Market Services (DMS) Accelerator, a current programme funded by the European Commission. In addition to assessing how DMS has been able to meet its objectives, our examination alerts other similar programmes of the challenges in assessing specific outcomes such as standardisation and long-term legal strategy in the fields of data innovation.

The Accountability of Multinational Companies for Human Rights Violations, Regulatory Trends and New Punitive Approaches Across Europe

This article investigates the emergence of new regulatory trends in the context of human rights accountability - traditionally characterised by soft law and non-binding guidelines -, where in recent times mandatory non-financial disclosure laws have started to impose on multinational companies new legal obligations complemented by sanctions of a different nature and intensity. By comparing three relevant pieces of legislation in the European panorama, this contribution addresses the reasons why also criminal law scholars should pay attention to the evolution of such regulatory framework, as the prospect of punitive mechanisms aimed at holding large companies accountable for human rights violations in their global operations could become, to some extent, less remote.

New trends in regulation of agriculture

Regulatory state agencies propose new solutions on regulating relationship in agriculture. Countries with developed agriculture have various national public institutions with a wide range of functions. They develop public policies, set standards, issue licenses and other permissions, do inspections, protect rights of agricultural products consumers, provide support to producers, and etc. Bodies regulating relationship in agriculture act in accordance with the general regulatory trends. Their activity is influenced by modernization and reformation processes, such as deregulation in various forms, transition from a command and control model of regulation to new models providing incentives for producers to voluntarily compliance, risk-based approach introduction, etc. Regulatory tools are often not effective enough for a number of reasons. This work consists of three parts, it evaluates the current state of agriculture in specific actual areas. The first section investigates general trends in the development of regulatory theory and practice. The second section deals with the problems of protecting farmers from unfair trade practices of suppliers and retail chains. The third section presents the results of the analysis of competing provisions on environmental protection and food safety. In conclusion, the authors give a system of new ways of regulation which can replace traditional ways of deterrence.

Najnowsze kierunki zmian regulacyjnych w zakresie walut wirtualnych z perspektywy przeciwdziałania praniu pieniędzy i finansowaniu terroryzmu, z uwzględnieniem wpływu pandemii COVID-19 na wzrost obrotu bezgotówkowego

The latest trends in regulatory changes for virtual currencies with regard to counteracting money laundering and financing of terrorism as well as the increase of cash-less transactions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic In recent years, nothing has contributed so much to the development and digital expansion of technology, including the field of cashless transactions, as the situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Increased traffic of electronic payments and virtual currencies may generate more interest in these areas from criminal groups. The number of fraudulent card transactions in the first half of 2020 increased by 11.4% compared to the second half of 2019. Among the new regulatory trends in AML/CTF in the field of virtual currencies, the Digital Finance Package should be distinguished. It consists of the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament on markets in crypto-assets and amendments to the AML/CTF Act. The specificity and formalism of these rules, but also the related operating costs, may lead to a significant collapse in the virtual currencies market and the escape of investors and money to Asian markets. The current regulations are a manifestation of a total legal solution, which will not favour technological development. W ostatnich latach nic tak bardzo nie przyczyniło się do rozwoju i cyfrowej ekspansji technologicznej, w tym w zakresie obrotu bezgotówkowego, jak sytuacja wywołana ogólnoświatową pandemią COVID-19. Bardziej natężony ruch w sferze płatności elektronicznych i walut wirtualnych może powodować większe zainteresowanie tymi obszarami ze strony grup przestępczych. Liczba transakcji oszukańczych dokonanych kartami w pierwszym półroczu 2020 r. w porównaniu z drugim półroczem 2019 r. wzrosła o 11,4 proc. Wśród nowych kierunków zmian w przepisach regulujących obrót walutami wirtualnymi pod kątem ryzyka związanego z praniem pieniędzy i finansowaniem terroryzmu należy wyróżnić pakiet finansów cyfrowych, na który składają się m.in. projekt rozporządzenia Parlamentu Europejskiego w sprawie rynku kryptoaktywów i znowelizowana ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu praniu pieniędzy oraz finansowaniu terroryzmu. Te regulacje przez swoją szczegółowość i formalizm oraz wiążące się z tym koszty operacyjne działalności mogą doprowadzić do istotnej zapaści na rynku walut wirtualnych i ucieczki inwestorów oraz wyprowadzenia pieniędzy na rynki azjatyckie. Obecne regulacje stanowią przejaw regulacji totalnej, która nie będzie sprzyjać rozwojowi technologicznemu.