Jusletter IT

First, they were observed in fascination, and then demonised. In time, lawyers have just accepted Bitcoins & Co having found its way from the «dark area» of the Internet to the spotlight of «hot stuff». The lecture deals with the path taken, the international legal regulation attempts and the still prevailing opinion of it being a real currency. In addition to a fresh attempt of legally classifying this currency, fiscal handling as well as legal protection of the consumer are shortly touched upon. (ah)

Due to the advancing development of technical possibilities in relation to contracts and the consequences resulting for the – in some respects «dusty» – civil rights, the legal perspective needs to develop respectively. Legal considerations of automated contract conclusions are being discussed using practical examples. The basis is formed by computer-assisted contract conclusion. Subsequently, the applicability of insights to automated conclusions of contracts shall be executed. Liability and access of the declaration of intent as well as the faulty contract conclusion and electronic signatures of contracts are the key issues. (ah)

The European Commission, on 9 December 2015, promulgated two new draft directives and one new proposed regulation. The lecture deals with the draft directive on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content. It is intended that this directive supplements existing instruments like the Consumer Rights Directive. However, the introduced proposal that shall have a fully harmonized effect, too, is primarily involved with problems that occur as a result of missing contract conformity of digital content. On the one hand, the proposal should be presented in an overview, on the other hand, some central aspects and problems shall be made subject of discussion. (ah)