Mid-May 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) determined, that the runner of an online search engine is – under data protection aspects – responsible for the processing of personal data which appear on websites of third-party providers and supports, under certain circumstances, the entitlement for individuals to the right to deletion of links out of the search results. This «Right to be forgotten» is despite the strong resonance on the part of the internet users – already until mid-November almost 17’000 cancellation requests reached the search engine operator Google – increasingly criticised as too far-reaching. In particular, with a view on the preservation of a free and uncensored internet, the question arises to what extent the freedom of expression is affected, especially since it is unclear if the legislation recognised by the EuGH is even suitable for protecting the privacy of individuals. (ah)

The author offers an overview of the possibilities of obtaining a deletion of personal data on the internet; this on the basis of the current jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (EuGH), the Austrian data protection law and in view of the EU data protection basic regulation, which will shortly come into force; she explores, if a general right to deletion of personal data on the internet exists. (ah)

The entering of intelligent utensils in our households is followed by several data protection and information security law related challenges. How far can users appraise what happens with their data when intelligent domestic appliances are used? Which risks conclude from the technical complexity of the appliances and the data processing procedures? The author picks up particular subject areas and highlights the risks for the personal rights of the users on the basis of different utensils. Subsequently possible methods of resolution are outlined by involving the newest developments in the EU data protection revision. (ah)

Sometimes copy rights are violated in good faith, for example when movies or songs are uploaded to spread or acknowledge them. The Japanese government relinquished the decision if such violations should be prosecuted to the authors. However, this policy was criticized for years, since it is impossible for the authors to survey all cases. At the moment it is discussed if third parties should be able to press charges against copyright infringements. In the article, the author likes to introduce the current discussion in Japan and makes observations regarding who should protect the copy right – the author himself or the government. (ah)

In March 2014 the Federal Council released that it welcomes the introduction of a 14-day right of withdrawal in telephone and distance sales. On 18 June 2014 the Council of States approved the relevant draft for the modification of the Code of Obligations. On the other hand, the National Council declined the introduction of a right of withdrawal in online trading on 17 September 2014, but agreed with an introduction of such a right for trading via telephone. The submission now returns to the Council of States. Out of this current occasion, the article critically argues with the concept of the right of withdrawal. Specially focused is the non-consolidated draft with minority and majority views on the planned modifications on the Code of Obligations, which is debated in parliament. (ah)

The conference «Rechtliche Herausforderungen durch webbasierte und mobile Zahlungssysteme» held on 29 October 2014 addressed the legal and technological challenges of web-based and mobile payment systems which are quickly gaining momentum and show a lot of potential for the future. This conference formed a part of a series of events dealing with issues at the interface of information technologies and law which are held in collaboration with the «Schweizer Forum für Kommunikationsrecht (SF-FS)» by Prof. Dr. Rolf H. Weber, professor and director of the Center for Information and Communication Law at the University of Zurich and Prof. Dr. Florent Thouvenin, assistant professor and head of the chair for Information and Communication Law at the University of Zurich.

The Internet law, and thus a current commentary on this, is becoming increasingly important. Both is provided by the commentary discussed here, namely a comprehensive reference work for almost all areas of Internet law as well as a guaranteed topicality. After the legal life in Germany is facing significant, revolutionary changes with the introduction of the spatially inclusive and comprehensive electronic legal transaction, which will also be presented here, a commentary is required that also includes these innovations. (ah)

The paper aims to present the new gTLD process as an issue of international law and the sovereignty of states. While discussing the significance of the biggest DNS enlargement in Internet’s history the author goes to show that the decisions by the California based non-profit that is the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) hold international significance and reflect the current state of debate on human rights and national sovereignty. While providing a critical look at ICANN’s far reaching independence in authorizing TLD administration and operation, the author argues that a better solution to reconcile the conflicting interests of all the world’s cultures is yet to be found.

«Rechtsinformatik» (= «jurimetrics») in Germany is often equated with the information law. But correctly it is an application-oriented branch of computer science. This paper describes how this area should be introduced into the law school.

The semantic representation of legal texts has for a long time been a significant object of research. Approaches from both, software engineering and semantic modeling, have led to impressive results. However, some gaps still remain. The paper tries to bridge one of these gaps between the two approaches, namely the one between generalizability and applicability. For this purpose, a hybrid framework for drafting and modeling legislation is being presented, which consists of a semantic base model and a matching general development process. This framework then was tested in an extensive case study, which is also part of this paper.

Indicators for the comparison of countries by their HR (human rights) compliance, based on country reports, have been used for 40 years. However, they aim at giving a comprehensive picture of the HR situation of each country. Does this suffice to draw conclusion about the well-being of small groups? The paper explores this problem for a test population that in each country is in about the same vulnerable situation: women in sex work (SW). Using data from Council of Europe (CoE) countries, the paper uncovers several explanations for the HR situation in SW in terms of comprehensive indicators. Further, the paper uncovers a dependency on proven HR violations (based on international jurisprudence), if the societal preferences of countries are modelled by their pattern of the ratification of certain CoE treaties. This is insofar surprising, as generally the indicators ‹proven HR violations› and ‹reported HR violations› are uncorrelated.

In 2012, Editions Weblaw, Bern published the late Lothar Philipp's last book on legal logic and legal philosophy. «Endliche Rechtsbegriffe mit unendlichen Grenzen» (Unlimited Finite Juridical Concepts) is a compact and nice to read selection of various papers originated within the scope of IRIS (International Conference on Legal Informatics, Salzburg) and Münchener Rechtstheorie-Gespräche (Munich Talks on Legal Theory).

Since mid 2014 the insolvency registers in Germany, Estonia, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and in Austria are available free of charge all over Europe on the website of the European e-Justice Portal. (ah)

ECJ – The directive nevertheless makes it possible to assess that person’s legitimate interest in protecting the property, health and life of his family and himself. (Judgement C-212/13)

ECJ – The Member States can – within defined limits and under certain conditions, thereunder the payment of a justified compensation to the right holders – permit the users to print books digitalized by the library on paper or to save them on a USB flash drive. (Judgement C-117/13) (ah)

BGH – The First Civil Chamber of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which is among others responsible for copyright, decided on 27 november 2014 under which circumstances technical measures for the protection of video games protected by copyrights are enjoying such protection on their part. (Judgement I ZR 124/11) (ah)

BGH – The plaintiff demands that the defendant Federal Republic of Germany desists the storage of dynamic IP-addresses. (Judgement VI ZR 135/13) (ah)

BGH – The plaintiff is an established gynaecologist. The defendant runs a portal for searching and rating physicians. Hereunder goes, among others, name, specialisation, practice address, contact data and consultation hours as well as evaluations of the physician by portal users. The delivering of assessments requires a prior registration. For this, the user merely has to indicate an e-mail address, which will be verified within the registration procedure. (Judgement VI ZR 358/13) (ah)

OGH – The information rights of the Council regarding the sighting of wage accountings and records of absenteeism comes before the right of data protection. (Judgement 6 ObA 1/14m) (ah)

VFGH – Legal provisions on data retention in Austria are in contradiction with data protection and the right to privacy. (Judgements G 47/2012-49, G 59/2012-38, G 62/2012-46, G 70/2012-40 and G 71/2012-36)

The Federal Court is responsive to the expertise regarding the release of informatics solutions of the Federal Administration as Open-Source-Software. The Court takes measures related to the retentions in using their court software OpenJusitia by the courts, which are discussed in the expertise. (ah)

Facebook is trying everything it can to delay the largest European privacy class action ever filed (www.fbclaim.com). In this attempt, Facebook came up with countless arguments to delay the lawsuit filed at an Austrian court this August. It seems more than questionable whether the IT giant’s attempt at delaying will be successful, given the arguments presented. In this first response (Facebook Ireland has not consented to the publication of the response) to the lawsuit, Facebook submitted 30 pages that are in essence arguing that no court should ever decide over the companies» questionable privacy practices. At the same time Facebook remains silent about the actual content of the class action – a long list of alleged violations of EU privacy laws.