The promise of using blockchain technology in legal transactions is that it will enable smart contracts to self-execute without intermediaries and arbitrators. However, blockchain cannot access data outside of its network, so a smart contract can self-execute on its own only within the blockchain. If the contract requires a delivery of goods or a performance of services in the real world, an external agent must verify the facts and add the information to the blockchain. Blockchain can ensure that the data entered has not been subsequently modified, but it cannot guarantee that it is true. The article analyses the role of blockchain oracles - i.e. third-party services entrusted by the parties with verifying real-world data that can trigger smart contract execution. The need for legal impartiality of such agents is discussed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16581969
Digital short-term rental platforms made it very easy for homeowners to rent out their premises for the purpose of tourist accommodation. Many individuals rent out their residential premises via digital platforms as their complementary economic activity, while relying on the rules of housing legislation that were not designed for the purpose of providing tourist accommodation, but to regulate long-term housing rental relations. When renting out apartments to tourists, apartment owners usually do not take into account housing legislation setting out stringent requirements for performing an economic activity in the apartment. Widespread short-term apartment rentals can be disturbing for regular residents in multi-apartment buildings and can have a negative impact on the housing rental market. Consequently, some countries and cities have started regulating and limiting short-term tourist rentals. The article outlines the conditions for short-term rentals of residential premises under the current Slovenian legislation and under specific legal regimes adopted in selected European countries. The approach of digital platform towards ensuring the compliance with these conditions is analysed. Finally, the authors aim to determine where the current Slovenian rules in this field are inadequate and how they could be improved.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16443473
An internet domain name helps us identify any website and access it. Due to its distinguishing function, a recognisable internet domain has considerable economic significance as it increases website traffic. Therefore, domain name holder´s debtors may want to cash in the property value of the domain to ensure payment of their claims against the creditor. However, the method of execution upon domain names is not clearly regulated in legislation. The article presents the basic technical characteristics of internet domain names and their registration; on this basis, it further examines the legal nature and legal protection of domain names. The author concludes that a domain name in itself should not be treated as an exclusive right. Nevertheless, execution upon a domain name can still be carried out by appraisal and sale of the complete set of domain name holder´s contractual rights arising from its relationship with the domain name registry.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16526673
The content available on the Internet may violate various legal norms and cause damage. An average Internet user communicates with the public on various online platforms of other platform operators, such as social networks and online forums. The article presents an overview of the general rules on Internet intermediary liability for user-generated content, which are based on the distinction between mere conduit, caching and hosting. The article provides an analysis of the case law of the EU Court of Justice concerning the concept of a technically neutral service provider and the permissibility of court-ordered automated filtering of illegal usergenerated content in a particular case. Finally, the article studies the tendency to establish automated tools for checking of user-generated content, as reflected in recent policy documents of the European Commission. The author is critical of this trend, which deviates from the Manila principles of intermediary liability.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16200785
Hitra rast spletnih posredniških platform, kot so Airbnb, Uber ali Amazon Marketplace, ni prinesla samo novih izzivov za obstoječe poslovne modele. Sprožila je tudi razpravo o tem, ali je treba prilagoditi zakonodajo EU o potrošniških in tržnih praksah, da bi upoštevali spreminjajočo se tržno strukturo, ki jo je povzročil porast „platformne ekonomije“. Cilj tega diskusijskega osnutka, ki ga je pripravila mreža pravnih strokovnjakov iz več evropskih držav članic, je prispevati k tej razpravi. Ali sedanje spremembe na enotnem digitalnem trgu upravičujejo kakršne koli regulativne ukrepe, je odprto vprašanje. Raziskovalci, ki sodelujejo pri pripravi osnutka diskusije, imajo različna mnenja glede tega vprašanja in kako najti pravo ravnovesje med zaščito potrošnikov, svobodo trga in inovacijami. Vendar pa si delijo mnenje, da lahko razprava, ki je bila doslej potekala na precej abstraktni ravni, koristi „vizualizaciji“, ki daje jasnejšo predstavo o tem, kako lahko izgleda konkreten regulativni instrument.
COBISS.SI-ID: 16943441