Naslov
Technology and Civil Law: How are New Developments in Digital Technologies Influencing Traditional Principles of Civil Law?

Autori
Klasiček, Dubravka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, prošireni sažetak, ostalo

Skup
Pravna tradicija i novi pravni izazovi

Mjesto i datum
Novi Sad, Srbija, 01.10.2020. - 02.10.2020

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Podatak o recenziji nije dostupan

Ključne riječi
digital asset, terms of service agreement (TOSA), license, electronic signature, contract of adhesion, digital inheritance, digital will

Sažetak
Technology has influenced all aspects of our lives tremendously. Among other things, it has changed the way we communicate, learn, discover the world around us and conduct our business. It has even influenced the way we think. However, most of us do not consider how technology influences law. For example, technology has led to development of a new intangible entity – digital asset. There is no universal definition of a digital asset, but most agree that this term pertains to information in a digital form, stored on computers and other computer related technology. These assets can be accessed in various ways: through a computer, hard drive, smart phone or an internet service provider’s server. They include, but are not limited to, e-mail accounts ; blogs ; social networking sites ; personal webpages ; documents, videos, music or photography in a digital form. It is likely that this list will expand to encompass new entities that will develop in the future. As one can imagine, most people all over the world have a lot of digital assets. Still, most of them have no idea what rights they actually have over these assets. Do they own them or are they merely allowed to use them for the duration of their lives? Also, a great number of people do not know who decides what they can or cannot do with their digital assets. Even more of them never consider what will happen to these assets after they die. Furthermore, today, a lot of people are manifesting their will, in various ways, online. Some of those manifestations are direct – for example, if a person wants to join certain internet service provider’s site, they will either click that they agree to the terms of that site or they will forgo the Web page altogether. Sometimes, the manifestation is not as straight forward. It can only be deduced from the person’s behavior – he/she will consent to terms of service just by staying on a Web page and browsing through it. Also, if someone wants to manifest his/her will in an offline world, he/she will physically sign the document. With documents in digital form, that is not possible, so one has to sight it electronically. In addition, many contracts today are being made online in the form of contracts of adhesion. However, these contracts have their own characteristics that vary from characteristics of classical contracts of adhesion. Regardless, traditional rules pertaining to these types of contracts have not changed to include the ones that are being made online. Developments in technology have also made an impact on how a person forms a will. Since Roman times, types of wills have been, for the most part, unchanged. One of their main characteristics is strict formality. But, today, there are more possible ways of making a will, other than writing it or saying it in front of witnesses. For example, the easiest thing for a testator would be to record his/her last wishes on camera, without any witnesses present. In most countries a will made in that way would not be valid. However, there are certain countries in the world that have started to recognize wills made with the help of digital technology, under certain conditions. When it comes to inheritance, assets people inherit today differ from those that could be inherited not so long ago. A lot of the items that earlier existed only in a physical form, are now digitized and password protected. However, like their tangible counterparts, they can (and should) still be passed on to decedent’s heirs, regardless of the fact that they are intangible. Besides documents, bills, photography, music and videos in a digital form, a person has a lot of other digital assets – e mail and social media accounts, blogs, business sites, where a lot of data are stored. This too is something that belongs to a person and the question arises: what will happen to these accounts and its content after that person dies? The first part of the paper will deal with how technology influences property law – it will try to elaborate what rights people actually have over certain digital assets, a lot of which they (incorrectly) consider to be their ownership. The second part will analyze the influence technology has on the law of obligations. First, it will touch upon various ways to manifest one’s will online and, second, it will deal with contracts of adhesion that are being concluded online. The third part of the paper will deal with how technology has influenced inheritance law. It will try to explain how it has influenced the form of wills and the composition of inheritance.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Pravo

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