Harmful Online Activity and Private Law – Day I

Date: 

Wed, 04/12/2019 - 10:30 to 18:00

Location: 

Room 501, The Maiersdorf Faculty Club, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem

 hujihaifa2019logo

For the Conference Pictures Click Here.

There has been no shortage of reports in recent years about harmful activity taking place in cyberspace and online platforms. These include dissemination of ‘fake news’, online hate speech, recruitment of terrorists, data theft, DDOS attacks, abuse of market power, setting exploitative conditions for consumers, and other harmful acts. Each of these harmful activities raises a unique set of policy problems, entailing distinct legal norms and legal institutions. At the same time, they raise common questions concerning liability and other forms of accountability, the interplay between law enforcement and technology, the role of insurance in mitigating risk, and the interplay between different laws and legal regimes.

The third annual Conference will look at the common and distinct responses of private law norms and institutions to harmful online activities. These include, inter alia, the role of contractual terms in allocating responsibility and risk, the role of tort law (including private competition law and privacyrelated damage suits) in assigning liability across supply chains and between content providers, intermediary platforms and end users, the role of property and intellectual property law in assigning entitlements and protections, the role of insurance law in regulating online conduct and addressing harms, and the role of private international law in dealing with the cross-border features of many, if not most, online harmful activity. At a broader level, the conference seeks to explore whether, and to what extent, private law offers an adequate substantive and procedural legal framework for addressing new and emerging challenges posed by harmful activities online, and what, if any, reforms and new developments are warranted.

The Conference aims to bring together an international group of established and young scholars who are studying cyber law and policy, and are interested in the ramifications of new technology for human well-being, economic interests and social welfare. The conference will offer an opportunity to present cutting-edge research addressing these issues, to introduce new projects and thought-provoking initiatives, and to promote exchange among participants that will inform their ongoing research.

Agenda (Day I)

10:30-11:00  Welcome and Coffee

11:00-11:15  Opening Remarks
Yuval Shany
, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

11:15-12:45  Panel I: Regulating Online Contents (Watch the video)
Moderator: Yuval Shany, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Participants:
Karen Eltis, University of Ottawa and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Is “truth Telling” Online Still Reasonable? A Comparative Approach to Extra-territoriality and Defamation Analysis in the Digital Age.
Tomer Shadmy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Private Authority, Public powers: User Unions in Platforms as a Method to Bridge the Private/Public Divide (Enforcement of private rights online) 
(Presentation)
Rotem Medzini, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem –Governing and Governance in Content Regulation: Embedding publicness through regulatory intermediation

12:45-14:15  Lunch

14:15-15:45  Panel II: Platform Liability (Watch the video)
Moderator: Maayan Perel
 University of Haifa

Participants:
Maayan Perel 
, University of Haifa – Separation of Function for AI: Restraining Speech Regulation by Online Platforms
Shelly Kreiczer-Levy, College of Law & Business – The Fiducairy Role of Access Platforms
Maximilian Eder, University of Graz – Perks of Being a Host Provider: Airbnb’s Liability Under European Law 
Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel Democracy Institute  
 Election Interference and Platform Responsibility 

15:45-16:00  Coffee Break

16:00-17:30  Panel III: Private Regulation of Markets (Watch the video)
Moderator: Deborah Housen-Couriel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 

Participants:
Fabiana Di Porto, University of Salento and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem –I Access Your Data, You Access Mine. Requiring Data Reciporcity in Payment Services. (Presentation)
Jakob Metzger, Weisenbaum Institute, Berlin – Private Law Challenges of Personalized Pricing

Aviv Gaon, IDC Herzliya – Through the Looking Glass: The Hidden Impacts of Data Regulation. (Presentation)

18:15 Dinner

 


See also: Day II