Member Articles

  Following an antitrust investigation, in 2017 the European Commission had fined Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. a record €2.4 billion for abuse of Google’s dominant position. In brief, it found that Google was self-preferencing, by presenting results from its own Google Shopping first upon a so called “Google search”. On appeal to the General Court, the fine was confirmed in 2021 ...

On November 23, 2023, the State Council published theOfficial Reply of the State Council on the Work Plan for Supporting Beijing in Promoting the Construction of a Comprehensive Demonstration Zone for Further Opening up the National Service Sector(the "Reply") ...

  We all know how important advertising is in the business world. Traders use advertisements as marketing tools to inform customers and consumers about their products. With the rise of technology and social media, advertising is now taking diverse forms. Companies are increasingly turning to a more powerful tool, the ‘influencer’, to advertise their products. This phenomenon is also evident locally ...

Succession of digital assets in Guernsey What are digital assets? The term "digital assets" does not yet have a legal definition in Guernsey but it can broadly be understood to mean any asset that is represented digitally or electronically.[1] Digital assets include: cryptocurrencies; NFTs; social media accounts; photos, audio files and video stored in the cloud; reward cards/loyalty programmes; online bank accounts; email accounts; eBooks; websites ...

Shoosmiths’ mobility partner, Ben Gardner, was a speaker at SMMT Connected 2024, hosted in London. Ben moderated a panel discussion focused on the remaining challenges to a safe and responsible commercial rollout of automated vehicles.  The summit was aimed at addressing the latest advancements in connected and automated vehicle technology. The UK’s automotive sector leads the charge in this transformative revolution, making substantial investments in cutting-edge technologies ...

In a move aimed at protecting Americans’ data security, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14117 on “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Order”) ...

On March 26th, 2024, the President of the Republic enacted the Framework Law on Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure (the "Law"), after having been generally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, and the preventive control of constitutionality carried out by the Constitutional Court was concluded ...

The Bitcoin ‘halving’ event is rapidly approaching, anticipated to occur around the 19th or 20th of April. Currently, there’s an unprecedented level of attention on Bitcoin due to this event. So, what exactly does ‘halving’ entail, and why is there such a buzz surrounding it? The term itself evokes the intrigue of a suspenseful horror film, one that could be straight out of a Stephen King story ...

The Online Safety Act 2023 (the "OSA") became law on 26 October 2023 and will affect over 100,000 organisations. Here, we focus specifically on the overlaps between the OSA and data protection legislation, outlining the synergies (and differences) in key areas, together with some practical tips. This firm has been a consistent source of commentary and practical guidance on the new Online Safety Act 2023 (the ‘OSA’) ...

In On Tower UK Limited v British Telecommunications Plc [2024] UKUT 51 LC, the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) was asked to address key aspects of the Electronic Communications Code ...