View from Klinovec (CZ)

The Institute of Legal Informatics at Leibniz Universität Hannover traditionally used to go for a skiing trip to Oberwiesenthal/Klinovec together once a year. Some of the alumni still live the tradition, so that I spent last weekend in Annaberg-Buchholz and Klinovec. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no natural snow - and synthetic snow neither so that lifts in Oberwiesenthal were no longer operative. I went for a (short) run and a (long) walk instead - in April-like weather conditions. It was still great fun to see many old friends again.

Retrospect

Digital Markets Act (DMA)

Market regulations for gatekeepers according to the DMA are to be applied from March 7th. I was interviewed on this in OE1, ORF III, Puls24, Pro Sieben.

In preparing this, I read, inter alia, the (high level) technical description on interoperability between WhatsApp and its competitors; this is a really interesting document as it shows clearly the interplay between end to end encrytion, economic interests and “privacy” (or what gatekeepers call privacy).

I really enjoyed it to sneak the #laundry studio (and #arsboni) into some of the broadcasts.

and also did an outdoor interview in between two meetings

#arsboni

It’s stunning how difficult and often impossible it is to boil complex issues down in a five minute interview in a way people can understand without losing everything important.

This is one of the reasons why I like #arsboni so much - a format offering all the time needed for a deep dive. However, it can still happen the one takes more than an hour and still doesn’t cover anthing more than one single article. Martin Schmidt-Kessel was really willing and prepared to give an overview on the Data Act. However, due to the many questions I had, we spoke more than an hour but covered not much more than just article 3 section 1. But this article, believe me, is indeed important and difficult to understand.

Prof. DDr. Matthias Karmasin spoke with Boris Kandov and me on a recent policy paper (full text available) written by members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is much more optimistic than I would be about the role legacy media can still play in building trust.

Prospect

#arsboni

I am very much looking forward to two sessions next week.

On Monday, March 11th at 10.00 CET I will speak about a decision of Germany’s Constitutional Court. The claimant is a University professor acting as a PI in a research project on Islamic Radicalization in the Prison System (“Islamistischen Radikalisierung im Justizvollzug”). During criminal investigations, the professor’s institute was searched and documents, including not yet anaonymized interview protocols, were seized as one of the interview partners was suspicious of being a member in a terrorist organisation. The case touches difficult questions on freedom of research vs. state prosecution. I will be talking with Sarah Rachut who has published a critical report of the case.

On Wednesday, March 13th at 15.00 CET I will speak with the president of Austria’s Judges Association (“Österreichische Richtervereinigung"), Dr. Gernot Kanduth.

We will deal with public debates on judicial decisions, in particular in the light of recent criminal procedures against prominent (ex-)politicians, in particular Sebastian Kurz. The Association published a remarkable press release on the matter just recently.

Academic Self-Governance

I will participate in meetings of UNIVIE’s ethics committe and its GDPR advisory board and will serve as promotor in a graduation ceremony. These are the moments I may dress up like this

and speak from here

Daisy

… officially opened the summer season.

© Felix Forgó

Have a wonderful week!

Kind regards

Nikolaus (Forgó)