View on Wolfgangsee in Blinklingmoos - a nature reserve between Gschwendt and Strobl.

NSFW

This week’s song is from fyne. There’s not too much known about her yet apart from an Instagram-profile and a YouTube-channel.

The video shows two young people smoing, drinking red wine, staring at each other and throwing pillows. I like the very simple and ‘clean’sound - and the clichés transported.

Retrospect

Sommerdiskurs

I put most of the presentations and panel debates online and am proud to present seven videos with over all more than five hours of content. Please note that 1.) the debates between panels, speakers and audience are not documented here. They are an equally important part of the event and you need to come here to get this. 2.) the on site audience has the priority also when it comes to the recording. I try to be as little visible and disturbing as possible so that neither light nor sound nor camera are ideal (even for my standards) - that’s a very raw documentation of what’s happening here only; still, it’s, in my view, interesting to watch the videos, there is plenty of thought and information in them.

Eye opening.

Major General Starlinger is a brilliant mind whom I had he pleasure to mee in context of Future Operations during the pandemic. The video is very clear and has become even more relevant due to the fact that Starlinger became, right after Strobl, the head of an independent investigation committee on a very, very strange affair in the Austrian department of foreign affairs.

Sommerhochschule

I have the privilege to teach a course on “Law and Information Society in Europe” here. It’s - again - a terrific experience to work with some of the brightest Viennese students and an international audience.

One of the tasks I asked my students to do was to look into the privacy policies of some of the major social media and LLM-platforms and asked them then som equestions about their experiences. The outcomes are interesting: Students don’t feel comfortable with what happens, still they believe somehow that what they see is GDPR-compliant. And they don’t see themselves in the postion to change or leave the service.

#arsboni

I did, as planned, a session with Herlinde Pauer-Studer. Although th esound quaity is unfortunately not optimal, it’s still, in my view worth being watched due to its clear statements on vulnerabilities in legal systems and education.

(Interestingly, YouTube added explanations on the Holocaust and the Shoa here, without me having initiated this, here’s more on this).

Prospect

Julius Schumann

I will do an #arsboni #laundry interview with Dr. Julius Schumann on his excellent and award-winning (Award of Excellence – Staatspreis für die besten Dissertationen 2023 and Ars Iuris Dissertationspreis 2024) PHD-thesis.

Conference Media-Law-Information

On September 8th, we will have a conference at UNIVIE, organised (primarily) by Anna and Katja.

Topic: “(Dis)information – The Use of Emerging Technologies in the Media Landscape”.
The morning features a keynote by attorney Dr.in Maria Windhager, followed by a panel discussion with distinguished experts from academia, regulation, and practice:

• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Leonhard Dobusch (University of Innsbruck, Momentum Institute, ORF Foundation Board, General Council of the OeNB)
• Dr.in Susanne Lackner (Deputy Chair, KommAustria)
• Dr. Max Mosing, LL.M. (IT-Law), LL.M. (Strathclyde) (Geistwert Attorneys)
• Bettina Ruigies (Senior Advisor, Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media)

In the afternoon, workshops will explore key legal and regulatory challenges related to disinformation and media freedom.

Full program: https://mri.univie.ac.at/programm/
Participation is free of charge, registration is however required: https://mri.univie.ac.at/registrierung/teilnehmende/
Contact: mri.id@univie.ac.at

Law against Right Wing Political Extremism

The next day, September 9th, will bring a conference (in German) on the law as an instrument to fight political right wing extremism, organised primarily by Florian from the department. It’s the first time we will have the new minister of justice, Dr. Anna Sporrer, at one of our events.

Preliminary Programme:

16.00: Begrüßung und Eröffnung

16.10: Vortrag von Dr.in Anna Sporrer, Bundesministerin für Justiz

16.25: Vortrag von Dr. Ronen Steinke, Leitender Redakteur Politikressort SZ, Autor und Jurist
16.40: Vortrag von Ing.in Mag.a Dr.in Sylvia Mayer, MA, stellvertretende Direktorin Direktion Staatsschutz & Nachrichtendienst (DNS), Bundesministerium für Inneres
17.00: Panel Diskussion mit Dr.in Anna Sporrer, Dr. Ronen Steinke und Ing.in Mag.a Dr.in Sylvia Mayer, MA
18.00: Get-together

Free entry, registration required.

LLM Information and Media Law

I have the privilege to coordinate one of the world’s leading LLM-programmes on law and digitalisation - since 1999.

If you want to be part of next year’s group, you need to apply until August 31st. You get a year full of mind opening teaching and learning and a network of the most brilliant people in the field.

#joinus

Look and Feel

Strobl

We had - once again - a wonderful chamber concert in Strobl’s church - with Lydia Rathkolb as solist and four members of the Philharmonic Orchestra - including first violonist and chairman of the Board of the Philharmonic Orchestra Daniel Froschauer.

Vienna’s museum of art history KHM was, again, represented by its commercial director Dr. Paul Frey who spoke about “Die Verteidigung europäischer Werte im Bild – Rubens' Schlacht von Nördlingen”.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Peter_Paul_Rubens_121.jpg

I couldn’t record the concert, but I did so with Frey’s lecture which was, just as always, again an important highlight of the event.

Doing some walks and runs is an equally important part of this marvelous event and here are some pictures of this. It’s one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes I know:

The landscape (not so much the pictures, of course, that would be disrespectful) remind me of the wonderful images of Walter Mussil (Lakeside, for example, but also Innehalten) that one can see online and in the very nice restaurant Hansen in Vienna.

Erwin Wurm

Bad Ischl’s Kaiservilla has a terrific Erwin Wurm exhibition that is open to the public until 26/10/2025.

Here’s a view on the fat house from outside

and here’s one from inside the house (Salzkammergut weather included)

If you can, you should really go there, it’s very funny, for example the 1 minute sculptures (yes, the idiot is me).

Running

One of the things I do when running (or one should better call it slowly jogging) is to listen podcasts about running. I listened to an episode that is also interesting for non-runners:

Jan Fitschen is a former elite runner, speaking here about the scandal that current world record holder (!) in women’s marathon, Ruth Chepngetich, was provisionally suspended after a positive doping test. The interesting part here is, in my view, that Fitschen argues brilliantly that the problem will not disappear if only the athletes are punished - and not their trainers, doctors and associations - and how frustrating the current situation for athletes is.

Daisy

was not allowed to be with us on campus so that a friend living with lots of dogs in the area was so kind to take care of her.

She doesn’t look as if she was missing us a lot.

Have a wonderful week!

Kind regards

Nikolaus (Forgó)