Unlawful Content Online: Towards A New Regulatory Framework For Online Platforms

Doctoral thesis (2020)

The thesis reviews the online intermediary liability framework of the E-Commerce Directive (in Articles 12 - 15) along two research questions. 1) Is the current legal framework regulating content ... [more ▼]

The thesis reviews the online intermediary liability framework of the E-Commerce Directive (in Articles 12 - 15) along two research questions. 1) Is the current legal framework regulating content liability of online platforms under the ECD still adequate when it comes to combating illegal content? 2) Are there alternative models for intermediary regulation that are better suited to include internet intermediaries in the fight against illegal content? These questions were formulated against the premises that unlawful content online has been a persisting and growing problem and that the position of online intermediaries today makes enhanced responsibilities on their part necessary. The thesis undertakes to analyse the nature of the enforcement challenges in the EU when trying to engage online platforms under the current liability framework, and charts out an alternative approach to holding online platforms responsible. Chapter 3 reviews the current intermediary framework in the EU and the horizontal challenges of holding internet intermediaries liable. This is analysed against the backdrop of the proliferation of the internet and online platforms, sketched out in the preceding Chapter 2. Due to the ambiguity and outdatedness of the ECD provisions, on the one hand, and different national secondary liability traditions, on the other hand, the liability protections of online platforms have been interpreted and applied differently by EU Member States, and most importantly courts, leading to an uneven and ineffective enforcement landscape. Chapter 4 analyses sectoral provisions that cover different kinds of offences related to unlawful content and their interactions with the ECD and national legislation on intermediary liability. The thesis evaluates enforcement efforts in the areas of defamation, hate speech, terrorist content, copyright, trademarks, product safety and food safety. While none of the national (sectoral) approaches reviewed appear to be effective when trying to enlist intermediaries in the fight against unlawful content, the latter have built up powerful own private enforcement systems that have come to rival and run counter to public interests and fundamental rights. Chapter 5 introduces case studies of online enforcement in the areas of product and food safety, based on interviews conducted with market surveillance authorities in the EU. The specific enforcement system of EU product regulation poses particular challenges, but also offers some useful lessons for the eventual framework proposed in Chapter 6. This system eschews today’s liability cornerstones and the reliance of self-regulatory tools favoured by EU and national legislators so far. Instead it proposes an enhanced responsibility system, based on harmonised technical standards as used in the EU's New Approach regulatory method. Technical standards would define duty of care obligations in the guise of risk management approaches, which focus on defined (sectoral) harms that arise from the business practices of online platforms. They incorporate prospective responsibilities, such as for example safety by design for user onboarding, user empowerment, or (algorithmic) content management, as well as specific retrospective responsibilities relating to e.g. notice and takedown or content identification system. The standard can be adapted to the type of harm/violation, thus taking account of the specific fundamental rights and public interests involved on a sectoral level. [less ▲]

School experiences of children and adolescents in Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland during the first wave of the lockdown

Presentation (2020, December 17)

The legacy of intimate partner violence in heterosexual and gay (LGBTQ) communities. New challenges for the family doctor.

in Baum, Erika; Ungan, Mehmet; Steylaerts, Carl (Eds.) The World Book of Family Medicine (2020)

The “classic” gender violence of the heterosexual couples has left a painful legacy to the LGBT community. Recent researches show that rates of IPV in LGBT are similar to or higher than the rates found ... [more ▼]

The “classic” gender violence of the heterosexual couples has left a painful legacy to the LGBT community. Recent researches show that rates of IPV in LGBT are similar to or higher than the rates found for heterosexual women. Though hardly worked, it seems to be that existing approach programs turn out to be incomplete and insufficient to address this problem in heterosexual women, being practically unknown in sexual minorities. The greater part of health professionals seems to have a vague and unclear knowledge of many basic LGBTQ+ concepts and specific health needs (social isolation, substance abuse, eating disorders, intimate partner violence, cancer prevention, etc...) The reality is that most of nowadays family physicians are not conscious nor trained to identify no manage the differences in professional help need between sexual minorities and heterosexual patients. [less ▲]

Innovation Networks from Inter-organizational Research Collaborations

in Heuristics for Optimization and Learning (2020)

We consider the problem of automatizing network generation from inter-organizational research collaboration data. The resulting networks promise to obtain crucial advanced insights. In this paper, we ... [more ▼]

We consider the problem of automatizing network generation from inter-organizational research collaboration data. The resulting networks promise to obtain crucial advanced insights. In this paper, we propose a method to convert relational data to a set of networks using a single parameter, called Linkage Threshold (LT). To analyze the impact of the LT-value, we apply standard network metrics such as network density and centrality measures on each network produced. The feasibility and impact of our approach are demonstrated by using a real-world collaboration data set from an established research institution. We show how the produced network layers can reveal insights and patterns by presenting a correlation matrix. [less ▲]

Taxation, Data and Destination - An Analysis of the Compatibility of a Digitalized Destination-Based Corporate Tax and a Destination-Based Cash-Flow Tax with International and EU Tax and Data Protection Law Frameworks

Doctoral thesis (2020)

The digitalized economy poses challenges and issues to traditional corporate taxation that require modifications in the way companies are taxed under international tax law. The thesis discusses two tax ... [more ▼]

The digitalized economy poses challenges and issues to traditional corporate taxation that require modifications in the way companies are taxed under international tax law. The thesis discusses two tax proposals to face some of the main issues, such as the intangibility of business assets and operations, the lack of physical presence of businesses in market jurisdictions, as well as non-taxation under both corporate income tax and value added tax in these jurisdictions. One of the tax proposals is the destination-based cash-flow tax that has been elaborated on mainly in economic literature. The other proposal has been drafted by the author and is named "digitalized destination-based corporate tax". The thesis analyzes the business and legal context in which the two taxes would operate: beyond the testing of the two model taxes against several digitalized business models, the relevant legal frameworks known in taxation and composed by double taxation conventions, EU law and WTO law are analyzed. Moreover, considering that the place of destination is determined by reference to the place of customers or users, corporate taxpayers likely need to collect and process (personal) data of these third parties in order to determine their place of tax liability. Thus, the thesis also examines potential data protection law interferences. [less ▲]

Pressure Sensing with Nematic Liquid Crystal and Carbon Nanotube Networks

Doctoral thesis (2020)

The study of colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles in liquid crystals (LCs) is well known. In most of the works, the particles are mixed into the LC to form suspensions with well-dispersed particles ... [more ▼]

The study of colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles in liquid crystals (LCs) is well known. In most of the works, the particles are mixed into the LC to form suspensions with well-dispersed particles. However, when nanoparticles are physically connected to form networks, the overall macroscopic properties of the ensemble are directly linked to the specific properties of the nanoparticles. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are excellent electrical conductors possessing extremely high aspect ratio, which results in a very low concentration threshold needed to obtain percolation. Therefore, they form conductive networks with extremely small amounts of CNTs. Another advantage of carbon nanotubes is their capability to transport large current densities without damage by electromigration, maintaining a stable resistance, and having scattering-less paths across several microns. Moreover, the electromechanical properties of CNTs make them an ideal candidate in pressure sensing technology. The doctoral thesis presented here describes two different approaches to integrate and utilise CNTs in an LC matrix. In the first case, we show that a variety of nanoparticles that are dispersed in LC can be attracted and assembled onto a LC defect line generated in a predetermined location, thereby creating a vertical interconnect of nanoparticles. The second consists of CNT sheets mechanically drawn from a CNT forest and an LC cell is then built on top, and the second consists of a template-based assembly of dispersed CNTs onto defect lines in LCs. In this case, we study the electrical and optical properties of CNT sheets in the presence and absence of liquid crystals based on their DC electrical characterization with distributed electrical contacts. Finally, we discuss how these two approaches can be used to successfully fabricate pressure-sensing devices. The pressure response in both these sensors is achieved based on the change in resistance of the CNTs, induced by the structural variations under the external applied pressure. Both the pressure sensors developed here are easy to fabricate, cost-effective, and recoverable owing to the elasticity and softness of the LC. [less ▲]

Outdoor STEAM integrated framework in elementary schools in Luxembourg using MathCityMap and GeoGebra 3D Calculator

Scientific Conference (2020, December 15)

In elementary schools in Luxemburg, sciences and mathematics are generally taught in class based essentially on textbooks. However, the findings of multiple studies on understanding and applying skills in ... [more ▼]

In elementary schools in Luxemburg, sciences and mathematics are generally taught in class based essentially on textbooks. However, the findings of multiple studies on understanding and applying skills in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) report that students need hands-on activities on real-world objects. Furthermore, in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, where numerous restrictions and risks dominate teaching inside the classroom, outdoor learning is safer and offers many opportunities. Hence, we created outdoor mathematical trails with a STEAM integrated approach for elementary schools using the free educational software MathCityMap and the dynamic mathematics software GeoGebra 3D. In these outdoor trails, students used a set of promising technologies, i.e. AR (Augmented Reality) or GPS, to support STEAM education. Based on results from our first study on outdoor mathematical trails in June 2020 (in review), we developed and evaluated a framework on outdoor STEAM integrated teaching. This framework was used for further outdoor task and trail creations in elementary schools, which we investigated by conducting semi-structured interviews with students and teachers. Hence, we will present how this framework was used in elementary schools to create outdoor mathematical trails and describe how it affected the students' learning. [less ▲]

Tuning halide perovskite energy levels

in Energy and Environmental Science (2020)

Solar energy is playing a significant role in the development of a world powered by clean energy sources. In this context, halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered one of the most promising ... [more ▼]

Solar energy is playing a significant role in the development of a world powered by clean energy sources. In this context, halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered one of the most promising research lines thanks to their high efficiencies and flexibility, combined with an easy and cheap fabrication process. The possibility of combining different materials and compositions is an excellent advantage of PSCs. However, still, a big limit is posed by the need for a proper energy level alignment between the layers of materials comprising devices. Therefore, it is of utmost interest to develop methods allowing to tune the energy levels of the different materials. In semiconductors physics, a common technique to achieve this purpose is to functionalize the surface of the materials with dipolar molecules. Nevertheless, this has been rarely applied to perovskites because of the highly rough surface of the films. In this study, we show that it is possible to use this technique in hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite semiconductors systematically and tune the direction and magnitude of the shift by controlling the deposition process. These findings offer a toolbox to simplify the application of halide perovskites in optoelectronic devices. [less ▲]

Anatomie de l'Europe médiévale. L’âge féodal : la parcellisation du pouvoir (fin IXe – fin XIIe s.)

E-print/Working paper (2020)

High-Level Modular Autopilot Solution for Fast Prototyping of Unmanned Aerial Systems

in IEEE Access (2020)

A redundant fast prototyping autopilot solution for unmanned aerial systems has been developed and successfully tested outdoors. While its low-level backbone is executed in a Raspberry Pi R 3 + NAVIO2 R ... [more ▼]

A redundant fast prototyping autopilot solution for unmanned aerial systems has been developed and successfully tested outdoors. While its low-level backbone is executed in a Raspberry Pi R 3 + NAVIO2 R with a backup autopilot, the computational power of an Intel R NUC mini-computer is employed to implement complex functionalities directly in Simulink R , thus including in-flight debugging, tuning and monitoring. Altogether, the presented tool provides a flexible and user-friendly high-level environment with enhanced computational capabilities, which drastically reduces the prototyping timespans of complex algorithms -between 50% and 75%, according to our long and proven experience in aerial robotics-, while preventing incidents thanks to its redundant design with a human-in-the-loop pilot on the reliable PX4. Three typical outdoor cases are carried out for validation in real-life scenarios, all mounted in a DJI © F550 platform. Full integration results and telemetry for more than 50 hours of outdoor flight tests are provided. [less ▲]