2,248 research outputs found
Liability Rules for the Digital Age
With legislative proposals for two directives published in September 2022, the European Commission aims to adapt the existing liability system to the challenges posed by digitalisation. One of the proposals is related and limited to liability for artificial intelligent (AI) systems, but the other contains nothing less than a full revision of the 1985 Product Liability Directive, which lies at the heart of European tort law. Whereas the current Product Liability Directive largely followed the model of US law, the revised version breaks new ground. It does not limit itself to the expansion of the concept of product to include intangible digital goods, such as software and data as well as related services, important enough in itself, but also targets the new intermediaries of e-commerce as liable parties. As such, the proposal for a new product liability directive is a great leap forward and has the potential to grow into a worldwide benchmark in the field. In comparison, the proposal of a directive on AI liability is much harder to assess. It remains questionable whether a second directive is actually needed at this stage of the technological development.Peer Reviewe
Mandatory Contract Law: Functions and Principles in Light of the Proposal for a Directive on Consumer Rights
Starting from the theoretical underpinnings of contract law, mandatory rules should be the exception. In the reality of current European legislation, mandatory law is not the exception but the rule. The obvious explanation is that the EU has focussed on consumer law, i.e. on the regulation of transactions between a business and a consumer. In a B-to-C relationship, the consumer is perceived as the weaker party which requires protection against the more powerful business.
The following article tries to dismantle the assumptions that consumers are weak and that the âweaknessâ of consumers forms the normative basis for the body of Directives we now have before us. The Draft Proposal of a Directive on Consumer Rights is used as an object for analyses from the perspectives of comparative law and economic reasoning. The argument is that, while there are important areas where mandatory law is justified, the card of mandatory law has been overplayed in important respects. In particular, the petrification of the law of sales that began with the Directive on Consumer Sales and Guarantees seems to be unjustified. Within a system that allows for court control over standard contract terms, the need for mandatory law is negligible. Where court control over standard terms is perceived not to be sufficient, âoptionsâ should be used instead of mandatory law. While options preserve party autonomy, they do limit freedom of choice to a set of immutable alternatives. And in doing so, they reconcile party autonomy with legal certainty
Schadensersatz bei Kartelldelikten
Mit der VO 1/2003 hat die Kommission einen Paradigmenwechsel im Europäischen Wettbewerbsrecht vollzogen. Seit 1962 lag die Durchsetzung der gemeinschaftsrechtlichen Wettbewerbsregeln vor allem in den Händen der Kommission selbst. Nach der Ersten DurchfßhrungsVO zu den heutigen Art. 81, 82 EG hatte die Kommission insbesondere ein Entscheidungsmonopol ßber die Ausnahmebestimmungen des Art. 81 Abs. 3 EG. Die VO 1/2003 lÜst dieses System des behÜrdlichen Vollzugs des Kartellrechts ab und setzt ein Modell an seine Stelle, das vor allem auf private enforcement" setzt. Im Kern liegt darin ein Umschwenken von einer administrativ gesteuerten ex-ante Kontrolle zu einer durch die Privatinitiative angetriebenen ex-post Kontrolle aufgrund entsprechender Individualklagen.
Optimization of van der Waals Energy for Protein Side-Chain Placement and Design
AbstractComputational determination of optimal side-chain conformations in protein structures has been a long-standing and challenging problem. Solving this problem is important for many applications including homology modeling, protein docking, and for placing small molecule ligands on protein-binding sites. Programs available as of this writing are very fast and reasonably accurate, as measured by deviations of side-chain dihedral angles; however, often due to multiple atomic clashes, they produce structures with high positive energies. This is problematic in applications where the energy values are important, for example when placing small molecules in docking applications; the relatively small binding energy of the small molecule is drowned by the large energy due to atomic clashes that hampers finding the lowest energy state of the docked ligand. To address this we have developed an algorithm for generating a set of side-chain conformations that is dense enough that at least one of its members would have a root mean-square deviation of no more than R Ă
from any possible side-chain conformation of the amino acid. We call such a set a side-chain cover set of order R for the amino acid. The size of the set is constrained by the energy of the interaction of the side chain to the backbone atoms. Then, side-chain cover sets are used to optimize the conformation of the side chains given the coordinates of the backbone of a protein. The method we use is based on a variety of dead-end elimination methods and the recently discovered dynamic programming algorithm for this problem. This was implemented in a computer program called Octopus where we use side-chain cover sets with very small values for R, such as 0.1Â Ă
, which ensures that for each amino-acid side chain the set contains a conformation with a root mean-square deviation of, at most, RÂ from the optimal conformation. The side-chain dihedral-angle accuracy of the program is comparable to other implementations; however, it has the important advantage that the structures produced by the program have negative energies that are very close to the energies of the crystal structure for all tested proteins
Hiking Trip Selection Based On Reachability By Public Transport
Smart cities should enable the citizens to utilize available ressources. One of the goals is the reduction of individual motorized traffic. However, many citizens still use cars to get to the location of an ourtdoor activity. As a concrete example we use hiking trips and identify those that can be reached by public transport. The result is a map (and a corresponding GIS data set) showing the hiking locations for a single day hiking trip. The concept can be used for various other applications although there are still open questions, e.g., what part of the answer can be precomputed and what should be determined on demand
Bewertung verschiedener Alternativen zur Kraftstoffââââ-âEinsparung im privaten Pkw-Verkehr
Die Ălkrise 1973 fĂźhrte auch in Deutschland zu politischen AuffanglĂśsungen. Dazu gehĂśrten vor allem vier aufeinanderfolgende autofreie Sonntage ab 25. November 1973 sowie allgemeine Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen fĂźr sechs Monate. Die Sonntags-fahrverbote stellten entferntere Tourismus- und Freizeitgebiete vor besondere Probleme und verstärkten die Suche nach. raumordnungspolitisch verträglicheren LĂśsungen. Die PrĂźfung der Vorschläge schloss alle SparmaĂnahmen im Verkehr ein, die Ăśffentlich diskutiert oder in Briefen an den Bundesminister fĂźr Raumordnung, Bauwesen und Städtebau angeregt worden waren. Den Kern der hier dargestellten Kurzanalyse bildete die Ministervorlage der drei Autoren.
Darin wurden folgende alternative MaĂnahmen zur Kraftstoffeinsparung im Verkehr verglichen und bewertet.
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw an Wochenenden, gestaffelt nach der Zahl der Verbotstage (Sonntag bzw. Samstag) pro Monat,
⢠Fahrverbot fĂźr private Pkw auf BundesfernstraĂen und Bundesautobahnen,
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw im Umkreis von mehr als 30 km vom Standort,
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw an allen Tagen zwischen 10 und 16 Uhr,
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw mit Besetzungsgrad unter 2 Personen bei zeitlicher Limitierung,
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw an 2 Tagen der Woche nach Wahl,
⢠Fahrverbot fßr private Pkw an 3 Tagen pro Monat gemäà Zulassungsnummer und
⢠Rationierung der Benzinausgabe mit Bezugsscheinen fßr jedermann, die personell ßbertragen und deshalb am Markt gehandelt werden kÜnnen.
Die Kurzanalyse offenbart die instrumentelle Ăberlegenheit der MaĂnahme, die Benzinausgabe mit Ăźbertragbaren Benzinscheinen zu rationieren. Ihre EinsparmĂśglichkeiten sind flexibel handhabbar. Auch damit verbundene sektorale und personelle Entzugseffekte sind besonders gering. SchlieĂlich vermeidet dieser LĂśsungsweg Kontroll-aufwand und zeitliche wie räumliche Ausweichreaktionen.The 1973 oil crisis led, also in Germany as in other countries, to a search for emergency solutions. These included most notably all consecutive car-free Sundays from 25 November 1973 and general speed limits for six months. The ban on Sunday driving led to a massive drop in demand in more distant recreation and leisure areas and intensified the search for politically more acceptable solutions. The examination of the proposals made included all fuel-cutting measures widely discussed in public or proposed in letters from the general public to the Federal Minister of Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development. The core of the brief analysis presented here was the paper to the minister by the three authors.
This paper compared and evaluated the following fuel-saving measures in transport:
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars at weekends according to the number of ban days (Sunday or Saturday) per month,
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars on German motorways and Federal trunk roads,
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars beyond a 30 kilometre radius from the place where the vehicle is based,
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars on all days between 10.00 and 16.00,
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars with an occupancy rate less than 2 people and temporal limitation
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars on 2 days per week of the driverâs choice,
⢠a nationwide driving ban for passenger cars on 3 days per dependent on the registration number and
⢠strictly rationed petrol sales with coupons for everybody that may be transfered and traded on secondary markets
The brief analysis showed the superiority of the measure to restrict petrol sales by transferable coupons. It was a flexible solution which could be adjusted to circumstances. Related problems like sectoral or human hardships would therefore be limited. This approach would greatly reduce the burden of administration and enforcement and prevent attempts to circumvent bans temporally or spatially
Characterization of the distribution of internal motions in the basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor using a large number of internal NMR probes
The experimental observations described in this article indicated that a distribution of many different fluctuations is present in a globular protein. These fluctuations were characterized by observation of many natural internal probes such as the labile peptide protons and the aromatic side chains. The conditions which are necessary to get reactions of the internal probes have been discussed in detail. The structural interpretation of the data was facilitated by the development and the use of new NMR techniques which provided the identification of the resonances of all the labile peptide protons. With NOE measurements a distinction between correlated and uncorrelated exchange events was obtained. This enabled us to elucidate the exchange mechanism over a wide range of p2H and temperature and to classify different subsets of fluctuations with respect to their lifetimes. It was further demonstrated that a change of external conditions such as temperature, p2H or pressure can change the distribution of fluctuations in the protein. The mechanisms responsible for rotation of internal aromatic side chains were also found to change with temperature, and mechanistic aspects of these fluctuations were discusse
Digitale Ordnungspolitik â Haftung und Verantwortung
Privatrechtliche Haftung ist ein wichtiges Steuerungsinstrument einer dezentral organisierten Wirtschaftsordnung. Anders als Regulierung, die potenziell gefährliche Tätigkeiten ex ante steuert, greift Haftung ex post ein, nachdem ein Schaden oder eine Gefährdungslage bereits eingetreten ist. Die wohlfahrtsmindernde Ăberregulierung von Tätigkeiten, die in Wahrheit gar nicht oder nur in geringem Umfang schadensträchtig sind, lässt sich dadurch vermeiden. Trotzdem generiert auch Haftung Anreize zum sorgfältigen, schadensvermeidenden Verhalten ex ante. FĂźr die Wirksamkeit des Steuerungseffekts ist es essentiell, dass diejenigen Akteure haftungsrechtlich adressiert werden, die zur Kontrolle der jeweiligen Gefahr am besten in der Lage sind. Die Digitalisierung stellt das Haftungsrecht insofern vor Herausforderungen als neue Akteure die BĂźhne betreten, die als potenzielle Haftungssubjekte infrage kommen, nämlich Roboter und andere autonome Systeme sowie Plattformen, die das Internet erschlieĂen und Nutzer miteinander in Kontakt bringen. Der folgende Beitrag analysiert die Haftungsverfassung digitaler Märkte im Hinblick auf die Verantwortung fĂźr autonome Systeme und digitale Plattformen.Civil liability is an important governance mechanism of decentralized societies. Contrary to regulatory law which is imposed on potentially dangerous activities ex ante, liability rules intervene ex post, after damage has already occurred or a hazardous situation has materialized. Ex post mechanisms avoid welfare-reducing overregulation of potentially dangerous activities that turn out to be rather harmless, i.e. that do not cause substantial losses. Nevertheless, liability rules generate incentives for actors to take precautions against harm ex ante. These benefits of liability rules in terms of incentives towards optimal safety may be obtained only if liability is imposed on the actor within a group who is in the best position to avoid the harm in question. Digitalization poses new challenges for liability rules as traditional actors, such as newspapers, are pushed into the background, while new players, such as platforms, take center stage. The following article explores how liability rules react to this shift of control from one group of actors to another, with a focus on autonomous systems and digital platforms.Peer Reviewe
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