The third issue of the international scientific and practical journal “Law and Digital Economy” has been published in 2022.
The first article of the issue is “Patent information – a source of valuable knowledge for reengineering” by G. P. Ivliev and T. N. Erivantseva. The purpose of the research is to reveal the value of patent information when using the reverse engineering method in the process of reproduction, modification and refinement of the recreated object. The objective is to review the main problems of applying the reverse engineering method to material objects, in particular for the Russian Federation. The article shows the possibilities of patent information in making decisions on ways to ensure similar or improved technical and economic indicators of a reproduced product. In conclusion, it is noted that it is patent information that allows, in the process of modifying and refining a recreated object, to identify the possibility of replacing unavailable materials for its production and choosing a new material, as well as the possibility of using an alternative – commercially available and comparable – production process to bypass the patented technology.
The article by B. A. Shakhnazarov is devoted to NFT as a way of fixing property and personal non-property rights in the context of digitalization of society. The author emphasizes that in the modern legal reality, the principle of technological neutrality is still implemented in the rule-making process. Legislators around the world are indeed in no hurry to adopt regulations regarding relations using this or that technology. At the same time, blockchain technologies make it possible to implement completely different social relations, including legal relations in a new decentralized plane (in particular, implemented through metaverses, NFT platforms), having great extraterritorial potential. This state of affairs in the context of modern economic crises may mean the accelerated development of a new digital economy, and in the context of sanctions restrictions, blockchain-based NFT has the potential to overcome them. NFT reliability guarantees are contained in a smart contract, and a link to a unique object stored on both centralized and decentralized servers can be implemented on the blockchain as metadata.
The topic of the article by Kholodnaya E.V. is individual elements of digital profiling technologies. The article notes that digital technologies are transforming the right to privacy. This is most clearly evident when creating a digital profile of the subject. The author notes that for digital profiling data that is both outside the control of the user of the information and telecommunication network and outside the field of legal regulation can be used. The article examines the structure of a digital profile with an emphasis on metadata as part of a digital footprint, and also analyzes various approaches to the use of metadata based on foreign practices. In the course of the work, conclusions are drawn about the need to determine the legal nature of the digital footprint, digital data in order to legislate these concepts, as well as for the further development of special mechanisms for the legal protection of personalized digital data.
An innovative topic for his research is proposed by A.M. Gubin. His article “Digitalization: the method of progress of the modern economy in an era of global change” emphasizes that the modern economy is built on progressive ideas and a digital future. Digital technologies are the key to a new future; they play a huge role in the development of the modern economy; the government is actively investing in the IT sector and in innovative projects. Developing digital inclusion is one of the priorities of digital transformation. Analysts believe that in any short-term and long-term plans, people must join forces with the adoption of technology and move forward as planned to achieve significant results in the future. The Russian economy has never been on such a boom as it is now; digitalization has forced us to turn the vector of development in a different direction, to think more globally and creatively. With proper participation of the state and proper distribution of resources, Russia will achieve an improvement in the quality of life and will compete with foreign countries. Despite the digital development of the economy, legal regulation is still at an uncertain stage. The issue of digital legislation still remains open and requires careful research and development of legal regulation.
The article by Efimova L.G. is devoted to improving the theory of monetary obligations in the era of the digital economy. The article emphasizes that cryptocurrencies have confidently entered modern economic circulation. However, until now, science does not have a unified view of their legal and economic nature. As a result, there is no adequate legal regulation of the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the modern economy. The relevance and scientific significance of the study is determined by the fact that the article is the first to attempt to substantiate the possibility of applying the classical theory of monetary obligations to obligations arising in the field of cryptocurrency turnover, subject to a corresponding change in this theory in accordance with the characteristics of cryptocurrencies.
The issue ends with an article by M. A. Egorova, Wang Guanlong and D. V. Shmeleva, “Criminal regulation of currency crimes in the context of the digital yuan.” The authors note that the current system of criminal legislation in China regulating currency crimes has not been revised for a long time, which makes it difficult to solve criminal legal problems caused by the new type of currency. This results not only in the insufficient function of criminal law to protect legitimate interests from currency crimes, but also in the inability to cope with the application of criminal law caused by changes in the modus operandi of criminal acts. The focus of the presented article is to argue for ways to adapt China’s criminal legal system for regulating currency crimes to the upcoming changes.