Call for abstracts BILETA23 (obsolete)

38th Annual BILETA CONFERENCE

 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Amsterdam Law and Technology Institute) and Online

Thursday 13th APRIL – Friday 14th APRIL 2023

(The AGM and informal dinner on Wednesday 12 April, end of the afternoon)

Cyberlaw: Finally getting its Act(s) together?

BILETA Conference 2023 warmly invites individuals to attend and participate in its critical and topical discussions on the future of law, technology and legal education. Papers are welcome from academics, researchers, practitioners, postgraduate students, those in business or practice, activists and anyone else with an interest in technology in the law (broadly construed) and legal education. Participants are welcome from any country to enjoy the scholarly, social and cultural experience of BILETA. In 2023, BILETA will return to Amsterdam. Although the conference is fully hybrid, we hope to meet you in person here.

The theme is inspired by the current avalanche of legislation relating to technology. With the EU adopting ‘Acts’ over ‘Regulation’, it is safe to say we finally have a full body of Cyberlaw. In the 1990s there was, in particular, academic debate about cyberlaw and some early case law, but not much else. In the period between 2000-2015, case law exploded both nationally, at the ECHR, and, in particular, at the CJEU. Directives started to appear (e-commerce, copyright in information society, etc.) as well as the so far only treaty: the Cybercrime convention 2001. However, 2015 started a new phase: First, the GDPR created a lot of turbulence before and after it was published in 2016. The last couple of years brought an endless stream of Regulations (DMA, DSA, Data Act, AI Act), and new Directives like the equally fashionably named Code on Electronic Communications. National governments got in on the Act too with the UK’s controversial Online Safety Bill and the scaled back Data Protection Bill and the German NetzDg.

How can we keep track? How can we understand? How can we oversee? Can we overcome? Does this mean we finally have a full body of Cyber law?

As always, BILETA gathers informed people and bright minds on a variety of topics, allowing you to catch up with the latest developments and newest insights during a two-day conference on Thursday 13 April and Friday 14 April. Mark the dates and be there. Or, even better, get your Acts together and submit an abstract!

We will have a number of parallel sessions, which are grouped around themes like (based on the submissions):

•     Privacy and data protection
•     Surveillance
•     Legal education, regulation, and technology-enhanced learning
•     Intellectual property law and technology
•     Cybercrime and cyber security
•     Internet regulation and governance
•     E-commerce and e-governance
•     Communications law and regulation
•     Future technologies and law
•     Human rights and technology
•     Sustainability, energy, technologies and law

Submit your max. 500 words abstract via Easychair – by 10th 23rd January 2023 (Postponed deadline. Note we have already unprecedented number of submissions, but want to give a chance to those who requested extension. It is a short extension, but should be enough to those who want to submit but did not yet)

The conference will be held in Amsterdam, the plenary sessions (Thu/Fri 9.15-10.45) in the wonderful Theater 9 in the New University Building and the parallell sessions just like in 2002 in the main building, as well as online (so hybrid). We have one confirmed keynote, prof. Orly Lobel who Fall 2022 published The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter More Inclusive Future.

Please direct any queries to the Conference Chair, Prof. Arno R. Lodder (alti@vu.nl)

Publication Opportunities.

There will be publication opportunities with the International Review of Law, Computers and Technology, and the European Journal of Law and Technology after the conference.

Prizes

Conference delegates will have the opportunity to enter into competition for the following prizes. Please indicate which prize you are applying to. The same paper cannot be considered for two prizes (except for the Philip Leith prize).

The Paul Maharg Legal Education prize

A prize of £250 will be awarded for the best piece of legal education writing. To be considered for this, please submit a full paper (maximum -10-12,000 words, including footnotes) to alti@vu.nl by 27 March 2023. The winning paper will be submitted to the conference special issue of the European Journal of Law and Technology. 

BILETA-EJLT prize

All conference participants are welcome to enter for the BILETA-EJLT prize of £250. The winning paper will be submitted to the conference special issue of the European Journal of Law and Technology. Please submit a full paper (maximum 10-12,000 words, including footnotes) to alti@vu.nl by 27 March 2023. There will be a presentation Q&A session (day 1) at the conference for the top 3 papers.

Taylor and Francis Prize

All conference participants are welcome to enter for Taylor and Francis prize of £250 (on behalf of the International Review of Law, Computers and Technology). Please submit a full paper (10-12,000 words, including footnotes) to alti@vu.nl by 27 March 2023.

The Philip Leith BILETA postgraduate prize

A poster prize of £250 will be available for the best postgraduate paper (but may also be a poster or video). Submission by by 27 March 2023