Opt-out Mechanism Research Articles

AI covers: legal notes on audio mining and voice cloning

Abstract This article explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the music industry, particularly focusing on the case of AI-generated covers. The emergence of AI technologies has been raising concerns not just about the originality and protection of AI-generated outputs but also about the complex input and training phase of those systems. The focus of this contribution is the latter, analysing the case of AI covers from the perspective of copyright and image rights. In the first part, an overview of the text and data mining (TDM) exception found in Article 4 of Directive 2019/790 is presented, with a primary focus on the opt-out mechanism in connection with the three-step test. Moving to the second part, the analysis delves into the complexities of voice cloning, highlighting the absence of a comprehensive European Union regime for image rights. By addressing these issues, this contribution unveiled two crucial points. First, AI models trained on various artists’ works to create and spread deepfake covers not only violate copyright but also reveal shortcomings in the TDM exception. Second, while the multifaceted image right regime may not be as exhaustive as necessary, it proves to be a viable solution against voice cloning with anticipated advancements in the future.

The text and data mining opt-out in Article 4(3) CDSMD: Adequate veto right for rightholders or a suffocating blanket for European artificial intelligence innovations?

Abstract By introducing Article 4 in Directive 2019/790 (CDSMD), the European Union legislator intended to both encourage innovation and to provide more legal certainty for text and data mining (TDM) activities. That said, it appears that this provision does not strike a fair balance between the interests of rightholders and Artificial Intelligence (AI) developers. This article argues that Article 4(3) CDSMD does not necessarily strengthen the rightholders’ position whilst potentially hindering the advancement of AI developments in the European Union. It is unclear how the reservation of rights shall be realized in practice. By imposing transparency obligations on AI system providers, the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act may however allow rightholders to make more effective use of the opt-out mechanism.

Chapitre 6. Le déploiement de la médecine génomique : la place de l’autonomie du patient dans la réutilisation des données génétiques au profit de la recherche

Genetic research today is largely based on the reuse of data from care for the benefit of research. This evolution of practices, which involves an increasingly marked communication between care and research, questions the place given to the patient seen as a potential participant in research. In order to promote the circulation of genetic data generated and to allow their reuse for the benefit of different research, the French legislator reaffirmed the use of the opt-out mechanism (“non-opposition”) in the last bioethics law of the 2 August 2021. If the reasons that led the legislator to make this shift from the concept of consent to the opt-out mechanism are legitimate, the conditions of implementation of this mechanism seem to need to be questioned in order to ensure the effectivity of the balance sought by the legislator between preserving the autonomy of the individual with regard to the sharing of his/her genetic data and encouraging the development of medical knowledge; one should not be to the detriment of the other.

Evolution of spite in an n-player game with an opting-out option

The evolution of altruism and spite is facilitated by positive and negative assortments, respectively. Animals repeatedly meet the same opponents and can choose to keep or terminate the interaction. Previous studies have showed that if the probability that the interaction stops depends on how the pairs are, then a positive assortment can emerge, encouraging the evolution of altruism in dyadic interactions and in interactions involving more than two individuals. In contrast, according to another previous study if the probability that the interaction stops depends on how the pairs are, then a negative assortment can emerge, encouraging the evolution of spite in dyadic interactions. Is the evolution of spite facilitated by interactions involving more than two individuals, in addition to dyadic interactions? The present study shows that the evolution of spite in interactions involving many individuals is possible by studying the repeated n-player game played using spiteful and nonspiteful strategies with opting-out options. These results suggest that spite in large groups may evolve through an opt-out mechanism. It also promotes the investigation about whether there are any examples of spiteful behavior in large groups that have evolved through negative assortment in opt-out options in nature.

The Unified Patent Court’s Opt-Out Option – A General Introduction

Abstract With the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) on 1 June 2023, a common patent court will be created for 17 Member States of the European Union. It will be competent for disputes concerning the infringement and revocation of Unitary Patents and classic European patents. At the request of the users, a so-called opt-out mechanism was introduced, which allows the jurisdiction of the Court to be excluded by a corresponding notification. Such opt-outs can be filed via the Court’s case management system as of the start of the ‘sunrise period’ on 1 March 2023. This article provides a first general practical overview concerning the recording of such notifications.***

법무부의 ‘집단소송법 제정안’에 대한 검토

On 2020. 9. 28. the Korean Ministry of Justice announced its proposed bill for a new Class Action Act(“Proposed Bill”) which will repeal the Securities-related Class Action Act(“SRCA”) and serve as a general purpose collective proceeding. The Proposed Bill has brought its basic structure from the SRCA and added some new features. The Proposed Bill has expanded it scope of application to “any claim seeking indemnification for damage” regardless of its cause of action, and thus various types of tort cases and even breach of contract cases can be included. This significant change while keeping the opt-out mechanism from the SRCA gives difficulties in ascertaining the class and identifying its members. Also, in order to realize substantial equality and to provide more devices for collecting evidence, the Proposed Bill has adopted a new system which enables wide range of production of materials(including trade secrets, if necessary for finding facts of the claim), and has even opened the door for its usage to persons who have not yet filed their complaints for class action. However the new system lacks safeguards such as protective order, sanctions, or criminal penalties. Furthermore, the Proposed Bill has incorporated the Citizen Participation Trial which is used in criminal proceedings in Korea, but it has a number of problems. The system itself is designed unfairly because only the plaintiff side class representative has the right to demand for the Citizen Participation Trial. Moreover, given the complexity of mass harm cases, and the judicial practice in Korean courts it could go against the purpose of the Proposed Bill, which is to effectively resolve collective damage. In order for a general purpose class action system to be effective, various options should be provided so that the judge could exercise its discretion and choose the appropriate method in resolving each dispute. Also to make an evidence collecting system which would actually work, careful approach needs to be taken which would balance conflicting interests. Lastly, to ensure successful outcome of the Proposed Bill new feature which aims to serve another purpose such as Citizen Participation Trial should be removed.

Leadership selection: Can changing the default break the glass ceiling?

Leadership selection often requires candidates to actively choose to express their interest. Using a series of incentivized experiments with more than 1000 participants, we compare such an Opt-in mechanism with an Opt-out mechanism where everyone qualified for the position is in the candidate pool by default, but individuals can choose to opt out of the selection process.The results reveal a gender gap in participation decisions under the Opt-in mechanism. The gender gap exists even when individuals know they are the top performers, suggesting helping women improve their performance may not necessarily reduce gender gaps. Importantly, women are more likely to participate under the Opt-out mechanism and gender gaps in leadership selection are reduced.

Nova EU direktiva o kolektivnim tužbama i finansiranje vođenja parničnog postupka sredstvima trećih lica - prilika za evropske potrošače

After years of compensatory collective redress being left to a sort of regulatory competition among Member States, Directive 1828/2020 finally introduced an EU wide representative action scheme, aimed at strengthening the position of European consumers vis-à-vis new market dynamics such as globalisation and digitalisation. The new system, which shall run in parallel with national tools, introduces some innovations such as a cross-border action mechanism, the possibility of adopting an opt-out model and a specific regulation of third-party litigation funding in the context of collective redress. This aspect, addressed already in the 2013 Recommendation, is of particular interest, because third party funding represents a particularly powerful complement to collective redress in easing citizens' access to justice. However, the provisions introduced with Directive 1828/2020 leave some issues open. In particular, the Court's role in managing the funding agreement, with special reference to the funder's fee, and the effect of the funding agreement in case an opt-out adhesion mechanism is adopted are of paramount importance and still need to be addressed interpretatively. In this task, the comparative method will be particularly helpful in analysing the solution which Countries more familiar with third party funding, like Australia, Canada or the United States have introduced or discussed.

Implementing an EU opt-in mechanism for GM crop cultivation.

EMBO Reports (2019) e48036 The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the EU remains a highly polemic issue. The only GM crop event that is currently authorised is the insect‐resistant maize “MON810”. The GM potato variety “Amflora” with improved tuber starch composition was approved for cultivation in 2010, but later withdrawn. One of the main reasons that not more GM crops are authorised for cultivation is a regulatory gridlock with a recurring inability to reach a qualified majority in the designated committee for either approval or rejection [1]. Several EU member states experience domestic pressure against adoption of GM crops [2], [3], [4]. The European Commission (EC) therefore developed legislation—the Directive EU 2015/412, adopted by the European Parliament (EP) in 2015—to give member states the possibility to restrict or prohibit cultivation of authorised GM crops in their territory (opt‐out mechanism). The request to exclude a particular GM event from cultivation may be communicated to the EC after risk assessment, or after authorisation provided that the restriction is in conformity with the EU law, reasoned, proportional, non‐discriminatory and based on compelling grounds (Article 26b(3) of Directive 2015/412). To date, 17 member states and two autonomous regions have used this possibility. In parallel, the EC also proposed an analogous mechanism for the import of GM food and …

The Romanian experience and perspective on the commercial cultivation of genetically modified crops in Europe.

Romania was the third country in Europe and the tenth in the world, to commercially adopt genetically modified crops in 1999, only 3years after they were first marketed globally. Half a million hectares of transgenic herbicide resistant soybean and insect resistant maize were grown in Romania during an uninterrupted 17-year period. After several years of continued declining area, the commercial cultivation of transgenic plants recently ended. The commercial cultivation of transgenic crops in Romania remains legally and technically possible, according to the EU and national regulations. However, the declining area cultivated with these crops in Romania seems to be the result of farmers' conscious decision, while waiting for more profitable genetically modified crops to become available that better fit their needs. This expectation would be a logical result of the EU GMO opt-out Directive 2015/412 and the advent of the new plant breeding techniques. The GMO opt-out mechanism is still expected to unblock the EU authorization process after the large majority of the EU member states have already prohibited the cultivation of genetically modified organisms in their territory. As the new plant breeding techniques offer significant technical and economic advantages, they could be rapidly adopted by commercial breeders and farmers outside Europe. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that plants obtained with the new gene editing techniques must go through the same authorization procedure as transgenic plants. This decision is expected to delay the approval and availability of these new plant varieties on the EU market and their commercial cultivation.

THE DO NOT TRACK MECHANISM FOR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT PRIVACY PROTECTION IN MARKETING APPLICATIONS

Serious concerns about the invasion of digital footprint information privacy due to intense commercial promotion through data mining has led to the emergence of privacy by design in the form of the Do Not Track (DNT) mechanism. This paper attempts to construct a theory to justify and find an appropriate solution to balance the different interests by implementing the DNT mechanism in the real-world marketing industry. The research method involves deduction in legal reasoning. This paper argues that digital footprint information privacy, which has high commercial value, should at least be awarded the status of a semi-fundamental human right. Additionally, when to adopt a DNT opt-out or default mechanism depends on the type of personal information involved. The practical implications suggest a compromise between digital footprint privacy protection and commercial applications in the marketing industry, to be achieved through technology. Since this important topic is relatively new in the area of marketing applications and no primary academic research has established a complete theoretical legal foundation, this article is among the first to do so. Beside its originality, this article also contributes to the literature by proposing a theoretically practical mechanism for both digital footprint privacy protection and marketing profits.

Examining predictors and outcomes of fertility consults among children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer.

Infertility has a negative impact on quality of life among cancer survivors. Studies show establishing a fertility team results in improved patient satisfaction. A review of electronic medical records was performed to examine predictors of fertility referrals, interventions, and the impact of an opt-out consult mechanism. Findings show many patients, particularly those that are younger, are still not receiving fertility counseling despite the presence of a fertility team. Notably, patients were 3.6 times more likely to receive a consult after the opt-out. Strategies are needed to improve access to fertility related care, particularly in groups where consults are underutilized.

Competing by Default: A New Way to Break the Glass Ceiling

Leadership selection often requires candidates to actively choose to express their interest. Using a series of incentivized experiments with more than 1000 participants, we compare such an Opt-in mechanism with an Opt-out mechanism where everyone qualified for the position is in the candidate pool by default, but individuals can choose to opt out of the selection process. The results reveal a gender gap in participation decisions under the Opt-in mechanism. The gender gap exists even when individuals know they are the top performers, suggesting helping women improve their performance may not necessarily reduce gender gaps. Importantly, women are more likely to participate under the Opt-out mechanism and gender gaps in leadership selection are reduced.

Consumer Privacy Choice in Online Advertising: Who Opts Out and at What Cost to Industry?

We study consumer privacy choice in the context of online display advertising, where advertisers track consumers' browsing to improve ad targeting. In 2010, the American ad industry self-regulated by implementing the AdChoices program: consumers could opt out of online behavioral advertising via a dedicated website, which can be reached by clicking the overlaid “AdChoices” icons on ads. We examine the real-world uptake of AdChoices using transaction data from an ad exchange. Though consumers express strong privacy concerns in surveys, we find that only 0.23% of American ad impressions arise from users who opted out of online behavioral advertising. We also find that opt-out user ads fetch 52.0% less revenue on the exchange than do comparable ads for users who allow behavioral targeting. These findings are broadly consistent with evidence from the European Union and Canada, where industry subsequently implemented the AdChoices program. We calculate that the inability to behaviorally target opt-out users results in a loss of about $8.58 in ad spending per American opt-out consumer, which is borne by publishers and the exchange. We find that opt-out users tend to be more technologically sophisticated, though opt-out rates are also higher in older and wealthier American cities. These results inform the privacy policy discussion by illuminating the real-world consequences of an opt-out privacy mechanism.

Do values matter? An assessment of Ireland’s response to the “migration crisis”

The Republic of Ireland is not a signatory to the Schengen Agreements and therefore has no obligation to participate in the EU relocation schemes proposed in 2015. Accounting for less than one percent of the population of the European Union, Ireland could be expected to make use of the opt-out mechanism when dealing with the EU’s struggle over migration. Nonetheless, in September 2015 the country voluntarily committed itself to take in 4,000 asylum seekers from other EU countries and has reinforced the Irish Navy’s participation in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. In this article, the relevant parliamentary debates of 2015 and 2016 are used to trace national identity frames in the “migration crisis” as the components that explain the country’s non-securitising behaviour.

Changes in Physician Decision Making after CT: A Prospective Multicenter Study in Primary Care Settings.

Purpose To determine the effect of computed tomography (CT) results on physician decision making in three common clinical scenarios in primary care. Materials and Methods This research was approved by the institutional review board (IRB) and was HIPAA compliant. All physicians consented to participate with an opt-in or opt-out mechanism; patient consent was waived with IRB approval. In this prospective multicenter observational study, outpatients referred by primary care providers (PCPs) for CT evaluation of abdominal pain, hematuria, or weight loss were identified. Prior to CT, PCPs were surveyed to elicit their leading diagnosis, confidence in that diagnosis (confidence range, 0%-100%), a rule-out diagnosis, and a management plan if CT were not available. Surveys were repeated after CT. Study measures were the proportion of patients in whom leading diagnoses and management changed (PCP management vs specialist referral vs emergency department transfer), median changes in diagnostic confidence, and the proportion of patients in whom CT addressed rule-out diagnoses. Regression analyses were used to identify associations between study measures and site and participant characteristics. Specifically, logistic regression analysis was used for binary study measures (change in leading diagnosis, change in management), and linear regression analysis was used for the continuous study measure (change in diagnostic confidence). Accrual began on September 5, 2012, and ended on June 28, 2014. Results In total, 91 PCPs completed pre- and post-CT surveys in 373 patients. In patients with abdominal pain, hematuria, or weight loss, leading diagnoses changed after CT in 53% (131 of 246), 49% (36 of 73), and 57% (27 of 47) of patients, respectively. Management changed in 35% (86 of 248), 27% (20 of 74), and 54% (26 of 48) of patients, respectively. Median absolute changes in diagnostic confidence were substantial and significant (+20%, +20%, and +19%, respectively; P ≤ .001 for all); median confidence after CT was high (90%, 88%, and 80%, respectively). PCPs reported CT was helpful in confirming or excluding rule-out diagnoses in 98% (184 of 187), 97% (59 of 61), and 97% (33 of 34) of patients, respectively. Significant associations between primary measures and site and participant characteristics were not identified. Conclusion Changes in PCP leading diagnoses and management after CT were common, and diagnostic confidence increased substantially. © RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Spanish Antitrust Private Enforcement: Enhancing Consumer Collective Redresss

Following the decisions of the European Court of Justice in the Courage and Manfredi cases, victims of antitrust practices may seek redress before their national civil courts against the infringing businesses. In Spain, an empirical study on private enforcement of competition law collecting the cases brought before the Spanish courts from 1999 to 2012, it found that, despite the increase of antitrust private enforcement cases in this country in the last decade, only one out of 323 reported cases was brought by consumers. With this in mind, the dissertation aims to find out the reasons of the scarcity of consumer cases in the land of private antitrust enforcement in Spain, in order to palliate this situation. To this end, this dissertation surveys some of the most successful models in delivering redress across the world, such the US-style of class action or the Dutch Settlement-only opt-out mechanism for mass torts, as well as the proposals recently made in the UK, with the ultimate aim of learning the appropriate measures that can effective and efficiently deliver redress to consumers harmed as a result of anti-competitive practices. In the light of those successful modes, it is noted, argued and concluded that the debate has focused on encouraging group litigation rather than on articulating efficient mechanisms, such as ADR tools, to deliver redress with the involvement of the National Competition Authorities. Based on this premise, two proposals are made: redress schemes voluntarily implemented and certified by the Spanish Competition Authorities on a voluntary basis, and a Public Prosecutor-led collective action articulated on opt-out basis.

The Fall and Rise of the Antitrust Class Action

Jurisdictions all over the world are experimenting with different forms of collective actions in order to provide compensation for large numbers of victims with small claims in competition cases. This article surveys two nearly simultaneous developments: the cautious development of collective actions in competition cases outside the United States and the narrowing of class actions in the United States. This article then focuses on the key issue that will determine the fate of the nascent movement toward collective actions, namely the need for an opt-out mechanism to provide proper incentives with the collective assertion of small value claims. We conclude that, as a matter of both theory and practice, opt-in mechanisms are merely an inadequate form of joinder ill suited for collective actions in competition cases.

Web Tracking Detection System (TDS): An Effective Strategy to Reduce Systematic Monitoring and Profiling of User Habits Across Websites

This thesis is about tracking online user behavior. Tracking is a granular problem, that goes beyond the phenomenon of behavioral advertising. It takes place in the context of rapid technological, ocial and political developments. The main contributions of this thesis are:(1) A working definition for web tracking.(2) An opt-out mechanism for web tracking based on regular expressions repository in combinationwith persistent opt-out cookies.(3) We show that the current do-not-track-me register, an opt-out mechanism for online behavioraladvertising (OBA) based on opt-out cookies, of IAB/EASA falls short on it’s promise. The opt-out cookie expiration dates are inconsistent, often less then five years. This is in contrast with the NAIopt-out tool, where all opt-out cookies have a minimum expiration data of five years. Added tothat, opt-out behavior is collected by third parties.(4) We show that the interconnectedness between nodes expressed in the number of links per node is an indicator (clustering coefficient) for web tracking.(5) We show that the number off iltered nodes with TDS as a percentage of the total number of nodes is an indicator for web tracking.(6) Five rules for constraint based graph mining of HTTP header information show that with use of a confirmed web tracking repository, it is possible to identify new third party tracking activity with connectivity color maps and pattern matching.

The Fall and Rise of the Antitrust Class Action

Antitrust class actions have narrowed significantly in the United States in recent years but still remain robust compared to aggregate litigation in the rest of the world. While the Supreme Court continues to narrow the doorway to class actions, the rest of the world is increasingly interested in creating new mechanisms for aggregate litigation to better support effective private damage litigation in competition cases, and in particular the large number of small claims cases that led to the class action boom in the United States in the first place. The challenge for the rest of the world will be to fashion new remedies consistent with the history, culture, substantive law, and procedural rules of their legal traditions rather than either adopt or reject the system that has evolved in the United States. This article provides an overview of the increasingly stringent requirements for antitrust class actions in the United States and provides a representative survey of the nascent movement toward collective actions abroad where competition cases have been at the forefront of the debate. Part I discusses the standards for class certification under Rule 23 and recent Supreme Court cases tightening those standards. Part II analyzes a separate line of Supreme Court cases which effectively eliminates class actions altogether when parties have entered into a contract requiring arbitration rather than litigation and further requires individual rather than collective arbitration proceedings.Part III continues with a survey of recent developments in the opposite direction outside the United States. This section examines ongoing changes in the EU, UK, other EU Member States, Mexico, and Canada to empower consumers and business with small claims in competition cases by creating collection action mechanisms of different types. This section also briefly discusses the decision of the EU to simply prohibit the type of forced arbitration clauses that the U.S. Supreme actively encourages. Part IV analyzes the critical aspect of whether foreign class actions will thrive or whither on the vine – the need for an opt-out mechanism rather than the opt-in mechanism favored in most jurisdictions outside the U.S. Finally, I conclude by pointing out the irony of the rest of the world struggling to figure out how best to empower plaintiffs to bring appropriate class action type proceedings while the U.S. Supreme Court remains principally concerned with how to restrain or eliminate the very same type of action.