Preview

Lex Russica

Advanced search

The Impact of Additive Technologies on Determining the Tort Liability Model of an Online Platform Operator

https://doi.org/10.17803/1729-5920.2020.164.7.076-085

Abstract

In the paper, the author points out that humanity has moved into the era of information society, the era of digitalization, when the digitalization of all socio-economic relations becomes an inevitable global process radically changing the existence of man and even of man himself. In the sphere of Economics, the traditional borders between the producer, seller (intermediary) and consumer of goods are being erased, and the phenomenon of sharing economy is replacing traditional channels and supply chains, radically transforming socio-economic relations. New forms of collaboration between manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers are emerging, and a new technological infrastructure for such collaboration is actively developing, i.e. digital online platforms that act as one of the drivers of the fourth industrial revolution. The development of the three-dimensional printing technology allows any individual to participate in the creation of various material goods. Printing of material objects is based on a three-dimensional digital model, the digital equivalent of its physical embodiment. A serious legal challenge is the regulation of relations related to the circulation and use of three-dimensional models of objects of the material world, as well as liability for damage caused by a defect in the three-dimensional digital model.

The paper contains a number of prognostic conclusions. If a defective three-dimensional digital model is purchased for a fee as a product (digital content) on the corresponding online platform, it is possible to impose tort liability on both the counterparty under the contract and the platform operator. Such liability must be strict, joint and several. A strict, joint and several liability model will serve as an incentive to ensure transparency in the field of digital turnover, as well as exert a preventive influence by deterring illegal behavior. If the identity of the seller of digital content is not established, only the platform operator will be held liable.

If a defective three-dimensional digital model is placed free of charge on the hosting site, the creator of such a digital model will be held liable. The responsibility of a hosting provider that provides only a technical service for hosting content must be subject to the rules on the responsibility of the information intermediary. 

About the Author

D. E. Bogdanov
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
Russian Federation

Dr. Sci. (Law), Docent, Professor of the Department of Civil Law, 

ul. Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya, d. 9, Moscow, 125993



References

1. Bogdanov DE, Bogdanova SG. Problema polifunktsionalnosti grazhdansko-pravovoy otvetstvennosti: sravnitelno-pravovoy aspekt [The problem of polyfunctionality of civil liability: comparative legal aspect]. Grazhdanskoe pravo [Civil Law]. 2018;6:32-35. (In Russ.)

2. Krasnov AA, Smolentsev EV. Additivnoe i subtraktivnoe proizvodstvo [Additive and subtractive manufacturing]. Innovatsionnaya nauka [Innovative science]. 2016;12-2:72-75. (In Russ.)

3. Malinina TB. Chelovek v tsifrovuyu epokhu [Man in the digital age]. Problemy deyatelnosti uchenogo i nauchnykh kollektivov. 2018;4(34):146-156. (In Russ.)

4. Markeeva AV. Ekonomika uchastiya (sharing economy): problemy i perspektivy razvitiya [Sharing economy: problems and prospects for development]. Innovatsii [Innovations]. 2017;8(226):73-80. (In Russ.)

5. Schwab K. Chetvertaya promyshlennaya revolyutsiya [The fourth industrial revolution]. Transl. from Eng. Moscow: Eksmo; 2016. (In Russ.)

6. Beck JM, Jacobson MD. 3D Printing: What Could Happen to Products Liability when Users (and Everyone Else in Between) Become Manufacturers. Minn. J. L. Sci. & Tech. 2017;18. (In Eng.)

7. Brean DH. Patent Enforcement in Cyberterritories. Cardozo Law Abstract. 2019;40(6):2549-2596. (In Eng.)

8. Busch Ch. When Product Liability Meets the Platform Economy: A European Perspective on Oberdorf v. Amazon (October 7, 2019). Journal of European Consumer and Market Law. 2019;8:173-174. [cited 2020 May 20]. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3465632 (In Eng.)

9. Desai DR, Magliocca GN. Patents Meet Napster: 3D Printing and the Digitization of Things. Georgetown Law Journal. 2014;2:1691-1715. (In Eng.)

10. Engstrom NF. 3D Printing and Product Liability: Identifying the Obstacles. University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online. 2013;162:35. (In Eng.)

11. Frosio G. The Death of ‘No Monitoring Obligations’: A Story of Untameable Monsters (June 5, 2017). Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law (JIPITEC). 2017;8(3):212. [cited 2020 May 20]. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2980786 (In Eng.)

12. Howells G, Twigg-Flesner Ch, Willett Ch. Protecting the Values of Consumer Law in the Digital Economy: The Case of 3D-Printing (October 29, 2018). In: De Franceschi A, Schulze R, editors. Digital Revolution — Challenges for Law. Beck; 2019. [cited 2020 May 20]. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3283181 (In Eng.)

13. Kennedy EJ, Giampetro-Meyer A. Gearing Up for the Next Industrial Revolution: 3D Printing, Home-based Factories and Modes of Social Control. Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. 2015;46:955—988. (In Eng.)

14. Kuczerawy AA. The Power of Positive Thinking: Intermediary Liability and the Effective Enjoyment of the Right to Freedom of Expression. Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law (JIPITEC). 2017;8(3):226—237. (In Eng.)

15. Nielsen J, Griggs L. Allocating risk and liability for defective 3D printed products: product safety, negligence or something new? Monash University Law Abstract. 2017;42(3):712-739. (In Eng.)

16. Osborn L. Regulating Three-Dimensional Printing: The Converging Worlds of Bits and Atoms. San Diego Law Abstract. 2014;51:553-620. (In Eng.)


Review

For citations:


Bogdanov D.E. The Impact of Additive Technologies on Determining the Tort Liability Model of an Online Platform Operator. Lex Russica. 2020;73(7):76-85. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17803/1729-5920.2020.164.7.076-085

Views: 557


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 1729-5920 (Print)
ISSN 2686-7869 (Online)