Law Blogs Maastricht

There are a handful of digital oligarchs that capture and rule every successive wave of innovation – from the digital markets to generative AI, from agentic AI to (potentially also) quantum computing. Taking the example of generative AI, and the position of strength enjoyed by these digital gatekeepers across the generative AI value chain, this blog post, based on my latest work (available here), discerns why competition, contestability and fairness concerns also qualify as digital sovereignty concerns along the digital stack.

The question is whether the current legal framework in the EU remedy at least some of these competition and sovereignty concerns?

This month marks the 30^th anniversary of Pokémon. A highly popular Japanese franchise consisting of animated series and films, computer games, and trading card games. Many people are fascinated by Pokémon and over the years, Pokémon also caught my attention. Not because I am a fan of the series or because I collect the cards, but because Pokémon have interesting connections to criminal behaviour. Below I share some fascinating criminological insights and address the question whether Pokémon might be criminogenic.

Human trafficking is too often studied only at its endpoint, namely at the peak of its most lucrative sexual exploitation, while its business model and damage to the rule of law go underexamined. A recent seemingly Tate-'influenced' Dutch criminal case shows why that needs to change.

Forced labour remains difficult to detect in garment supply chains, despite the increasing legal weight of companies’ responsibilities to do so. There is a need for novel ways of identifying risks of exploitation. Banks and their data could provide one such avenue.

Legal education can be enhanced by activating all senses. Object-based learning and problem-based learning proved to be instrumental in that path towards active transfer and creation of knowledge. The inclusion of relevant visuals in books of law can be likewise of help. Readers can benefit, for example, from the inclusion of portraits of legal actors, of images of seminal volumes, of sketches representing juridical acts, and of maps of specific locations. Legal literature–whenever possible–must outreach more to visual supports that enrich the contents and that enhance readability and academic dialogue.