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VAT and digital publications: time to embrace the future of reading A new EU Directive that came into force last week allows member states to align VAT rates for electronically supplied books, newspapers, periodicals, etc. with those for physical publications. Currently, in the UK, VAT is levied on electronic publications...
Transfer your learning It's not often that you see academic papers cited in the national press, so it was great to see the Financial Times pick up on some recent work in 'transfer learning' for natural language processing (NLP). What is transfer learning? Transfer learning is a...
2019: year of the oracle In blockchain circles it is said that 2019 will be the year of the oracle.  Oracles are real-time reliable data feeds which, by interacting with smart contracts, present an opportunity to connect the dematerialised world of distributed ledger technology...
New geo-blocking rules: one step closer to a digital single market This week saw the EU take one-step closer to its goal of creating a digital single market. From 3rd December new rules banning unjustified geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on a customer’s nationality or place of residence/establishment...
Where is a user located? The proposed EU Digital Services Tax is not dead but the new proposal is significantly more limited than the original proposal, and than the UK's proposed DST.   France and Germany want to proceed with a DST that is charged at 3% of revenues from targeted...
It's the end of the world as we know It What if all it took to build a nuclear bomb were a piece of glass, a metal object and a battery? What if the discovery of nuclear fission had allowed any person to unleash devastating destruction simply, with commonly available tools? Would civilization...
Blockchain: the future of copyright? The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has recently launched a new initiative, in collaboration with key representatives of the UK’s film and image industries, to investigate potential uses of blockchain technology in the IP world. Its initial focus...
Is Netflix avoiding UK tax? Netflix’s UK accounts are apparently “under examination” by HMRC. According to the Times, Netflix made $485m in worldwide pre-tax profit last year and paid $135m in corporation tax.  The Times points out that Netflix’s UK subsidiary employs only 14 people...
Ransomware: should you pay? With recent research showing that the threat of large GDPR fines is encouraging UK IT directors to pay cyber ransoms (as reported in ComputerWeekly), and cyber attacks regularly hitting the headlines, it is hard for organisations to know how to respond to...
How to design a digital services tax In the Budget, The Chancellor announced the introduction of a “narrowly targeted” Digital Services Tax.   It is indeed narrowly targeted, focused only on businesses that provide social media platforms, search engines or online market places and  generate...