The United States and the European Commission have committed to a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, which will foster trans-Atlantic data flows and address the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union when it struck down in 2020 the Commission’s adequacy decision underlying the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework. 

This Framework will reestablish an important legal mechanism for transfers of EU personal data to the United States. The United States has committed to implement new safeguards to ensure that signals intelligence activities are necessary and proportionate in the pursuit of defined national security objectives, which will ensure the privacy of EU personal data and to create a new mechanism for EU individuals to seek redress if they believe they are unlawfully targeted by signals intelligence activities. This deal in principle reflects the strength of the enduring U.S.-EU relationship, as we continue to deepen our partnership based on our shared democratic values.

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A producer of free computer games does not earn money by selling them, but by advertising. Therefore, he pays a higher tax than the one who provides games for a fee – according to the interpretation of the director of the Polish National Tax Information.

As a result of this interpretation, the situation of producers (so-called developers) of paid and free games is diversified: the former are not entitled to the IP Box tax relief, the latter indeed are.

Premium games

The IP Box relief in Poland consists in taxing income from qualified intellectual property rights at a preferential rate of 5% of personal income tax or corporate income tax. It concerns, among others the income from fees or charges under the license agreement (Article 30ca (7) (1) of the Polish PIT Act and analogous Article 24d (7) (1) of the Polish CIT Act). In practice, therefore, a person who buys a game from the producer (developer) signs a license agreement with him.

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Since Poland became the member of the European Space Agency in 2012, Polish space sector has been rapidly grooving.

Despite continuous development, Polish space companies focus mainly on niches. They manufacture high quality products mainly for the European Space Agency, as well as national agencies. An example of success in such a niche is Astronika, which regularly wins international tenders to provide specialised instruments for space agencies and private companies. One of its greatest achievements is the supply of parts for the penetrator mounted on the Mars Insight probe.

Until now, Polish companies have mainly been sub-suppliers of instruments, which were later assembled into a finished product by an integrator. Therefore, the main challenge facing entities of the Polish space sector is to advance in the supply chain and achieve higher margins.

The NewSpace revolution

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KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI KG LEGAL will take part in Digital Identity in the Travel and Tourism Sector, organised by techUK.

Throughout 2021, techUK held a series of events on the topic of digital ID, exploring the role this technology can play in tackling key challenges across society and the economy, and determining what more needs to be done to drive adoption as the economies begin to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

The travel and tourism sectors were two of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with restrictions on travel and health mandates implemented across the world to tackle COVID-19. But as these sectors prepare for the return of business at scale, adopting digital ID solutions can enable governments and businesses to facilitate safe and increased travel, whether by allowing travellers to store all of their travel and identity documents in one easy-to-verify place, for example, or reducing physical contact and overcrowding throughout passenger journeys.

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As provided by the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), and according to a recent Bloomberg article, more than US$30mn has been raised in BTC, ETH, USDT, DOT, and DOGE. A CryptoPunk NFT, valued at ~US$200,000 was also transferred to Ukraine’s Ethereum wallet. GBBC member has created a dashboard tracking crypto donations.

According to CoinDesk, by 28 February, ~$6.5 million worth of ether had been moved out of a government wallet to a Kyiv-based crypto exchange to help fund the purchase of critical supplies for evacuees, local military personnel, and the government.

The Ukrainian government also announced via Twitter that it will be conducting an airdrop on March 3rd at 6pm Kyiv time to donors that have contributed to its official crypto addresses, this could be the world’s largest crypto airdrop to-date.

Additionally, several DAOs have been set up to raise funds and coordinate aid, including UkraineDAO, members of PleasrDAO, and Trippy Labs. The Ukrainian flag NFT being auctioned by the DAO has been sold to a pool of donors for ~US$6.5mn. Proceeds are expected to support Ukrainians affected by the invasion.

On February 25, Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, announced on Twitter that Ukraine is creating an “IT army” targeting key websites and assets in Russian cyberspace. The “army” is organized under a Telegram chat, where tasks and cyber targets are posted. According to Minister Fedorov all types of digital talents are needed. As of writing, the IT army has more than 275,000 volunteers.

Due to geopolitical conditions and experience in key jurisdictions KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI has the opportunity to use its expertise of cross border legal support for international IT cooperation projects in open source environments that have a real impact of fintech processes, data protection, cyber security as well as crypto and digital assets.

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