ABSTRACT
The new and emerging digital technologies of the overlapping third and fourth industrial revolutions are raising various challenges to the law of obligations. The central question is whether the existing contract and tort law rules and doctrines are well equipped to meet these new challenges or whether an appropriate modification, reinterpretation, or creation of entirely new legal solutions is needed to that purpose. This introductory chapter addresses contract and tort law issues related to the following main topics of the book: liability of internet intermediaries for illegal third-party content, liability of collaborative economy platforms, liability for artificial intelligence and other emerging digital technologies, and contract law challenges of blockchain-based smart contracts. The chapter provides a brief overview of the European Union regulatory framework and introduces the chapters that follow.
