Project Description:

LEGAL-IST objective is to provide support to the IST programme execution and to facilitate the rapid adoption of the relevant research results, by addressing legal issues and barriers which are hampering the implementation of IST related technologies and business models and by identifying an evolution strategy for the EU regulatory framework in the IST/e-Economy domain.

LEGAL-IST is devoted to capturing, analysing and framing the legal aspects of innovative technologies and methodologies emerging from within the Information Society, with the following objectives:

• consolidate the legal research results undertaken in the IST FP in order to establish an harmonic view and support the utilisation of the results achieved
• support the research activities within the IST priority from a legal viewpoint, by studying the implications of similar research initiative in IST (in terms of both emerging technologies and relevant "networked" business models) and providing suggestions for relevant implementation strategy. This will be achieved by conducting support studies on selected legal issues relevant to IST areas of investigation, and by providing legal support to on-going IST Research Projects
• contribute to the definition of emerging Policies for strengthening EU regulatory framework, validated through a consensus building campaign in which Governments, Policy-Makers and Public Institutions are involved, primarily for SMEs' benefit which can hardly afford the evaluation of the legal implications of the research they undertake
• deliver an on-line community for SMEs, to be maintained and developed also beyond the project completion, for delivering legal information and advice, in view of promoting and supporting their activities in the Information Society.