Information and Communications Technology

Information and communications technology law, sometimes shortened to ICT law, captures legal issues arising in the digital, technology, and communications sectors. It is a broad area of law that has in part stemmed from the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and society’s dependence on AI for how individuals and businesses interact and communicate.

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ICT law can be complex and closely intersects with public procurement, contract law, intellectual property, competition law and governmental regulation. With the expansion of AI technology, society faces considerable challenges arising from the management of individual privacy, and the security of national telecommunication networks.  

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ICT law draws on intellectual property, competition law, privacy law and sector regulation, often in the same proceeding. The subject matter changes quickly. 

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Bankside Chambers members have experience advising clients and government bodies on procurement projects, including peer reviews, and probit audits. Some members also act as mediators, adjudicators, and arbitrators in construction, infrastructure, and ICT disputes.

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What Disputes Involve

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The types of disputes rarely sit within one area of law. A single proceeding can raise contractual, regulatory and intellectual property questions at once, alongside difficult evidential questions about how a system actually worked.

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Our members advise on privacy, data protection and cyber incidents, including regulatory investigations, claims by affected individuals, and contractual disputes arising from data breaches. They also act in related proceedings before the Human Rights Review Tribunal and in representative and civil and commercial litigation.

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Our members also advise on regulatory and commercial issues arising from telecommunications networks and technology infrastructure, including network security, interception obligations and regulatory investigations under the Telecommunications Act 2001 and the Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Act 2013.

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Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency

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Peter Watts KC acted for approximately 860,000 account holders in Ruscoe v Cryptopia Ltd (in liquidation) [2020] NZHC 728. Gendall J held that cryptocurrencies are property at common law, and that Cryptopia held the assets on trust for account holders. It was the first fully contested decision in the Commonwealth on that question and it is now cited across common law jurisdictions. 

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Peter Watts KC has subsequently appeared as amicus curiae in a series of Cryptopia hearings concerning representation of beneficiaries, joinder, the procedures for making distributions of crypto assets, and what to do with unclaimed crypto assets.

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Exchange failures raise questions of equity and trusts and of insolvency as much as questions of technology. Tracing, constructive trusts and the priority of account holders against creditors are argued on established principles applied to a new kind of asset.

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International and Cross-Border Matters

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Technology disputes cross borders as a matter of course, because systems, data and licensors sit in different jurisdictions from the parties. 
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Some Bankside members act as counsel and as arbitrators in international arbitration, which is often the agreed forum for cross-border technology and licensing contracts.
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Bankside Singapore maintains a permanent presence in Singapore at Maxwell Chambers, and members are admitted in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, several Pacific jurisdictions and England and Wales.