The notion of singularity has invoked us the idea that AI will have the same or more intellectual abilities as human beings have, and finally become a threat to us. This has triggered the momentum for research of AI ethics around 2016, and the communities of AI researchers started to create AI ethics guidelines which have been publicly available now. In this paper, we focus on the important and influential AI ethics guidelines published domestically and overseas from 2017 to 2019 and analyze how each AI ethics guideline has dealt with ethical themes such as AI control, human rights, fairness, non-discrimination, transparency, accountability, trust, abuse, misuse, privacy, AI agents, safety, SDGs, education, antimonopoly and coordination, policy, military use, legal status, and well-being. The time sequence of the publication of the various AI ethics guidelines is used here to explore changes in the content of AI ethics, and at the same time, clarify points to be noted when developing AI technology and AI application systems. Considering the expected readers of each of these guidelines, it reveals clearly what are the intention of the organizations that created these AI ethics guidelines.

Next, we describe the conceptual design of a proxy software for collecting, managing, and protecting personal data, that we call “personal AI agent”. The basic concept was proposed in IEEE EAD version 2 and 1^st edition among the AI ethics guidelines. The personal AI agent consists of two databases of the data subject's personal data and the terms and conditions about the usage of them. We also indicate the issues to be considered when applying the personal AI agent to the management of digital heritage left after the death of the data subject.

Similar to the audio-visual media service industry in other countries, Japan discussed about the vertical separation of broadcasting industry around 2010. To be separated or to be integrated, this is not a new question. What a factor to be considered is how to share and guarantee the risk of market performance of video content, which is the ultimate differentiated good, among vertical stakeholders. For its risk share, there are business practices that attach various options among vertical transactions when separated.

After the vertical separation and horizontal conversion, there are both easy layers and difficult layers from the view of promoting competition. The competitive landscape within each layer defines the bargaining power of private contracts in vertical transactions, affecting the connection contracts between layers and, consequently, social optimisation. There have been many policy debates regarding the connection between separated layers in each public utility sector until now, and it is necessary to consider layer separation and connection issues at the same time in the media industry field too. In the long run, dynamism, in which market competition itself forms layers autonomously, should be emphasized, and it is worthwhile that policies are conscious of forming the basis of dynamism.

Since we have an expectation that the ‘AI Principle Boom’ has arrived, the purpose of this paper is to suggest the following point: we should think about the AI principles not so much as mere non-binding principles but as the laws and regulations which correspond to the practical use and implementation of AI.

With the rise of this third AI Boom, the practical use of AI has been realised following research and development into the various related aspects of society. Therefore, the importance of formulating some principles for its proper use has been recognised. Consequently, I would like to consider our establishing a basic law rather than some non-binding principles. Alternatively, we could establish some rules which incorporate some related principles following a decision announcement by the Government. This is because it is essential to promote the necessary and relevant measures for an optimal utilisation of these emerging technologies.

The EU is leading the way in creating some rules for dealing with the new and related issues. In addition, a similar scheme will be repeating the discussions on the ‘AI regulations’ in the EU. Thus, this paper provides an overview of the current status of the formulation of these principles and guidelines both in Japan and overseas. In addition, in order to understand the direction of the future regulations in the EU, we will outline the contents of the ‘White Paper’, ‘The Ethical Guidelines for a Reliable AI’ and an ‘evaluation list’ which will indicate the future direction of these AI regulations. This idea is based on my recognition that it is important to refer to the EU's efforts in considering our future efforts in Japan.

Finally, we wish to reaffirm the OECD’s adoption of the Council Recommendations on Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, we intend to reconfirm our position on the OECD Privacy Guidelines which refer to non-binding principles in legislation. I note here that the OECD’s Eight Principles have been referenced in national legal systems and I refer to this simply to show an example where the non-binding rules are used as universal principles.

A presentation on "A Study of a Contract about Privacy" was made at the Data Law Subcommittee of the Information and Communication Law Study Group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on September 2, 2019 (Reiwa 1). This research presentation is based on a series of "Journal of Law and Information System". At the meeting, various comments were received from members. Here, the response in the subcommittee was further deepened and re-edited as a “question and answer session”.

As privacy protection under the Constitution of Japan is often equated with ensuring rights to control personal information irrespective of its available spaces, the relationship between privacy and physical spaces has almost been discarded in Japan’s legal arguments. Indeed, Japanese case laws had largely been negative in privacy protection in public places despite the fact that the public observation doctrine and the public forum theory developed in the United States have not taken root in Japanese constitutional law. However, a recent case law over GPS investigation has highlighted the relationship by establishing the “rights not to be intruded into private spheres” based on Article 35 of the Constitution, along with the distinction between “public roads” and “places and spaces where individual privacy is strongly protected.” The substance of privacy stems from multiple elements including private spaces themselves, a state of calm in private lives, and private information that might unveil a considerable portion of private activities. Since the latter two elements are generally applicable regardless of places, privacy can be protected not only in private but also in public spaces. Thus, the object of protection includes not only spaces themselves but also “private spheres” that are developed in such spaces or closely tied to them. These spheres cover both public and private spaces as well as some spiritual and conceptual areas that are free from interventions in the state of calm in private lives as well as an extensive acquisition and usage of private information by public authorities. It implies that ensuring non-intrusion into such private spheres is a core of constitutional privacy protection. Therefore, considering privacy only from the perspective of physical spaces inevitably has some limitations. Given these factors, it would be fair to mention that the “rights not to be intruded into private spheres” have shed light on the importance of protection of such spheres, through which the possibilities of privacy protection in public spaces and the importance of safeguarding private information have been clarified.

A conjoint analysis was conducted on the feasibility of the flat-rate comic subscription service. Subscription services reduce revenue from existing comic readers, but increase overall revenue. This is because new comic readers appear through flat-rate distribution. When publishers start flat-rate distribution, as publishers are concerned about, the amount of comic purchases by those who previously purchased on paper and electronically will be halved. But instead, those who haven't purchased comic before will start to read comics, and this increased revenue will make up for the decline in sales from existing readers. To counter pirated comics, it would be more effective for publishers to start their own subscription service than to try to punish pirated sites.

This article refers arguing points of the Broadcast Receiving Contract.

Especially, this paper describes the Supreme Court Conclusion on December 6, 2017. At its conclusion, the Supreme Court said that those who has settled reception equipment capable of receiving the broadcasting provided by public broadcaster NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) are legally required to sign up with it and pay a Television Receiving Fee. But from point of view of Contact Law, some concurring opinions and a dissenting opinion are accompanied in the judgement. Then, this paper considers issues taking up by them based on indications of precedents and studies.

Results of consideration are as follows;

1. Person in obligation to conclude the Broadcast Receiving Contract should be specified in Law, such as the representative of household or office, which has installed receiving equipment capable of receiving the broadcasting provided by NHK, shall conclude a contract with NHK with regard to the reception of its broadcasting.

2. Taking into account legislative purpose, operation of law, indications of precedents etc., against a man who refused to respond to NHK’s request to sign a Broadcast Receiving Contract, it seems to be general that the contract is deemed as concluded when a judgment or any other judicial decision ordering him/her to manifest the intention of concluding it.

3. For matching contract date of the Broadcast Receiving Contract and start date of paying a Television Receiving Fee, that is obliged to be paid from when a reception equipment settled regardless contract had concluded, unpaid fee should be included in the initial rate.

4. By doing so, the problem, such as since when the period of extinctive prescription begins in the case the date on which obligation of payment occurred is different from the contract date, is settled.

Anonymously processed data was expected to be a type of data that could protect the rights and interests of individuals while maintaining a high level of usefulness of the original personal data. In the private sector, the "Anonymously processed information" was introduced by the revision of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in 2017, and it became possible to provide personal information to a third party without the consent of the person or use it for a purpose other than the intended purpose if a business operator processes personal information based on standards under certain conditions. The "Anonymized Personal Information" was also introduced in the public sector of national institutions and incorporated administrative agencies.

Currently, the system for anonymously processed data has been developed with a series of applications in mind, in which private companies collect, distribute, aggregate, process and provide personal data to third parties. On the other hand, sorting out systems for the use and utilization of anonymously processed data in the public sector has been shelved, and in cases where anonymously processed information is shared and used between private businesses and the public sector, it is considered important to sort out issues and form a consensus on countermeasures. In particular, the handling of anonymously processed information received by national universities and research institutes for joint research and joint projects with private businesses, as well as the handling of such information within the public sector and the provision of such information to private businesses, should be considered.

In this paper, we examine the utilization systems of "Anonymously Processed Information" and "Anonymized Personal Informatioin" in the private sector, and summarize issues concerning the handling of "Anonymously Processed Information" in the public sector.