In the social and digital media sectors, the past decade has witnessed enormous growth of formerly unknown players. The digital expansion disregards national borders and existing gate keepers, and to some extent even merger control and tax authorities.The article explores the nature of digital expansion (I.) and compares it with the invariably narrower merger control limits for “old media" (II.). Based on this analysis, the article develops a call for a pan-European perspective on mergers for the single European digital market (III.) and forwards five vital suggestions for readjusting merger control for the Digital Age (IV.).

IT Governance requires public and corporate cybersecurity policies to improve fighting against cybercrime and other violations. The EU, the U.S.A. and Brazil have recently developed different regulatory approaches on the subject. Assessing how to design policies in line with them across geographies seems key for effectively managing relevant global issues. After a brief introduction (I.), the article touches on three sample topics: on-line privacy (II.), open-source platforms (III.), and latest-generation cyber-threats (IV.) to illustrate how EU, US and Brazil have taken different paths. Each sample topic is analyzed in detail and followed by a conclusion indicating how possibly regional or national particularities may be pragmatically reconciled by public and corporate interested parties (V.).

A gaming experience that isn’t limited to the screen. An avatar, controlled by moving your head and body rather than keystrokes and mouse clicks: The rapid development of virtual reality technology lets players immerse themselves into digital worlds. Virtual reality headsets are already used in numerous video games to deliver astonishingly real gaming experiences. Additional accessories introduce a physical experience to gaming, letting gamers feel vibrations and even punches. It is yet unclear, however, how such – optional – hardware affects age ratings for video games. Up until now, the hardware used to consume media content has never been in the focus of classification procedures. Dedicated virtual reality content will however require a differentiating view, which will also pose technical challenges for ratings organizations.After a brief overview of age rating mechanisms in key jurisdictions (I.), this article explores the impact of virtual reality technology on video games (II.) and the way this new technology modifies content in ways relevant to age ratings (III.), before summarizing the legal effects of virtual reality hardware on the various video game age rating procedures (IV.).