EU 제조물책임지침 개정안의 주요 내용과 시사점 – 디지털 기술 및 순환경제 관련 규정을 중심으로 – = The Implication of the revision of the EU Product Liability Directive : Focusing on digital technology and circular economy

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The revision of EU Product Liability Directive make rules to work better for new digital technologies, circular economies and global value chains, and products such as software, artificial intelligence(AI) systems or digital services are now explicitly included in liability rules. It is an internal assessment that the revision will ensure that consumers continue to be effectively protected against damage caused by products, and will help reduce costs and give companies the confidence they need to invest in innovative products through harmonious EU regulations.
It is meaningful to expand the scope of liability of products to SW at a time when artificial intelligence is becoming the center of the industry or economy, and the traditional manufacturing industry is declaring a transformation to SW companies.
When PLD was implemented in 1985, there is a big difference now from the industrial environment. In current, software is downloaded and used on smart devices or cloud-type access-type services are the mainstream. Above all, the amendment stipulates artificial intelligence or SW in specific forms in economic or industrial activities. In many cases, black-boxed artificial intelligence cannot explain how developers have reached a conclusion, and problems arising from services using artificial intelligence or performed by artificial intelligence are not known, so the responsibility is unclear and it is not easy to compensate victims.
The EU is pushing for revision of PLD or AI-related legislation to recognize product liability regardless of product characteristics if artificial intelligence is included. Given that artificial intelligence is becoming black-boxed and that humans cannot confirm or explain the decision-making process, it would be reasonable to burden AI developers or manufacturers with responsibility for problems and accidents.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 한국소비자보호원, "제조물책임법 해설 및 사례" 2002

2 권오승, "제조물책임법" 법문사 2002

3 김제완, "전자거래의 유형에 따른 제조물 결함사고에 대한 소비자 보호" 한국법제연구원 2002

4 김윤명, "블랙박스를 열기 위한 인공지능법" 박영사 2022

5 윤지영, "법과학을 적용한 형사사법의 선진화 방안(Ⅵ)" 형사정책연구원 2015

6 김윤명, "SW제조물책임 관련 법제 현황 조사연구" 소프트웨어정책연구소 2017

7 "Questions and answers on the revision of the Product Liability Directive"

8 "Questions & Answers: AI Liability Directive"

9 "Evaluation of Product Liability Directive, SWD(2018)157"