Project Title: The boundaries of information property: from concepts to practice

Objectives: (1) Construct a theoretical framework defining the concept of information and information property, and classify in a single, unitary spectrum the various types of information regulated and protected at EU and domestic levels. Perform a wide analysis of legal regimes affecting information, including data protection and the various forms of IP protection, distinguishing the legal regimes affecting corporate information (such as patents or software) and user information (data collected from or stored by users).(2) Research business practices and business models related to the management and exploitation of information assets, their impact on development of a public regulatory framework, as well as compatibility of the commodification/propertization of information and personal data at both the EU and transnational level with the dogmatic pillars of national private law systems. (3) Develop business guidelines to assist producers, service providers, and consumers in managing and contracting over their information assets and data in a less antagonistic, more unitary fashion, and define policies that can effectively guarantee the exercise of property and intellectual property rights over the information.