Steps towards more effective antitrust system in EU – The Damages Directive’s effect on victim’s right to compensation for antitrust harm

Kaikkien kansalaisten ja yritysten, jotka kärsivät vahinkoa Euroopan Unionin kilpailusääntöjen (SEUT 101 ja 102 artiklan) rikkomisen vuoksi, on voitava vaatia korvauksia vahingon aiheuttaneelta osapuolelta. Euroopan unionin tuomioistuin on ratkaisuillaan Courage ja Manfredi vahvistanut vahinkoa kärsineen oikeuden saada korvausta kärsimästään vahingosta. Suomessa kilpailuoikeudellista vahingonkorvausta koskeva oikeuskäytäntö on ollut vähäistä, vaikkakin viime aikoina on annettu muutama merkittävä vahingonkorvausratkaisu, näistä kenties tunnetuimpana asvalttikartelliratkaisu. Kilpailuoikeuden rikkomisesta vahinkoa kärsineet saavat kuitenkin vain harvoin korvausta kärsimästään vahingosta, mikä on ollut seurausta erilaisista lainsäädännöllisistä ja menettelyistä johtuvista esteistä jäsenvaltioiden säännöissä. Komission pitkään kestänyt lainsäädäntöhanke EU:n kilpailuoikeuden täytäntöönpanojärjestelmän selkeyttämiseksi päättyi marraskuussa 2014, kun Euroopan parlamentin ja neuvoston direktiivi tietyistä säännöistä, joita sovelletaan jäsenvaltioiden ja Euroopan unionin kilpailuoikeuden rikkomisen johdosta kansallisen lainsäädännön nojalla nostettuihin vahingonkorvauskanteisiin (2014/104/ EU) hyväksyttiin. Direktiivi julkaistiin Euroopan unionin virallisessa lehdessä 5. joulukuuta 2014, ja jäsenvaltioilla on 27.12.2016 asti aikaa implementoida direktiivi osaksi kansallista lainsäädäntöä. Direktiivin tavoitteena on EU:n kilpailusääntöjen tehokas täytäntöönpano sekä kilpailuoikeuden julkisoikeudellisen ja yksityisoikeudellisen täytäntöönpanon selkeyttäminen. Lisäksi direktiivi pyrkii varmistamaan, että vahingonkärsijät voivat saada täyden korvauksen kärsimästään vahingosta, sekä poistamaan esteitä ja pienentämään kustannuksia vahingon todistamisessa, samalla harmonisoiden eri jäsenmaissa toimivien yritysten oikeussuojan tasoa. Tarkastelen pro gradu –tutkielmassani kilpailuoikeudellisen vahingonkorvauksen kehitystä sekä uuden EU:n vahingonkorvausdirektiivin vaikutuksia erityisesti vahingonkärsijän näkökulmasta, eli sitä kuinka direktiivi vaikuttaa vahingonkärsijän mahdollisuuteen saada korvausta kärsimästään vahingosta, joka johtuu EU:n kilpailusääntöjen rikkomisesta. Lisäksi tarkastelen lyhyesti direktiivin tuomia muutoksia Suomen lainsäädäntöön. Tutkielmani loppupäätelmä on, että vaikka vahingonkorvausdirektiivi ei täydellisesti paranna vahingonkärsijän asemaa, se selkeyttää monella tavalla kilpailuoikeudellisten vahingonkorvauskanteiden nykyistä tilaa, ja saattaa tietyssä määrin rohkaista vahingonkärsijiä hakemaan korvausta kärsimästään vahingosta.

Database Rights in Safe European Home: The Path to More Rigorous Protection of Information

1. Introduction "The one that has compiled ... a database, the collection, securing the validity or presentation of which has required an essential investment, has the sole right to control the content over the whole work or over either a qualitatively or quantitatively substantial part of the work both by means of reproduction and by making them available to the public", Finnish Copyright Act, section 49.1 These are the laconic words that implemented the much-awaited and hotly debated European Community Directive on the legal protection of databases,2 the EDD, into Finnish Copyright legislation in 1998. Now in the year 2005, after more than half a decade of the domestic implementation it is yet uncertain as to the proper meaning and construction of the convoluted qualitative criteria the current legislation employs as a prerequisite for the database protection both in Finland and within the European Union. Further, this opaque Pan-European instrument has the potential of bringing about a number of far-reaching economic and cultural ramifications, which have remained largely uncharted or unobserved. Thus the task of understanding this particular and currently peculiarly European new intellectual property regime is twofold: first, to understand the mechanics and functioning of the EDD and second, to realise the potential and risks inherent in the new legislation in economic, cultural and societal dimensions. 2. Subject-matter of the study: basic issues The first part of the task mentioned above is straightforward: questions such as what is meant by the key concepts triggering the functioning of the EDD such as presentation of independent information, what constitutes an essential investment in acquiring data and when the reproduction of a given database reaches either qualitatively or quantitatively the threshold of substantiality before the right-holder of a database can avail himself of the remedies provided by the statutory framework remain unclear and call for a careful analysis. As for second task, it is already obvious that the practical importance of the legal protection providedby the database right is in the rapid increase. The accelerating transformationof information into digital form is an existing fact, not merely a reflection of a shape of things to come in the future. To take a simple example, the digitisation of a map, traditionally in paper format and protected by copyright, can provide the consumer a markedly easier and faster access to the wanted material and the price can be, depending on the current state of the marketplace, cheaper than that of the traditional form or even free by means of public lending libraries providing access to the information online. This also renders it possible for authors and publishers to make available and sell their products to markedly larger, international markets while the production and distribution costs can be kept at minimum due to the new electronic production, marketing and distributionmechanisms to mention a few. The troublesome side is for authors and publishers the vastly enhanced potential for illegal copying by electronic means, producing numerous virtually identical copies at speed. The fear of illegal copying canlead to stark technical protection that in turn can dampen down the demand for information goods and services and furthermore, efficiently hamper the right of access to the materials available lawfully in electronic form and thus weaken the possibility of access to information, education and the cultural heritage of anation or nations, a condition precedent for a functioning democracy. 3. Particular issues in Digital Economy and Information Networks All what is said above applies a fortiori to the databases. As a result of the ubiquity of the Internet and the pending breakthrough of Mobile Internet, peer-to-peer Networks, Localand Wide Local Area Networks, a rapidly increasing amount of information not protected by traditional copyright, such as various lists, catalogues and tables,3previously protected partially by the old section 49 of the Finnish Copyright act are available free or for consideration in the Internet, and by the same token importantly, numerous databases are collected in order to enable the marketing, tendering and selling products and services in above mentioned networks. Databases and the information embedded therein constitutes a pivotal element in virtually any commercial operation including product and service development, scientific research and education. A poignant but not instantaneously an obvious example of this is a database consisting of physical coordinates of a certain selected group of customers for marketing purposes through cellular phones, laptops and several handheld or vehicle-based devices connected online. These practical needs call for answer to a plethora of questions already outlined above: Has thecollection and securing the validity of this information required an essential input? What qualifies as a quantitatively or qualitatively significant investment? According to the Directive, the database comprises works, information and other independent materials, which are arranged in systematic or methodical way andare individually accessible by electronic or other means. Under what circumstances then, are the materials regarded as arranged in systematic or methodical way? Only when the protected elements of a database are established, the question concerning the scope of protection becomes acute. In digital context, the traditional notions of reproduction and making available to the public of digital materials seem to fit ill or lead into interpretations that are at variance with analogous domain as regards the lawful and illegal uses of information. This may well interfere with or rework the way in which the commercial and other operators have to establish themselves and function in the existing value networks of information products and services. 4. International sphere After the expiry of the implementation period for the European Community Directive on legal protection of databases, the goals of the Directive must have been consolidated into the domestic legislations of the current twenty-five Member States within the European Union. On one hand, these fundamental questions readily imply that the problemsrelated to correct construction of the Directive underlying the domestic legislation transpire the national boundaries. On the other hand, the disputes arisingon account of the implementation and interpretation of the Directive on the European level attract significance domestically. Consequently, the guidelines on correct interpretation of the Directive importing the practical, business-oriented solutions may well have application on European level. This underlines the exigency for a thorough analysis on the implications of the meaning and potential scope of Database protection in Finland and the European Union. This position hasto be contrasted with the larger, international sphere, which in early 2005 does differ markedly from European Union stance, directly having a negative effect on international trade particularly in digital content. A particular case in point is the USA, a database producer primus inter pares, not at least yet having aSui Generis database regime or its kin, while both the political and academic discourse on the matter abounds. 5. The objectives of the study The above mentioned background with its several open issues calls for the detailed study of thefollowing questions: -What is a database-at-law and when is a database protected by intellectual property rights, particularly by the European database regime?What is the international situation? -How is a database protected and what is its relation with other intellectual property regimes, particularly in the Digital context? -The opportunities and threats provided by current protection to creators, users and the society as a whole, including the commercial and cultural implications? -The difficult question on relation of the Database protection and protection of factual information as such. 6. Dsiposition The Study, in purporting to analyse and cast light on the questions above, is divided into three mainparts. The first part has the purpose of introducing the political and rationalbackground and subsequent legislative evolution path of the European database protection, reflected against the international backdrop on the issue. An introduction to databases, originally a vehicle of modern computing and information andcommunication technology, is also incorporated. The second part sets out the chosen and existing two-tier model of the database protection, reviewing both itscopyright and Sui Generis right facets in detail together with the emergent application of the machinery in real-life societal and particularly commercial context. Furthermore, a general outline of copyright, relevant in context of copyright databases is provided. For purposes of further comparison, a chapter on the precursor of Sui Generi, database right, the Nordic catalogue rule also ensues. The third and final part analyses the positive and negative impact of the database protection system and attempts to scrutinize the implications further in the future with some caveats and tentative recommendations, in particular as regards the convoluted issue concerning the IPR protection of information per se, a new tenet in the domain of copyright and related rights.

Osakeperusteinen palkitseminen: maksuttoman osakkeen hyödyntäminen kannustinjärjestelmissä

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää osakeyhtiön palkitsemisjärjestelmiin liittyviä kysymyksiä päämies–agenttisuhteiden ja osakeyhtiöoikeudellisten periaatteiden kautta. Tutkielmassa selvitetään, kuinka maksuttomia osakkeita voidaan hyödyntää julkisen osakeyhtiön palkitsemisjärjestelmissä ja mitä haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia niiden käyttöön liittyy. Tutkimusmetodi työssä on lainopillinen ja aihetta lähestytään luontevasti kauppatieteellisen ja oikeustieteellisen näkökulman yhdistävän oikeustaloustieteen kautta. Ensisijaisena aineistona tutkielmassa käytetään voimassaolevaa lainsäädäntöä valmisteluaineistoineen ja näkökulmaa syvennetään aiemmin voimassa olleen lainsäädännön tarkastelulla. Toissijaisena aineistona tutkielmassa käytetään sekä eri asiantuntijoiden oikeudellista kirjallisuutta että palkitsemisen asiantuntijoiden laatimaa kirjallisuutta Suomesta ja muista länsimaista. Teoreettista työtä on syvennetty asiantuntijahaastattelulla ja yhtiöiden sijoittajatiedosta saatavalla informaatiolla. Merkittävin osakeyhtiön johdon ja yhtiön välisen suhteen tehokkuutta alentava seikka on päämies–agenttisuhteen valvontaongelma. Tämä liittyy päämies - agenttisuhteeseen, joka ilmenee negatiivisesti yhtiön ja yhtiön johdon intressien ristiriitatilanteissa. Valvontaongelma voi aiheuttaa ylimääräisiä transaktiokustannuksia ja tämä näkyy yhtiön toiminnan tehokkuuden laskemisena. Päämies–agenttisuhteen ratkaisuna lainsäädäntö ja erilaiset valvonnan keinot ovat tehottomia ja nykyisen yhtiöoikeudellisen ajattelun vastaisia. Tehokkaimmin valvontaongelma saadaan ratkaistua erilaisin kannustimin tapahtuvalla johdon ohjauksella. Osakesidonnainen palkitseminen on suosituin johdon ja yhtiön intressien yhdistämisen keino. Osakesidonnainen palkitseminen on parhaimmillaan eri osapuolien näkökulmasta sitouttavaa ja kannustavaa mutta osakepalkitsemisen käyttöön liittyy myös riskejä. Eräs keskeisistä yhtiöoikeudellisista periaatteista on yhdenvertaisuus, jota saatetaan loukata eri palkitsemisjärjestelmiä käytettäessä. Varojen jakoon ja järjestelmien rahoitukseen liittyy niin ikään riskejä, jotka saattavat vaarantaa järjestelmän onnistumisen. Liian avokätiset palkkiojärjestelmät taas saattavat aiheuttaa yhtiön eri sidosryhmien piirissä tyytymättömyyttä joka taas alentaa järjestelmän tehokkuutta. Yhtiön johto vastaa yhtiön strategian toteutumisesta ja linjaa Corporate Governance käytännön mukaisesti johdon palkitsemisen tavat. Yhtiön johto on kuitenkin päätöksistään vastuussa yhtiön residuaalioikeuden omaaville päämiehille, eli osakkeenomistajille. Vaikka yhtiön johto vastaa viime kädessä yhtiön toiminnasta, sen on huomioitava toiminnassaan yhtiön toiminnan tarkoitus ja sitä kautta yksittäisen osakkeenomistajan etu. Vaikka osakeyhtiössä toteutettaisiin enemmistöomistajan valitsemaa toimintalinjaa, osakeyhtiön yhdenvertaisuusperiaate korostaa juuri vähemmistöosakkeenomistajan asemaa. Johdon fidusiaaristen velvoitteiden voidaankin nähdä korostuvan johdon suhteessa vähemmistöosakkeenomistajaan. Tämä on huomioitava myös palkitsemisjärjestelmissä. Johdon palkitsemisjärjestelmien suunnittelussa ja toteutuksessa on suunnattava keskeinen huomio sen tavoitteiden toteutumiseen, eli yksittäisen osakkeenomistajan omistuksen arvon kasvattamiseen pidemmällä aikavälillä, pitäen huolta osakeyhtiön kantavista periaatteista.

Free PAPP-A: a Novel Marker in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients

In recent years, one important objective of cardiovascular research has been to find new markers that would improve the risk stratification and diagnosis of patients presenting with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) is a large metalloproteinase involved in insulin-like growth factor signalling. It is expressed in various tissues and seems to be involved in many physiological and pathological processes, such as folliculogenesis, bone formation, wound healing, pregnancy and atherosclerosis. The aim of this thesis was to investigate PAPP-A in ACS patients. Circulating concentrations of PAPP-A had been previously shown to be elevated in ACS. In this study it was revealed that the form of PAPP-A causing this elevation was the free noncomplexed PAPP-A. Thus, the form of PAPP-A in the circulation of ACS patients differed from the complexed PAPP-A form abundantly present in the circulation during pregnancy. A point-of-care method based on time-resolved immunofluorometric assays was developed, which enabled the rapid detection of free PAPP-A. The method was found to perform well with serum and heparin plasma samples as well as with heparinized whole blood samples. With this method the concentrations of free PAPP-A in healthy individuals were shown to be negligible. When the clinical performance of the method was evaluated with serum samples from ACS patients, it was shown that the free PAPP-A concentration in the admission sample was an independent predictor of myocardial infarction and death. Moreover, as a prognostic marker, free PAPP-A was revealed to be superior to total PAPPA, i.e. the combination of free and complexed PAPP-A, which has been measured by the other groups in this field. As heparin products are widely used as medication in ACS patients, the effect of heparin products on free PAPP-A molecule and circulating concentrations were also investigated in this study. It was shown that intravenous administration of low molecular weight or unfractionated heparin elicits a rapid release of free PAPP-A into the circulation in haemodialysis patients and patients undergoing angiography. Moreover, the interaction between PAPP-A and heparin was confirmed in gel filtration studies. Importantly, the patients included in the clinical evaluation of the free PAPP-A detection method developed had not received any heparin product medication before the admission sample and thus the results were not affected by the heparin effect. In conclusion, free PAPP-A was identified as a novel marker associated with ACS. The point-of-care methods developed enable rapid detection of this molecule which predicts adverse outcome when measured in the admission sample of ACS patients. However, the effect revealed of heparin products on circulating PAPP-A concentrations should be acknowledged when further studies are conducted related to free or total PAPP-A in ACS.

Ikääntyvät työelämässä. Päihittääkö nuoruus ja koulutus aikuisuuden ja kokemuksen?

The Ageing in Working Life. Do Adolescence and Schooling Beat Adulthood and Experience? This study examines the changes in the work and the work organisations of employees in the fields of health care and retail trade who have turned 45 and their experience of change. In addition, the question of how ageing employees experience their status in post-modern working life is explored. Attention is also focused on the choices and decisions connected with staying at work and retiring. These views are examined in relation to professions and professional cultures. Thematic interviews (N=98) were used to gather the material. The effects of the market liberalistic turn in welfare policy are clearly seen in the everyday work of the health care professions. These changes were examined from the point of view of managing by outcomes and quality assurance, multi-professional cooperation, flexibility in the division of labour, and the spread of market-like procedures. The discourse of those in involved retail trade was dominated by extremely tight global market competition and control of outcomes, and by the structural changes taking place in the retail trade sector. This change discourse was to a large extent a reaction to those changes in the functional environment which were experienced as negative and to the conflict between their own professional identity and professional ethics on the one hand, and their functional environment on the other. There were also obstacles connected with professional culture: defending one's own station and power, guarding the 'frontier', showed up in attitudes towards new management and organisation models or towards structural and functional reforms. The deep structures of professional culture and the mindset of the actors change much more slowly than the functional practices of organisations. For those in a supervisory position, the loss of power due to becoming part of a chain or because of the introduction of a team organisation model was not an easy thing to accept. The nurses and others in related fields felt that they were forced to do work that was below their level of training and professional skill. For sales personnel and those who did assisting work in health care, power and the possibility of having an influence were not so important, as long as they were able to do their work in their own way and were trusted. This view is often completely forgotten, for example, in various organisation models in which power and the possibility of having an influence entwined with power are taken for granted as being clearly positive and desired aspects of job satisfaction. Up to date professional skills were experienced as being important from the point of view of professional identity and self-worth. Thus, training can be understood as a moral obligation, which in turn is intertwined with professional ideology. In the rhetoric of adult education, an adult is expected to be an active player who will seek training again and again if working life so requires. The dark side of this ideology, which leads to feelings of guilt, was apparent in the thoughts of the respondents. Am I never good enough at my job; why must I continually strive for better, additional qualifications? The majority of the respondents evaluated their expertise as being at quite a high level. This self-confidence did not extend to applying for a job. Job recruitment was seen as a situation in which age discrimination reached its peak. The interviewees were unanimous about the idea that society favours the young. Especially among those in the retail trade sector, there was a feeling that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a new job of the same level or a permanent post if they were made redundant. Age discrimination was also apparent in the retail trade field in the form of older employees being retired against their will or transferred to other tasks. It was felt that ruthless forced retirement of older workers was part of the personnel policy of some organisations. The importance of one's outward appearance was connected with the theme of discrimination. This phenomenon is described using the concept of the double standard of ageing in feminist research. An ageing woman is relegated to an inferior position due to both her age and her sex. A culture that would both make possible and allow various types of choices regardless of age, which is described as being characteristic of the post-modern era, does not seem to be very topical in the practice of working life. It is important for employees that the management and the personnel policy that is being implemented makes them feel like both their contribution and they as individuals are appreciated, that their opinions are listened to and that they are noticed as persons. The interviewees hoped for gratitude and a concern for the well-being of employees that shows in everyday life. They valued training and activities aimed at maintaining their work ability, but thought that better coping at work and a pleasant working environment cannot be achieved through such measures as along as the foundation is 'in a mess'. Development of the quality of working life is the only thing that can improve job satisfaction and get people to remain in the work force longer than at present. There should be a sufficient number of properly trained employees at the work place. It was important to the respondents that they be able to stay on their job to the end with honour, since compromising with their own quality standards or acting contrary to their ideal self-image in terms of professional ethics would strike a blow to their professional self-esteem. They called for the development of various types of workplace flexibility, and felt that they have the right to a lightened workload and to early retirement. Early retirement was even seen as an altruistic deed: it would free up a place for younger workers. Thoughts of retirements were explained by familiar factors such as health and finances, life situation, the enticement of free-time, as well as by various factors related to work. It is very important to ageing employees that their work has meaningful content. The values related to self-fulfilment are felt to be of great importance, and if they cannot be realised at work, the respondents wanted more free time, either through retirement or in the form of flexibility in working life.

Foodstuffs and medicines as legal categories in the EU and China. Functional foods as a borderline case

The thesis discusses the regulation of foodstuffs and medicines, and particularly the regulation of functional foods. Legal systems investigated are the EU and China. Both are members of the WTO and Codex Alimentarius, which binds European and Chinese rules together. The study uses three Chinese berries as case examples of how product development faces regulation in practice. The berries have traditional uses as herbal medicines. Europe and China have similar nutrition problems to be resolved, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The three berries might be suitable raw materials for functional foods. Consumer products with health-enhancing functions, such as lowering blood pressure, might legally be classifi ed either as foodstuffs or medicines. The classifi cation will depend on functions and presentation of the product. In our opinion, food and medicine regulation should come closer together so the classifi cation issue would no longer be an issue. Safety of both foodstuffs and medicines is strictly regulated. With medicines, safety is a more relative concept, where benefi ts of the product are compared to side-effects in thorough scientifi c tests and trials. Foods, on the other hand, are not allowed to have side-effects. Hygiene rules and rules on the use of chemicals apply. In China, food safety is currently at focus as China has had several severe food scandals. Newly developed foods are called novel foods, and are specifi cally regulated. The current European novel food regulation from 1997 treats traditional third country products as novel. The Chinese regulation of 2007 also defi nes novel foods as something unfamiliar to a Chinese consumer. The concepts of novel food thus serve a protectionist purpose. As regards marketing, foods are allowed to bear health claims, whereas medicines bear medicinal claims. The separation is legally strict: foods are not to be presented as having medicinal functions. European nutrition and health claim regulation exists since 2006. China also has its regulation on health foods, listing the permitted claims and how to substantiate them. Health claims are allowed only on health foods. The European rules on medicines include separate categories for herbal medicines, traditional herbal medicines, and homeopathic medicines, where there are differing requirements for scientifi c substantiation. The scientifi c and political grounds for the separate categories provoke criticism. At surface, the Chinese legal system seems similar to the European one. To facilitate trade, China has enacted modern laws. Laws are needed as the country moves from planned economy to market economy: ‘rule of law’ needs to replace ‘rule of man’. Instead of being citizens, Chinese people long were subordinates to the Emperor. Confucius himself advised to avoid confl ict. Still, Chinese people do not and cannot always trust the legal system, as laws are enforced in an inconsistent manner, and courts are weak. In China, there have been problems with confl icting national and local laws. In Europe, the competence of the EU vs. the competence of the Member States is still not resolved, even though the European Commission often states that free trade requires harmonisation. Food and medicine regulation is created by international organisations, food and medicine control agencies, standards agencies, companies and their organisations. Regulation can be divided in ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’. One might claim that hard law is in crisis, as soft law is gaining importance. If law is out of fashion, regulation certainly isn’t. In the future, ‘law’ might mean a process where rules and incentives are created by states, NGOs, companies, consumers, and other stakeholders. ‘Law’ might thus refer to a constant negotiation between public and private actors. Legal principles such as transparency, equal treatment, and the right to be heard would still be important.

Pennförare i periferin : österbottniska sockenskrivare 1721-1868

Modern research on literacy, the scriptualization of the administration and the interaction between the governing and the governed as part of the political culture, has brought to the fore the issue of different scripts and their terms. The present dissertation focuses on the parish scribes in the county of Ostrobothnia during the period 1721–1868. The peasantry had been given the right to pay parish scribes in 1624. The parish scribes who were to assist the peasants in connection with the collection of taxes simultaneously supervised the bailiffs who collected the taxes. Their writing skills made the scribes indispensable also in many other contexts. In Ostrobothnia, the peasantry had use for parish scribes, who worked as mediators between Swedish and Finnish, between the oral and the written and vice versa. The aim of this dissertation is on the one hand to explore the recruitment of parish scribes, and on the other to examine the parish scribes as a professional and social group. The parish scribes’ significance for the peasantry in everyday life, local decision-making and in connection with political processes will be analyzed by examining their work and professional activities. The recruitment of parish scribes and has been analyzed as a decision process where different actors were able to influence the election. The parish scribes’ competence requirements and terms of employment have been analyzed. The parish scribes as a professional body or a social group has not previously been explored. The examination of the 154 parish scribes as a professional and social group has been carried out in the form of a collective biography. Parish scribes’ tasks originally consisted of the collection of taxes, but the duties within the parish administration increased in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The private writing assignments consisted of many different documents: bills of sale, probate inventories and estate distributions, wills, land tenancy agreements, life annuity and crofter agreements, promissory notes, auction records and different survey documents. The interaction with state power has been analyzed by examining five political decision-making processes that the peasants actively participated in.

The collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in international law : the application of findings to the case of Turkey

Pertinent domestic and international developments involving issues related to tensions affecting religious or belief communities have been increasingly occupying the international law agenda. Those who generate and, thus, shape international law jurisprudence are in the process of seeking some of the answers to these questions. Thus the need for reconceptualization of the right to freedom of religion or belief continues as demands to the right to freedom of religion or belief challenge the boundaries of religious freedom in national and international law. This thesis aims to contribute to the process of “re-conceptualization” by exploring the notion of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief with a view to advance the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief. The case of Turkey provides a useful test case where both the domestic legislation can be assessed against international standards, while at the same time lessons can be drawn for the improvement of the standard of international review of the protection of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief. The right to freedom of religion or belief, as enshrined in international human rights documents, is unique in its formulation in that it provides protection for the enjoyment of the rights “in community with others”.1 It cannot be realized in isolation; it crosses categories of human rights with aspects that are individual, aspects that can be effectively realized only in an organized community of individuals and aspects that belong to the field of economic, social and cultural rights such as those related to religious or moral education. This study centers on two primary questions; first, what is the scope and nature of protection afforded to the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in international law, and, secondly, how does the protection of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in Turkey compare and contrast to international standards? Section I explores and examines the notion of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief, and the scope of its protection in international law with particular reference to the right to acquire legal personality and autonomy religious/belief communities. In Section II, the case study on Turkey constitutes the applied part of the thesis; here, the protection of the collective dimension is assessed with a view to evaluate the compliance of Turkish legislation and practice with international norms as well as seeking to identify how the standard of international review of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief can be improved.

Vaalien jatkuva kierto : oikeudesta osallistua vaaliprosessiin

Tiivistelmä: Electoral cycle : right to participate in the electoral process

Market entry order and competitive advantage of the firm

A firm that wishes to launch a new product to the market is faced with a difficult task of deciding what the best moment for the launch is. Timing may also be critical when a firm plans to adopt new processes or intends to head for new markets. The critical question the firm needs to tackle is whether it will try to reach the so-called first-mover advantage by acting earlier than its rivals. The first-mover position may reward the entrant with various opportunities to gain competitive advantage over later movers. However, there are also great risks involved in the early market entry, and sometimes the very first entrant fails even before the followers enter the market. The follower, on the other hand, may be able to free-ride on the earlier entrants' investments and gain from the languished uncertainties that characterize the new markets. According to the current understanding the occurrence of entry order advantages depends not only on the mechanism and attributes in the firm's environment that provide the initial opportunities but also on the firm's ability to capitalize on these advantage opportunities. This study contributes to this discussion by analyzing the linkages between the asset base of the firm, characteristics of the operating environment and the firm's entry timing orientation. To shed light on the relationship between the entry timing strategy and competitive advantage, this study utilizes the concept of entry timing orientation. The rationale for choosing this type of approach arises from the inability of previously employed research tools to reach the underlying factors that result in entry timing advantage. The work consists of an introductory theoretical discussion on entry timing advantages and of four research publication. The empirical findings support the understanding that entry timing advantage is related to the characteristics of the firm's operating environment but may also be related to firm-specific factors. This in turn suggests that some of the traditional ways of detecting and measuring first-mover advantage - which to some extent ignore these dimensions - may be outdated.

Deregulation of Railroads and Future Development Scenarios in Europe - Literature Analysis of Privatization Process Taken Place in US, UK and Sweden

Euroopan unionissa päätettiin jo yli vuosikymmen sitten, että rautatieliiketoiminta vapautetaan kilpailulle. Iso-Britanniasta olimäärä tulla esimerkkivaltio tämän prosessin käyttöönotossa. Pääideana oli säännöstelyn keventäminen, jolloin omistuspohja toimialalla laajenee ja rautateiden infrastruktuuri sekä toiminta parantuvat. Infrastruktuuri on määrä olla yhden organisaation hallinnassa ja raiteiden käyttöoikeus on kaikilla lupaehdot täyttävillä operaattoreilla, jotka kilpailevat keskenään matkustajista ja tavararahdeista. Kuitenkin Yhdysvalloissa ja eräissä Latinalaisen Amerikan maissa kilpailu on vapautettu siten, että rautatieyritys omistaa raideinfrastruktuurin, junat, tavarankuljetus- sekä matkustajavaunut. Iso-Britannian yksityistämistä pidettiin aluksi isonaepäonnistumisena: nopealla aikataululla sovellettiin jäykkiä transaktioperusteisia ulkoistamisstrategioita infrastruktuurin kunnossapitoon, jotka lopulta johtivat junien jatkuviin myöhästymisiin ja muutamaan tuhoisaan onnettomuuteen. Liiketoiminnallisessa mielessäkään ei oikein onnistuttu: infrastruktuurista vastaava yritys jouduttiin listaamaan pois Lontoon pörssistä, ja hallituksen oli pakko luoda tukipaketti pahasti velkaantuneen, vain marginaalisien investointien kohteena olleen yrityksen toimintaa varten (vaikka kapasiteettitarvetta oli markkinoilla). Myös rautatieoperaattorit olivat taloudellisessa ahdingossa ja vain määrätietoisten hallituksen laatimien pelastuspakettien avulla ala nousi syvimmästä kriisistään. Tästä huolimatta näiden negatiivisten sivuvaikutusten ohella koko ala pystyi kasvattamaan kysyntää, niin matkustaja- kuin rahtiliikenteenkin osalta. Vähenevän kysynnän trendi, joka alkoi 1970-luvulla, otti käännöksen parempaan. Toinen eurooppalaismaa, jolla on pitkät kokemukset yksityistämisestä, on Ruotsi. Tämä maatapaus on melko konservatiivinen verrattuna tilanteeseen edellisessä; vain rajattu määrä reittejä on avattu kilpailulle ja sopimukset tehdään kerralla pitkäksi aikaa eteenpäin. Ruotsin säännöstelyn purku osoittautui menestykseksi, koska tuottavuus onollut vakaassa kasvussa ja rautateiden markkinaosuus erityisesti matkustajapuolella on noussut merkittävästi, verrattuna muihin kuljetusmuotoihin. Kuitenkin kilpailua on käytännössä vähän tässä maassa ja parempiatuloksia on lupa odottaa, kun vain säännöstelyn purkaminen jatkuu. Viimeinen tutkimuksemme kohteena oleva maa on Yhdysvallat, joka alistutti rautatiet kilpailulle jo 1980-luvun alussa, käyttäen jo edellä mainittua vertikaalista integraatiota; tämä valinta on taas johtanut hyvin erilaisiin tuloksiin. Vaihtoehtoinen rakenteellinen uudistustapa on suosinut rahtivirtoja matkustajiin nähden, ja lopputuloksena tämä tapaus synnytti yrityksiä huolehtimaan toista näistä kahdesta pääasiakasryhmästä. Viimeaikaiset tulokset tästä yksityistämisprosessista ovat olleet hyviä: jäljellejääneiden yritysten voitot ovat kasvaneet, osinkoja ollaan kyetty jakamaan ja osakkeiden arvostus on noussut. Tässä tutkimusraportissa yritämme kolmen maatapauksen kautta esittää, miten yksityistämisprosessi tulee vaikuttamaan Euroopassa, kun kilpailu rautateillä vapautuu. Me käymmeläpi, mikä näistä kolmesta maaesimerkistä on kaikkein todennäköisin jaesitämme ehdotuksia siihen, miten valtiot voisivat välttää ei-haluttuja sivuvaikutuksia. Kolme maaesimerkkiä, ja lopuksi esitetty lyhyt tilastollinen analyysi osoittavat, että rautateillä on tulevaisuuden potentiaalia Euroopassa, ja kilpailun vapauttaminen on avain tämän potentiaalin realisointiin.

Patents in the Information and Communications Technology Sector - Development Trends, Problem Areas and Pressures for Change

The patent system was created for the purpose of promoting innovation by granting the inventors a legally defined right to exclude others in return for public disclosure. Today, patents are being applied and granted in greater numbers than ever, particularly in new areas such as biotechnology and information andcommunications technology (ICT), in which research and development (R&D) investments are also high. At the same time, the patent system has been heavily criticized. It has been claimed that it discourages rather than encourages the introduction of new products and processes, particularly in areas that develop quickly, lack one-product-one-patent correlation, and in which theemergence of patent thickets is characteristic. A further concern, which is particularly acute in the U.S., is the granting of so-called 'bad patents', i.e. patents that do not factually fulfil the patentability criteria. From the perspective of technology-intensive companies, patents could,irrespective of the above, be described as the most significant intellectual property right (IPR), having the potential of being used to protect products and processes from imitation, to limit competitors' freedom-to-operate, to provide such freedom to the company in question, and to exchange ideas with others. In fact, patents define the boundaries of ownership in relation to certain technologies. They may be sold or licensed on their ownor they may be components of all sorts of technology acquisition and licensing arrangements. Moreover, with the possibility of patenting business-method inventions in the U.S., patents are becoming increasingly important for companies basing their businesses on services. The value of patents is dependent on the value of the invention it claims, and how it is commercialized. Thus, most of them are worth very little, and most inventions are not worth patenting: it may be possible to protect them in other ways, and the costs of protection may exceed the benefits. Moreover, instead of making all inventions proprietary and seeking to appropriate as highreturns on investments as possible through patent enforcement, it is sometimes better to allow some of them to be disseminated freely in order to maximize market penetration. In fact, the ideology of openness is well established in the software sector, which has been the breeding ground for the open-source movement, for instance. Furthermore, industries, such as ICT, that benefit from network effects do not shun the idea of setting open standards or opening up their proprietary interfaces to allow everyone todesign products and services that are interoperable with theirs. The problem is that even though patents do not, strictly speaking, prevent access to protected technologies, they have the potential of doing so, and conflicts of interest are not rare. The primary aim of this dissertation is to increase understanding of the dynamics and controversies of the U.S. and European patent systems, with the focus on the ICT sector. The study consists of three parts. The first part introduces the research topic and the overall results of the dissertation. The second part comprises a publication in which academic, political, legal and business developments that concern software and business-method patents are investigated, and contentiousareas are identified. The third part examines the problems with patents and open standards both of which carry significant economic weight inthe ICT sector. Here, the focus is on so-called submarine patents, i.e. patentsthat remain unnoticed during the standardization process and then emerge after the standard has been set. The factors that contribute to the problems are documented and the practical and juridical options for alleviating them are assessed. In total, the dissertation provides a good overview of the challenges and pressures for change the patent system is facing,and of how these challenges are reflected in standard setting.

Railcarrier in Intermodal Freight Transportation Network

The major objective of this thesis is to describe and analyse how a railcarrier is engaged in an intermodal freight transportation network through its role and position. Because of the fact that the role as a conceptualisation has a lot of parallels with the position, both these phenomena are evaluated theoretically and empirically. VR Cargo (a strategical business unitof the Finnish railway company VR Ltd.) was chosen to be the focal firm surrounded by the actors of the focal net. Because of the fact that networks are sets of relationships rather than sets of actors, it is essential to describe the dimensions of the relationships created through the time thus having a past, presentand future. The roles are created during long common history shared by the actors especially when IM networks are considered. The presence of roles is embeddedin the tasks, and the future is anchored to the expectations. Furthermore, in this study role refers to network dynamics, and to incremental and radical changes in the network, in a similar way as position refers to stability and to the influences of bonded structures. The main purpose of the first part of the study was to examine how the two distinctive views that have a dominant position in modern logistics ¿ the network view (particularly IMP-based network approach) and the managerial view (represented by Supply Chain Management) differ, especially when intermodalism is under consideration. In this study intermodalism was defined as a form of interorganisational behaviour characterized by the physical movement of unitized goods with Intermodal Transport Units, using more than one mode as performed by the net of operators. In this particular stage the study relies mainly on theoretical evaluation broadened by some discussions with the practitioners. This is essential, because the continuous dialogue between theory and practice is highly emphasized. Some managerial implications are discussed on the basis of the theoretical examination. A tentative model for empirical analysis in subsequent research is suggested. The empirical investigation, which relies on the interviews among the members in the focal net, shows that the major role of the focal company in the network is the common carrier. This role has some behavioural and functional characteristics, such as an executive's disclosure expressing strategic will attached with stable and predictable managerial and organisational behaviour. Most important is the notion that the focal company is neutral for all the other operators, and willing to enhance and strengthen the collaboration with all the members in the IM network. This also means that all the accounts are aimed at being equal in terms of customer satisfaction. Besides, the adjustments intensify the adopted role. However, the focal company is also obliged tosustain its role as it still has a government-erected right to maintain solely the railway operations on domestic tracks. In addition, the roles of a dominator, principal, partner, subcontractor, and integrator were present appearing either in a dyadic relationship or in net(work) context. In order to reveal differentroles, a dualistic interpretation of the concept of role/position was employed.