Access to knoledge in Brazil: new research on intellectual property, innovation and development

The present volume is the fruit of a research initiative on Access to Knowledge begun in 2004 by Yochai Benkler, Eddan Katz, and myself. Access to Knowledge is both a social movement and an approach to international and domestic policy. In the present era of globalization, intellectual property and information and communications technology are major determinants of wealth and power. The principle of access to knowledge argues that we best serve both human rights and economic development through policies that make knowledge, knowledge-creating tools, and nowledgeembedded goods as widely available as possible for decentralized innovation and use. Open technological standards, a balanced approach to intellectual property rights, and expansion of an open telecommunications infrastructure enable ordinary people around the world to benefit from the technological advances of the information age and allow them to generate a vibrant, participatory and democratic culture. Law plays a crucial role in securing access to knowledge, determining whether knowledge and knowledge goods are shared widely for the benefit of all, or controlled and monopolized for the benefit of a few.

From free software to free culture: the emergence of open business

This paper provides an examination of the emergence of open business models — entrepreneurial strategies that take advantage of the ease of digital reproduction to distribute free content, while earning money from the sale of related products and services. Locating the origins of open business in the open source software phenomenon, the authors suggest that the business strategies innovated there have broader economic relevance. Through a case study of the tecnobrega music scene in Belém, the paper illustrates how open business models can be applied to the production of cultural materials more generally

Compliance to law and effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil

The goal of this paper is to debate the degree of effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil, through a survey measuring perceptions, attitudes and habits of Brazilians in regard to compliance to law. The survey conducted in Brazil is based on the study conducted by Tom R. Tyler in the United States, entitled Why People Obey the Law? (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990). The main argument of Tyler´s study is that people obey the law when they believe it’s legitimate, and not because they fear punishment. We test the same argument in Brazil, relying on five indicators: (i) behavior, which depicts the frequency with which respondents declared to have engaged in conducts in disobedience to the law; (ii) instrumentality, measuring perception of losses associated with the violation of the law, specially fear of punishment; (iii) morality, measuring perception of how much is right or wrong to engage in certain conducts in violation of the law; (iv) social control, which measures perception of social disapproval of certain types of behavior in violation of the law, and (v) legitimacy, which measures the perception of respect to the law and to some authorities. Results indicate that fear of sanctions is not the strongest drive in compliance to law, but more than legitimacy, indicators of morality and social control are the strongest in explaining why people obey the law in Brazil.

Paternidade socioafetiva, adoção à brasileira e suas atuais implicações

O objetivo desta monografia é a análise do direito de família, mais especificamente do instituto da paternidade socioafeitva e seu reflexo em situações atuais como a adoção à brasileira. A metodologia deste trabalho foi baseada na revisão de pesquisas bibliográficas, doutrinárias, legislativas e jurisprudenciais. A análise discorre, primeiramente, acerca do conceito da paternidade socioafetiva e da maneira como que os vínculos sociais e afetivos têm sido avaliados como predominante em relação ao vínculo de consanguinidade, considerando o melhor interesse do menor. Posteriormente foi abordado o tema adoção, a “adoção à brasileira”, e como a mesma, tipificada como crime no Código Penal Brasileiro, pode ser solucionada pelo instituto da filiação socioafetiva. Por fim foram revisadas as apreciações de como os tribunais brasileiros adéquam o procedimento de adoção na nova realidade familiar brasileira, tendo em vista a falta de previsão legal, o que leva para os juízes a decisão acerca deste tema. Paralelamente são apresentados exemplos das decisões tomadas caracterizando jurisprudências no tema.