A Primer on ACTA What Europeans Should Fear about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

The European Commission recently published the first official draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The article describes the institutional background of the negotiations on ACTA and its relationship to the existing legal framework. The civil enforcement provisions and the Internet chapter are compared with the international and European instruments in the field. For the most part, ACTA will not oblige EU member states to enact rules that go beyond the already established European standards. But stricter rules could be implemented regarding injunctions against non-infringing intermediaries, strict liability rules for damages, and ex parte measures in preliminary proceedings. According to the published draft, the termination of user accounts in the case of repeated intellectual property infringement will not be mandatory for member ACTA states.

Google face à la justice française et belge Nouvelles décisions en matière de droit d’auteur

Internet Service Providers’ liability for copyright infringement is a debated issue in France and Belgium, particularly with respect to intermediaries such as providers of hyperlinks and location tool services for which the e-commerce directive does not set explicitly any exemption from liability. Thus, the question arises among other things whether the safe harbour provisions provided for in respect of caching and hosting also could apply to search engines. French and Belgian Courts had recently to decide on this issue in several cases concerning Google’s complementary tools such as Google Videos, Google Images, Google Suggest and Google News. This article seeks to give a summary of and to assess this recent case law.

Injunctions against Innocent Third Parties: The Case of Website Blocking

The paper discusses the phenomenon of injunctions against third parties that are innocent from the tort law perspective. One such type of injunction, website blocking, is currently appearing in the spotlight around various European jurisdictions as a consequence of the implementation of Article 8(3) of the Information Society Directive and Article 11 of the Enforcement Directive. Website-blocking injunctions are used in this paper only as a plastic and perhaps also canonical example of the paradigmatic shift we are facing: the shift from tort-law-centric injunctions to in rem injunctions. The author of this paper maintains that the theoretical framework for the latter injunctions is not in the law of civil wrongs, but in an old Roman law concept of ‘in rem actions’ (actio in rem negatoria). Thus the term ‘in rem injunctions’ is coined to describe this paradigm of injunctions. Besides the theoretical foundations, this paper explains how a system of injunctions against innocent third parties fits into the private law regulation of negative externalities of online technology and explores the expected dangers of derailing injunctions from the tracks of tort law. The author’s PhD project – the important question of the justification of an extension of the intellectual property entitlements by the in rem paradigm, along with its limits or other solutions – is left out from the paper.

Missing Links in the Proposed EU Data Protection Regulation and Cloud Computing Scenarios: A Brief Overview

Applying location-focused data protection law within the context of a location-agnostic cloud computing framework is fraught with difficulties. While the Proposed EU Data Protection Regulation has introduced a lot of changes to the current data protection framework, the complexities of data processing in the cloud involve various layers and intermediaries of actors that have not been properly addressed. This leaves some gaps in the regulation when analyzed in cloud scenarios. This paper gives a brief overview of the relevant provisions of the regulation that will have an impact on cloud transactions and addresses the missing links. It is hoped that these loopholes will be reconsidered before the final version of the law is passed in order to avoid unintended consequences.

Cut Out By The Middle Man: The Free Speech Implications Of Social Network Blocking and Banning In The EU

This article examines social network users’ legal defences against content removal under the EU and ECHR frameworks, and their implications for the effective exercise of free speech online. A review of the Terms of Use and content moderation policies of two major social network services, Facebook and Twitter, shows that end users are unlikely to have a contractual defence against content removal. Under the EU and ECHR frameworks, they may demand the observance of free speech principles in state-issued blocking orders and their implementation by intermediaries, but cannot invoke this ‘fair balance’ test against the voluntary removal decisions by the social network service. Drawing on practical examples, this article explores the threat to free speech created by this lack of accountability: Firstly, a shift from legislative regulation and formal injunctions to public-private collaborations allows state authorities to influence these ostensibly voluntary policies, thereby circumventing constitutional safeguards. Secondly, even absent state interference, the commercial incentives of social media cannot be guaranteed to coincide with democratic ideals. In light of the blurring of public and private functions in the regulation of social media expression, this article calls for the increased accountability of the social media services towards end users regarding the observance of free speech principles

The Optimal Capital Structure of Banks: Balancing Deposit Insurance, Capital Requirements and Tax-Advantaged Debt

The capital structure and regulation of financial intermediaries is an important topic for practitioners, regulators and academic researchers. In general, theory predicts that firms choose their capital structures by balancing the benefits of debt (e.g., tax and agency benefits) against its costs (e.g., bankruptcy costs). However, when traditional corporate finance models have been applied to insured financial institutions, the results have generally predicted corner solutions (all equity or all debt) to the capital structure problem. This paper studies the impact and interaction of deposit insurance, capital requirements and tax benefits on a bankÇs choice of optimal capital structure. Using a contingent claims model to value the firm and its associated claims, we find that there exists an interior optimal capital ratio in the presence of deposit insurance, taxes and a minimum fixed capital standard. Banks voluntarily choose to maintain capital in excess of the minimum required in order to balance the risks of insolvency (especially the loss of future tax benefits) against the benefits of additional debt. Because we derive a closed- form solution, our model provides useful insights on several current policy debates including revisions to the regulatory framework for GSEs, tax policy in general and the tax exemption for credit unions.

Asymmetric Information, Tax Evasion and Alternative Instruments of Government Revenue

Using a pure-exchange overlapping generations model, characterized with tax evasion and information asymmetry between the government (the social planner) and the financial intermediaries, we try and seek for the optimal tax and seigniorage plans, derived from the welfare maximizing objective of the social planner. We show that irrespective of whether the economy is characterized by tax evasion, or asymmetric information, a benevolent social planner, maximizing welfare and simultaneously financing the budget constraint, should optimally rely on explicit rather than implicit taxation.

Produçao e comercializaçao em assentamentos rurais : Estudo do caso do assentamento Sao Domingos dos Olhos D'Agua (Morrinhos, Goiás - Brasil)

The paper aims to diagnose obstacles to the commercialization of agricultural production of the settlement of São Domingos dos Olhos D'Água, municipality of Morrinhos, Goiás state. The research is characterized as exploratory, with qualitative approach and field research. The results show that the difficulties in the commercialization of production, especially those produced with the based on agribusiness and intermediaries, can be overcome with the expansion of public programs to support family farms. It follows that family farming can be a viable alternative to combat the expropriation of the wealth produced by resettled farmers, especially with the establishment of commercializationmechanisms that connect them directly with the final consumer, such as the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos).

Caciques, autoridades fronterizas y lenguaraces: intermediarios culturales e interlocutores válidos en Buenos Aires (primera mitad del siglo XIX)

El objetivo de este trabajo es acercarnos al conocimiento de los intermediarios culturales que habitaron el espacio fronterizo bonaerense en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. La elección de este período se fundamenta en que a lo largo del mismo se transitó por una compleja relación interétnica que derivó, a fines de la década de 1820, en la aplicación de una política indígena muy particular por parte del gobierno de Buenos Aires. Esta llevó, por un lado, al asentamiento de grupos nativos dentro del espacio provincial y, por otro, al establecimiento de alianzas con otras agrupaciones. Las cotidianas y constantes relaciones interétnicas que debieron llevarse a cabo a raíz de este proceso, produjeron la aparición de un gran número de personajes "intermediarios".

Produçao e comercializaçao em assentamentos rurais : Estudo do caso do assentamento Sao Domingos dos Olhos D'Agua (Morrinhos, Goiás - Brasil)

The paper aims to diagnose obstacles to the commercialization of agricultural production of the settlement of São Domingos dos Olhos D'Água, municipality of Morrinhos, Goiás state. The research is characterized as exploratory, with qualitative approach and field research. The results show that the difficulties in the commercialization of production, especially those produced with the based on agribusiness and intermediaries, can be overcome with the expansion of public programs to support family farms. It follows that family farming can be a viable alternative to combat the expropriation of the wealth produced by resettled farmers, especially with the establishment of commercializationmechanisms that connect them directly with the final consumer, such as the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos).

Caciques, autoridades fronterizas y lenguaraces: intermediarios culturales e interlocutores válidos en Buenos Aires (primera mitad del siglo XIX)

El objetivo de este trabajo es acercarnos al conocimiento de los intermediarios culturales que habitaron el espacio fronterizo bonaerense en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. La elección de este período se fundamenta en que a lo largo del mismo se transitó por una compleja relación interétnica que derivó, a fines de la década de 1820, en la aplicación de una política indígena muy particular por parte del gobierno de Buenos Aires. Esta llevó, por un lado, al asentamiento de grupos nativos dentro del espacio provincial y, por otro, al establecimiento de alianzas con otras agrupaciones. Las cotidianas y constantes relaciones interétnicas que debieron llevarse a cabo a raíz de este proceso, produjeron la aparición de un gran número de personajes "intermediarios".

Produçao e comercializaçao em assentamentos rurais : Estudo do caso do assentamento Sao Domingos dos Olhos D'Agua (Morrinhos, Goiás - Brasil)

The paper aims to diagnose obstacles to the commercialization of agricultural production of the settlement of São Domingos dos Olhos D'Água, municipality of Morrinhos, Goiás state. The research is characterized as exploratory, with qualitative approach and field research. The results show that the difficulties in the commercialization of production, especially those produced with the based on agribusiness and intermediaries, can be overcome with the expansion of public programs to support family farms. It follows that family farming can be a viable alternative to combat the expropriation of the wealth produced by resettled farmers, especially with the establishment of commercializationmechanisms that connect them directly with the final consumer, such as the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos).

Caciques, autoridades fronterizas y lenguaraces: intermediarios culturales e interlocutores válidos en Buenos Aires (primera mitad del siglo XIX)

El objetivo de este trabajo es acercarnos al conocimiento de los intermediarios culturales que habitaron el espacio fronterizo bonaerense en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. La elección de este período se fundamenta en que a lo largo del mismo se transitó por una compleja relación interétnica que derivó, a fines de la década de 1820, en la aplicación de una política indígena muy particular por parte del gobierno de Buenos Aires. Esta llevó, por un lado, al asentamiento de grupos nativos dentro del espacio provincial y, por otro, al establecimiento de alianzas con otras agrupaciones. Las cotidianas y constantes relaciones interétnicas que debieron llevarse a cabo a raíz de este proceso, produjeron la aparición de un gran número de personajes "intermediarios".

The asset/liability structure of the Philippine banks and non-bank financial institutions in 2000s : a preliminary study for financial access analyses

Based on the consolidated statements data of the universal/commercial banks (UKbank) and non-bank financial institutions with quasi-banking licenses, this paper presents a keen necessity of obtaining data in detail on both sides (assets and liabilities) of their financial conditions and further analyses. Those would bring more adequate assessments on the Philippine financial system, especially with regard to each financial subsector's financing/lending preferences and behavior. The paper also presents a possibility that the skewed locational and operational distribution exists in the non-UKbank financial subsectors. It suggests there may be a significant deviation from the authorities' (the BSP, SEC and others) intended/anticipated financial system in the banking/non-bank financial institutions' real operations.

La dimensión sonora del paisaje. Herramientas, modelos y prototipos aplicados para la interpretación del paisaje sonoro pretérito

Arrancando en la definición de paisaje como construcción de un espacio virtual desde una posición referencial, la investigación constituye una inmersión en la escucha como mirada específica para llevarlo a cabo. La investigación se centra en la búsqueda de una serie de estrategias: herramientas de interpretación y modelos de análisis de la realidad que pueden interactuar con el medio espacial. Mediante el estudio del territorio a través de parámetros vinculados a las energías dinámicas existentes en el mismo, el fin es aportar una nueva lectura, una transcripción del evento sonoro generador del ser de un lugar, empleando para ello el lenguaje arquitectónico y la notación espacio-temporal. El acantilado del Pointe du Hoc se toma como primer caso de estudio para el planteamiento del análisis de la dimensión sonora del territorio, a través de la fabricación de ntermediarios espaciales, que constituirán un modelo aplicable a otros lugares cuya identidad y energía sonora formen un rasgo significativo de su existencia. PALABRAS CLAVE Paisaje sonoro, sonido, Intermediario espacial, territorio Starting in the definition of landscape as building a virtual space from a reference position, this research is an immersion in listening as specific look to carry it out. The research is focused on a number of strategies: prototypes, tools for interpretation and analysis models of reality that can interact with the space environment. By studying the area using parameters linked to existing dynamic energies in territory, the aim is to provide a new reading, a transcript of the sound event generator, employing the architectural language and space-temporary notation. The Pointe du Hoc cliff is taken as a first case study for the approach to the analysis of the sound dimension of the territory, through space intermediaries, which will be a model for other places whose sound energy is the significance of their existence. KEYWORDS Soundscape, Sound, space intermediate, territory