Forensic investigations in cyberspace for civil proceedings

This article considers some of the legal issues raised when private entities are seeking forensic data from Internet‐based activities for the purpose of civil proceedings. It focuses on the identification of potential defendants and the obtaining of evidence in the course of its transmission. Existing law, legislative proposals and case law are examined in terms of appropriately balancing the rights of the claimant, defendant and third‐party communication providers.     

The dark side of disagreement? Revisiting the effect of disagreement on political participation

Thriving democracy requires an open exchange of disagreeing viewpoints. Yet disagreement may have a dark side. Recent research claims that people who experience disagreement in their informal political discussions are less likely to vote. This paper adds to a growing group of challenges to the notion of a ‘dark side’. It addresses the conventional wisdom from both a theoretical and practical viewpoint. I argue that disagreement in itself should not depress participation. Only those atypical respondents who encounter entirely disagreeing viewpoints are less likely to vote than those who encounter completely agreeing perspectives. People with mixed networks are equally likely to vote as those who face complete agreement. This paper tests the alternative theory against the conventional wisdom by returning to the dataset that first found evidence of the ‘dark side’. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the alternative theory. As a result, this study helps to mitigate concerns about the negative effects of disagreement and supports a network-centric approach to political science.     

Selecting Constitutional Judges Randomly

This article discusses from the perspective of democratic theory an innovative proposal for the selection of constitutional, supreme court, or federal judges that aims at combining the values of expertise and political independence. It consists in combining a certification process – selecting a pool of properly qualified candidates – with a random selection among this pool. We argue that such selection procedure would better respect the separation of powers and the specific legitimacy of courts, and we champion this two‐stage mechanism vis‐à‐vis other, more traditionally employed, selection procedures. We then deal with a diversity of objections to our proposal and conclude by taking stock of both its virtues and limitations.     

‘The Sky is Falling!’ – Responses to the ‘Going Dark’ problem

The shared concern expressed in the two quotes below is that modern technologies provide criminals with a capability to evade investigation. This comment piece examines some of the policy and legal options available to governments and law enforcement agencies to try to address this concern. While accepting the claim that this phenomenon represents a real challenge to law enforcement agencies, we currently have insufficient evidence to show the true extent of the problem. What this piece does not accept is the implication contained in the quotes, and often made explicit by others, that the use of encryption represents a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power between criminals and their investigators from what previously prevailed. Such claims tend to lack historical perspective, which is one of the themes of this 200th issue of Computer Law and Security Review.     

Exclusion of Taiwan activists diminishes impact of the U.N. fourth world conference on women

Abstract

It has been widely reported that six bona fide organizations from Taiwan with expertise in the advancement of women and women's rights were denied accreditation to participate as nongovernmental organization observers to the official U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women that was recently held in Beijing, China. In addition, numerous women from Taiwan and also Tibet were excluded from attending the parallel Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Forum on Women ’95. This forum was specifically mandated to include all women and men from around the world who wanted to discuss the advancement of women. Originally the NGO forum was to be located in close proximity to the official conference in Beijing, but four months prior to the conference China announced that the NGO forum would be moved to a rural location forty kilometers outside of Beijing. The leadership of the NGO forum protested this change, but was assured by China that all applicants who submitted registration forms on time would be accommodated and granted visas.     

Counterrevolution,the countryside and the middle classes: lessons from five countries

This contribution focuses on five societies that experienced successful counterrevolutions. It looks at how the dialectic of revolution and counterrevolution operated in Italy, Indonesia, Chile, Thailand and the Philippines. It seeks to understand the motion of different classes in periods of great political fluidity. It explores the dynamic relationship between conflict in the countryside and the overarching conflict of classes and their political representatives at the national level. Finally, it probes the relationship between domestic counterrevolution and global geopolitics.     

Protecting Childhood: Rights,Social Goals and the First Amendment in the Context of the Child Online Protection Act

In Dun & Bradstreet v. Greenmoss Builders, the Supreme Court of the United States reintroduced a subject matter test into libel law, holding that private figures defamed in the discussion of matters of private concern did not need to prove actual malice to collect punitive or presumed damages. The sweeping language of some of opinions, coupled with the Supreme Court's references to subject matter in subsequent cases, led to confusion over whether and how constitutional protections apply in private plaintiff-private issue cases. This article explores how lower federal and state appellate courts have interpreted Dun & Bradstreet and offers three alternate solutions to appropriately balance the First Amendment rights of defendants with the reputational interests of private plaintiffs in cases arising from the discussion of matters of private concern.