Technology licensing contracts features and diversity

Given the nature of knowledge and characteristics of the intellectual property rights system, technological transactions tend to be governed by contracts that are costly and not highly profitable. This explains why there are so few technology licensing agreements. However, in some situations, private and specific institutions tend to enable property rights to be more precise, knowledge transfers to be easier, and technology licensing agreements to be less complex to design and to run. This explains why there is a concentration of technology licensing agreements in some industries and in some relational situations. These shed light on the design of firms’ strategies to valorize intellectual assets and of public policies to stimulate innovation and diffusion.     

Flexibility and uncertainty in the housing market

This paper provides one reason why the level of trading in the housing market is volatile. We show that when uncertainty is high and can be expected to be resolved in the near future, both buyers and sellers have an incentive to postpone trading until uncertainty has been resolved. In the model, agents trade in the housing market either now, when there is uncertainty concerning the future tax rule for house owners, or later, when this uncertainty has been resolved. Under the assumption of risk neutrality (and high transaction costs), we show that any rational expectations equilibrium involves all trading being postponed. When agents are risk averse, this result holds less generally; we show that it does hold when changes in the tax rule are expected not to affect the future price of houses too strongly.     

Identity crisis: Global challenges of identity protection in a networked world

Modern identity is valuable, multi-functional and complex. Today we typically manage multiple versions of self, made visible in digital trails distributed widely across offline and online spaces. Yet, technology-mediated identity leads us into crisis. Enduring accessibility to greater and growing personal details online, alongside increases in both computing power and data linkage techniques, fuel fears of identity exploitation. Will it be stolen? Who controls it? Are others aggregating or analysing our identities to infer new data about us without our knowledge or consent? New challenges present themselves globally around these fears, as manifested by concerns over massive online data breaches and automated identification technologies, which also highlight the conundrum faced by governments about how to safeguard individuals' interests on the Web while striking a fair balance with wider public interests. This paper reflects upon some of these problems as part of the inter-disciplinary, transatlantic ‘SuperIdentity’ project investigating links between cyber and real-world identifiers. To meet the crisis, we explore the relationship between identity and digitisation from the perspective of policy and law. We conclude that traditional models of identity protection need supplementing with new ways of thinking, including pioneering ‘technical-legal’ initiatives that are sensitive to the different risks that threaten our digital identity integrity. Only by re-conceiving identity dynamically to appreciate the increasing capabilities for connectivity between different aspects of our identity across the cyber and the physical domains, will policy and law be able to keep up with and address the challenges that lie ahead in our progressively networked world.     

Drug intelligence based on MDMA tablets data: 2. Physical characteristics profiling

One of the tasks of the European project entitled “Collaborative Harmonisation of Methods for Profiling of Amphetamine Type Stimulants” (CHAMP) funded by the sixth framework programme of the European Commission was to develop a harmonised methodology for MDMA profiling and the creation of a common database in a drug intelligence perspective. Part I was dedicated to the analysis of organic impurities formed during synthesis in order to investigate traffic tendencies and highlight potential links between samples, whereas this part focuses on physical characteristics of the MDMA tablets. Diameter, thickness, weight and score were demonstrated to be reliable and relevant features in this drug intelligence perspective. Distributions of samples coming from the same post-tabletting batch (post-TB) and samples coming from different post-TB were very well discriminated by using the squared Euclidean or the Manhattan distance on standardised data. Our findings demonstrated the possibility to discriminate between MDMA samples issued from different post-TB and to find out links between samples coming from a same post-TB. Furthermore, the hypothesis that most of the MDMA samples found on the international market come from the same countries was supported.     

Legal jurisdiction over malware-related crimes: From theories of jurisdiction to solid practical application

As far as malware-related crimes are concerned, extra territorial jurisdiction and the law of extradition need one another to work perfectly, but there has never been a standard universal rule governing them. While Universality Principle can be argued to be the most ideal solution to the problem, it is opposed by the supporters of the notion of self-regulation of the internet, not to mention it lacks the required universal support. Thus the determination of the issues has to be based on the analysis of existing measures of practical applications.     

Knowing the past to understand the present - issues in the contracting for cloud based services

This article builds on our previous introductory article to cloud computing ([2009] 25 CLSR 270-274) and seeks to explain how cloud computing has evolved. We then discuss how this evolution impacts on key contractual and legal considerations and how the treatment of these considerations might differ from their treatment in traditional IT supply agreements.     

A comparison between the Intercept Oral Fluid Collection Device® and urinalysis among Baltimore City probationers

Few studies compared oral fluid (OF) analysis to laboratory urinalysis (UA) in real-world criminal justice environments, and no studies had collected survey data, from either specimen providers or specimen collectors, about the overall OF collection experience. In the most comprehensive toxicological comparison study conducted to date, urine and OF specimens were collected from a sample of 223 adult probationers in Baltimore City, Maryland, between March and May 2004. In addition, probationers and probation staff were surveyed about the OF collection experience. With confirmed UA as the reference standard, the Intercept Oral Specimen Collection Device® (Intercept) was 100 percent sensitive and 99 percent specific for benzodiazepines, 92 percent sensitive and 96 percent specific for cocaine, 77 percent sensitive and 96 percent specific for opiates, 39 percent sensitive and 98 percent specific for marijuana, and 75 percent sensitive and 91 percent specific for the detection of at least one drug. Seventy-two percent of the probationers and 88 percent of the probation staff rated the Intercept experience better than the collection of urine specimens. Implications for criminal justice policy and research are discussed.     

Reflections Journal in New Collaboration

From the Editor

Reflections Journal in New Collaboration     

Reflections Tornatzky writes first commentary for journal

Editorial Advisory Board     

Wintersport zwischen staatlicher und privater Regulierung Das Beispiel Tourengehen

Der Betätigung des Menschen in der freien Natur kommt auch eine Ausgleichsfunktion zu. Die dabei auftretenden Konflikte lassen sich mit unterschiedlichen Erfolgsaussichten einer rechtlichen Behandlung zuführen. Am Beispiel des wintersportlichen Tourengehens soll gezeigt werden, wie sich staatlich gesetztes Recht als ein mögliches Instrument des Naturschutzes darstellt und welche Alternativen in der Praxis genutzt werden, um die häufig bemühten Phänomene der Verrechtlichung und des Vollzugsdefizits gerade im Frei- und Freizeitraum Natur zu vermeiden.     

Administrative determinants of inmate violence: A multilevel analysis

This study examined the effect of remunerative and coercive controls on inmate assault, net of traditional controls. The sample included 4,168 male inmates nested within 185 state correctional facilities. The results suggest a complex relationship between remunerative controls and inmate assault. Remunerative controls were not significant predictors of inmate-on-inmate assault; however, prisoners involved in work programs were significantly less likely to assault staff, net of control variables. A significant relationship was not found between coercive control and inmate assault.