Liberalizing British Defamation Law: A Case of Importing the First Amendment?

Regardless of whether American law tends to be too outlying to be relevant to the rest of the world, the U.S. free speech jurisprudence is more impactful than ever. Indeed, the United States remains a real-life laboratory for other countries in resolving clashes between press freedom and reputation. Jameel v. Wall Street Journal Europe and other recent English media libel cases are a good illustration. This article examines the liberalization of U.K. defamation law in connection with the U.S. actual malice rule while noting English courts' significant adoption of neutral reportage, which American courts consider to be less viable as a libel defense. The principle of functionality informs the article's analytical framework.     

Project USA: American competitiveness and what must be done to restore it

The United States today faces a loss of influence as a world power, a reduction in American independence as a policymaker, and a decline in the standard of living on which Americans have come to depend. History teaches that nations weaker and less productive than the United States can rise to become economic powerhouses and rapidly increase their standards of living. History also teaches that nations failing to recognize their fundamental problems will inevitably decline. American politicians must face what is abundantly clear: the United States is losing ground and must act quickly to reverse its course. This White Paper outlines what must be done. Information about the nation's current status must be analyzed and communicated. Incentives to improve the level of competence in government must be provided and maintained. The emphasis of government policy must be changed to reflect broad economic and technological interests as opposed to special interests. Savings must be encouraged and increased. Infrastructure must be improved Tax laws must be modified to help bring these changes about. Economic and technological issues must be elevated to the importance they require. American thinking must reflect the new realities: that the age of leadership through military power is over, that the requirements for success in the world of the 1990s and beyond require a sound and growing economy that is internationally competitive. The US can accomplish these goals only through foundation-shaking, comprehensive, fundamental changealong the lines we propose herein.This paper is the executive summary (with minor editing modifications) of a white paper that is available from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management.     

次贷危机与资产证券化信息披露制度的重构

资产证券化本身并非次贷危机的根源,我国应该继续推进资产证券化的进程。不过,次贷危机充分暴露了美国资产证券化信息披露的制度性缺陷：信息披露制度的长期缺失以及信息披露豁免滥用的可能性。对此,《多德一弗兰克华尔街改革和个人消费者保护法案》进行了校正。应该结合美国的经验教训以及我国的实践。对我国资产证券化信息披露制度进行重构。     

A deadlier post-9/11 terrorism landscape for the USA abroad: a quasi-experimental study of backlash effects of terrorism prevention

Journal of Experimental Criminology - The United States initiated sweeping counterterrorism efforts after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This study tests a backlash hypothesis as it...     

Research ethics across the 49th parallel: the potential value of pilot testing "equivalent protections" in Canadian research institutions

Canada and the United States share the world's largest trade partnership and an increasing concern about divergent regulatory approaches to common industries. Canadian research institutes receive more research funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health than any other country, much of it to fund multi-centre and collaborative research between the two countries. Because of these close economic and research ties, and the extensive similarities between the two countries in the review and oversight of ethics in human subjects research, we propose that Canada would be an ideal country for a pilot-test of the feasibility of "equivalent protections," a U.S. regulation that permits comparison of protections for human subjects between institutions in the two countries. The "equivalent protections" has been advocated by various bodies in the United States as a potentially beneficial mechanism for improving oversight of foreign trials. As well, we argue that "equivalent protections" could prove to be valuable for Canada in five specific ways: (1) by potentially reducing administrative burden on Canadian research institutions administering U.S. federal research funding; (2) by creating symbolic value of an explicit recognition by the United States that procedures normally followed for the protection of human subjects in Canadian research institutions are at least equivalent to those provided by the U.S. regulations; (3) by lowering the opportunity cost of investing in research in Canada; (4) by affording Canada an opportunity to enhance its leadership role in international research by offering an alternative to the U.S. regulatory model for the protection of human subjects; and (5) by providing a model for how the idea of equivalent protections might be addressed for research funded by Canadian agencies but conducted in other countries.     

Examination of a "velasco" signature on an oil painting

In September 2003, an investor bought an oil painting at auction in Denmark. The painting was signed "José Maria Velasco." The investor attempted to sell the painting in the United States, but found that he needed confirmation that this was an authentic Velasco painting. The provenance of the painting was questionable because it came to Europe from Cuba without appropriate documentation including the date of its entry into the European market. If the signature was determined to be authentic, the painting would have an approximate value of 1 million dollars. Initial research on the life and works of the artist and a literature review resulted in the preparation of an "Art Worksheet." Known signature specimens were obtained from reputable sources. A comparison of the known signatures with the questioned signature concluded the questioned signature was very probably not executed by José Maria Velasco.     

中美知识产权“刑事门槛”争端的法律问题

2007年4月美国就中国知识产权刑事保护机制问题提交WTO争端解决机构(DSB)以寻求解决。这是DSB受理的第一起就知识产权刑事保护机制问题所引发的争端。本案的争议核心是如何解释作为"刑事门槛"的《TRIPS协定》第61条所规定的"商业规模"。通过DSB解释实践,可以看出,"商业规模"的解释主权应属各成员所有,但解释边界受《TRIPS协定》第61条相关条件的限制,中国知识产权刑事保护立法机制符合《TRIPS协定》,没有必要继续下降"刑事门槛"。美国对中国知识产权的施压应由单纯要求"降低刑事门槛"转变为"如何在降低正版产品的价格情况下加大对盗版的刑事打击力度"。     

"Interdependence": The Reality,the Concept,and the Policy

During the entire postwar period, the term "interdependence" has figured repeatedly in statements by American governmental figures and in the writings of bourgeois political scientists. In the past two or three years, it has acquired a new ring. Whereas previously American expressions regarding "interdependence" applied to relationships within the framework of NATO, today they have to do with a considerably broader sphere of foreign policy relationships of the United States, including those involving the entire capitalist world and the developing countries. In a number of cases, American writers working on the "interdependence" problem have also included certain aspects of the relation between capitalist and socialist states. They undertake to analyze, from the standpoint of bourgeois political science, various aspects of "interdependence" — economic, physical-geographical (deriving from mankind's ever more intensive joint utilization of the atmosphere, the waters and floor of the world ocean, near outer space, solar and subsurface energy, etc.), military-political (having to do with the threat of destruction of world civilization should a nuclear war occur), cultural, and so on.     

WAIVER HEARING A FRUSTRATING TASK

In the September decision in Haziel v. United States, Chief Judge Bazelon, speaking for the majority of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, said:     

The production of the "battered immigrant" in public policy and domestic violence advocacy

In the context of U.S. public policy, battered immigrant signifies a person who is eligible to adjust his or her status under immigration law if he or she can demonstrate they have suffered domestic violence in the United States perpetrated by a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Among community organizers, the term battered immigrant signifies a broader range of people for whom legal immigration status plays a role in their options for safety planning and/or leaving an abuser, the potential threat of deportation, and the eligibility for public benefits. Based on an ethnographic study of domestic violence advocacy with South Asian immigrants in Seattle and around the United States, this article examines how the difference in signification has direct social and political consequences with regard to who may access the benefits and protection offered to victims of domestic violence in the United States.     

新自由主义、金融危机与金融监管体制之变革

新自由主义理念支配下的华尔街金融创新日新月异,金融市场"高度繁荣"。受此影响,监管领域出现了反监管思潮,其逻辑后果便是市场与政府(监管)出现双重失灵,金融危机爆发并蔓延。美国金融监管权力配置的欠缺导致监管冲突与监管真空;监管成本与监管收益不匹配;监管部门组成人员配置不合理。在全球金融体制风云变幻的今天,汲取美国教训、完善我国金融监管体制应重点关注:信守保护投资者和消费者之市场永恒价值真谛;建立宏观审慎监管体制以应对系统性风险;通过内部控制与外部监管,完善金融机构治理;构建对监管者之"监管"制度;重点监管民间金融和影子银行系统。     

Advances in Critical Cultural Criminology: An Analysis of Reactions to Avant-Garde Flag Art

As a popular motif in American art, images ofthe United States flag remind citizens of the importanceof culture in promoting patriotism. Still, theprevailing aesthetic commands a dignifiedrepresentation of the Stars and Stripes,shunning political criticism and disrespect forthe nation's most cherished emblem. Amid thecontroversy over flag burning in 1989, artistDread Scott unveiled his work What is theProper Way to Display the U.S. Flag? at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago. In thatpiece, the U.S. flag was placed on the floor ofthe gallery, inciting enormous public outrage.As a form of interactive art, Scott invitedvisitors to record their thoughts about theflag in a ledger book furnished at the exhibit.More than 1,600 messages were transcribed inthe ledger book, thus becoming an intriguingsource of unobtrusive data. This researchexplores societal reaction to Scott's artworkthrough a content analysis of the entriescontained in the ledger book. Whileinterpreting prominent themes framing theconflict over flag desecration, this workcontributes to a critical cultural criminology.In particular, the analysis brings to theforefront the significance of power,hierarchies, and social inequality drivingcriminalization campaigns aimed at controllingavant-garde flag art and political dissent.     

"Lateral Angle" of the Internal Auditory Canal: Non-Association with Temporal Bone Pneumatization

Abstract:  The "lateral angle," the angle with which the posterior wall of the internal auditory canal meets the posterior fossa plate, is arguably wider in females (>45°) than males (<45°). Not previously addressed, however, are repeatability of angle determination, and whether the extent of temporal bone pneumatization is a confounder. Forty-one adult human cranial specimens (82 clinically normal temporal bones) were studied; no sex information was available for this United States sample. Two casts were created from each ear; each cast was independently categorized twice. No association of lateral angle with mastoid size was found. Repeatability was good. Although bilateral symmetry was suggested (phi = 0.60, p  = 0.05), two crania had oppositely categorized right-left angles. We observed a new finding: narrowed but clinically normal canals in 10% of crania. The lateral angle is a good candidate to be a morphological method in determination of sex.     

Public Diplomacy,Smith-Mundt and the American Public

The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, also known as the Smith-Mundt Act, is a mostly unknown and widely misunderstood piece of legislation. Revised multiple times, the law bans domestic dissemination of Voice of America and other U.S. international broadcast content in the United States. Presenting government-supported international broadcasting as an example of public diplomacy, this article discusses the long-term misrepresentation of Smith-Mundt's original intent and highlights the consequences of the continuing ban. The article considers prospects for ending the ban and emphasizes potential opportunities presented by its elimination, concluding that ending the ban might eliminate incongruity between American foreign policy goals of democracy promotion and the reality of banned domestic content. Repeal of the ban may also result in unexpected remedies for challenges facing the American media industry and the American public's desire for international news.

The United States government may be the largest broadcaster that few Americans know about. Although its networks reach 100 countries in 59 languages, they are banned from distribution in the United States by a 1948 law devised to prevent the government from turning its propaganda machine on its own citizens. ^{1 1}Mark Landler, A New Voice of America for the Age of Twitter, N.Y. Times, June 7, 2011 at 9. The broadcasters comprising the U.S. international broadcasting operation are the Voice of America (VOA), Alhurra, Radio Sawa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio and TV Marti. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is “a bipartisan agency … that acts as a ‘firewall’ between the U.S. government and international broadcasting entities it funds.” Kim Andrew Elliott, America Calling: A 21st-Century Model, Foreign Service J., Oct. 2010, at 31. When Smith-Mundt was passed in 1948, USIB authority fell under the Department of State. Later, Congress created the United States Information Agency (USIA) to facilitate American public diplomacy operations. After the end of the cold war, Congress dismantled USIA and returned responsibility for American public diplomacy efforts to the Department of State. For an excellent history of the rise and fall of the USIA, see Nicholas J. Cull, The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy 1945–1989 (2008).      

The sex offender next door: deconstructing the United States' obsession with sex offender registries in an age of neoliberalism

In the 1990s, against the backdrop of an ascending Age of Neoliberalism, sex offender registration statutes were passed in the United States. These laws require law enforcement officials to utilize computer technologies in order to publicly identify individuals who have been convicted of sexual offenses. In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with twenty-four respondents who were forced to register as sex offenders. All of these participants resided within Southeast Texas, which is arguably one of the most punitive regions within the United States. The vast majority of the sample reported moderate to severe forms of harassment as a result of being outed as sex offenders via computer technologies. We conclude that in the post-Keynesian United States, the Web-based monitoring of sex offenders will continue to remain a popular American pastime and may even expand to other industrialized democracies throughout the world.     

THE FAILURE OF COMPETITIVE ENTRY INTO FIXED-LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS: WHO IS AT FAULT?

Between 1998 and 2003, dozens of companies entered newly liberalizedtelecommunications markets in OECD countries. In Europe andNorth America, most of the entrants that attempted to use incumbents'"unbundled local loops," at regulated wholesale prices, to offernarrowband services—essentially "plain old telephone service"—havefailed. Even though Europe, the United States and Canada liberalizedat different times and with somewhat different policies, excessiveentry occurred in each region with too many players chasingan illusive pot of revenue with poorly designed business plans.On the other hand, the use of unbundled or shared local loopsfor entry into broadband services may be more of a winning strategybecause it allows the entrant to compete for customers by offeringnew services. This appears to be the emerging broadband strategyin Europe of large ISPs owned by incumbent telecommunicationcompanies in other countries (for example, France Telecom'sWanadoo) and in Japan. However, such entry has not worked inthe United States, where new companies, such as Covad, havefailed to develop profitable operations.     

Central American maras: from youth street gangs to transnational protection rackets

Most of the empirical research on Central American street gangs, called maras, has been published only in Spanish. Reviewing that literature, the American scholarship on gangs, and my own research on Central American gangs from the mid-1990s, this article depicts the processes through which the maras (Mara Salvatrucha and the Eighteenth Street Gang) evolved from youth street gangs in the late 1980s to protection rackets with features of transnational organisations. Intense migratory flows between El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the United States, and the hard-line suppression policies against youth gangs in institutionally weak Central American countries created the conditions that prompted networking and organisation among Central American street gangs. This article highlights the changes in the dynamics of violence and the transformations in the gangs' social spaces to illustrate the evolution of the maras.     

The Jurisprudence of Precision: Contrast Space and Narrow Tailoring in First Amendment Doctrine

The United States Supreme Court often requires that laws regulating free speech be narrowly tailored. The narrow tailoring requirement lacks analytical rigor in the Court's opinions, however. This article analyzes narrow tailoring in the context of Alan Garfinkel's model of "contrast space," which facilitates an examination of the precise range of alternatives the Court considers in its decisions. The article offers suggestions for improving narrow tailoring jurisprudence with a more precise account of the process.     

15 years later: Post 9/11 support for increased security and criminalizing muslims

Islamophobia appears to be growing, becoming a mainstream ideology in the United States. Despite the current spike in anti-Islamic sentiment and fear of the Islamic “other,” these ideas are not new and can be traced back to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Using survey data collected only months after the attacks (N = 422), this study uses an integrated threat framework to examine predictors of public support for increased security in the United States. The results show that perceived personal threat and support for policies that criminalize Muslims predict support for security policies that compromise civil liberties. This is especially true among older individuals, conservatives, individuals less inclined towards individual freedom, and those living in the Northeast or in the South.     

Crime Trends in Europe from 1990 to 1996: How Europe Illustrates the Limits of the American Experience

In the Council of Europe's European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics, crime and other relevant data are assembled for 36 European countries and the years 1990 to 1996. The data show that crime trends differed from those in the United States. Particularly drug and violent offences continued to increase until the end of the period under consideration (1996). Most of the theoretical explanations of crime trends currently in vogue in the United States seem of little help in understanding current European trends. Generally the most valid approaches seem to be routine-activities and situational explanations.