THE POTENTIAL DEMISE OF ANOTHER NATURAL MONOPOLY: NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF PERFORMING RIGHTS

This is a second in a series of two articles in which I challengethe collective administration of performing rights. In the firstarticle, published in a recent issue of this journal, I questionedthe natural monopoly paradigm that dominates the analysis ofcollective administration of performing rights. In this articleI demonstrate how, by lowering many of the transaction costswhich previously purported to justify the practice, new digitaltechnologies further undermine the justification for collectiveadministration. I also discuss whether market forces alone wouldtransform the market into a competitive one, consider possiblecontinuing roles for existing performing rights organizations,and compare the Canadian and the U.S. regulatory approachesto determine how conducive they are to such change.     

THE RULE OF LAW IN CORPORATE SOCIETY: NEUMANN,KIRCHHEIMER AND THE LESSONS OF WEIMAR

The Rule of Law : Political Theory and the Legal System in Modern Society . By Franz L. Neumann . Social Democracy and the Rule of Law . By Otto Kirchheimer and Franz Neumann . Edited by Keith Tribe. Translated by Leena Tanner and Keith Tribe.     

40 YEARS OF THE RULE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: ENHANCEMENTS,EXPERIENCE, AND EXPECTATIONS

Based on major landmark events and the rule of law development, the administrative rule-of-law construction in China, over 40 years since the initiation of the reform and opening up policy, can be divided into four stages: the “recovery” stage; the “rapid development by focusing on administrative legislation” stage; the “implementing the basic policy of law-based governance of the country and focusing on law-based administration of government” stage; and the “simultaneous advancement and integrated construction in building the rule of law in China” stage. Over the past 40 years, China’s administrative rule-of-law construction has achieved fruitful results in terms of theoretical shaping, system construction, and concept popularization. The future construction of the administrative rule of law should promptly respond to the theoretical needs put forward by state governance, administrative changes, emerging science, and technology development, and it should continue to improve the theoretical system of administrative law with Chinese characteristics; we should strengthen legislation in key areas, solve practical problems in the construction of a government under the rule of law, and promote the effect of law enforcement and system implementation. We should also focus on improving the awareness and qualities of the rule of law at all levels of leading cadres and form a good rule of law atmosphere in the entire society.