The legal implications of viruses

By now most readers will have heard something of the damage that can be caused by computer viruses. These programs are created by mischievous individuals for the sole purpose of disrupting a computer system or any software with which it comes into contact. Any victim of one of these attacks is going to concentrate initially on getting his system up and running again and his business back to normal. Subsequently he may want to consider his legal position and more importantly what redress might be available against the perpetrator if he can be found. His difficulties are only just beginning since the law will not provide immediate answers. There may be no problem on the criminal side as there is a good chance that the producer of the virus will be liable for criminal damage under the Criminal Damage Act 1971. Much more difficult to determine is the question of damages for any losses sustained during the attack. Moreover, if a software retailer has sold an infected disk to a customer who subsequently uses it to his detriment, can the supplier be sued by the customer either for breach of contract, misrepresentation or under the tort of negligence. To what extent will any exclusion clauses operate to protect the supplier from such claims and if damages are in prospect for what types of loss can they be claimed. A victim of a computer virus will have major problems quantifying his loss, quite apart from the numerous legal obstacles he must overcome in the first place to reach that stage in court.Bernard Zajac now comments on some of these questions following interviews he had with a number of US legal experts on the subject. Some interesting conclusions emerge.     

The legal classification of identity-based signatures

Identity-based cryptography has attracted attention in the cryptographic research community in recent years. Despite the importance of cryptographic schemes for applications in business and law, the legal implications of identity-based cryptography have not yet been discussed. We investigate how identity-based signatures fit into the legal framework. We focus on the European Signature Directive, but also take the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures into account. In contrast to previous assumptions, identity-based signature schemes can, in principle, be used even for qualified electronic signatures, which can replace handwritten signatures in the member states of the European Union. We derive requirements to be taken into account in the development of future identity-based signature schemes.     

The evolution of European legal integration

This article contributes to the development of theories on European integration by testing and exploring statistical models on the long-term development of legislative activity of the European Commission. Drawing on legal information gained from the European Union’s PreLex database and analyzing it with the help of statistical analyses, we map out growth patterns of EU law between 1976 and 2003. We construct time-series models and models based on non-linear regression. While the performance of models based on the traditional theoretical approaches, intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism, is rather poor, the analysis suggests that nonlinear dynamic models might be an interesting avenue for future conceptualizations of the EU integration process. This article is based on a paper presented at the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Second Pan-European Conference on EU Politics, “Implications of a Wider Europe: Politics, Institutions and Diversity”, 24–26 June 2004, Bologna, Italy. We would like to thank the seminar participants for useful comments.     

对当前医疗机构民事法律地位的困惑

从以往及新近出台的有关医疗、卫生的法律、法规中可以看出 ,它们都直接或间接地对医患关系予以了确定 ,为目前处理医疗事故争议的法律适用及争议解决的法律途径构筑了基本框架 ,即医患关系是民事法律关系 (本文医患关系的“医”均指医疗机构 )。然而 ,笔者在结合当前医疗机构的现状分析其法律地位时 ,产生了许多不解和困惑 ,即理论与现实的矛盾。笔者试从以下与医疗机构法律地位相关的几个方面作一探讨 ,以求教于学界同仁。一、医疗机构的分类与法人的民事行为我国卫生行政部门将医疗机构分为营利性与非营利性两大类。从管理角度出发 ,笔者…     

消费者概念的法律思考

消费者是社会最终产品和服务的接受者,是购买、使用、持有、处分、接受商品和服务的人,是具有最终消费行为的主体。判断消费者的依据是最终消费行为,不应考虑行为者的目的、动机:是否以盈利为目的;是否为满足“生活需要”。在单位以最终消费主体而非以经营者身份与其他经营者形成的生活消费关系中,单位是消费者。     

权力市场化的法理辨析

权钱交易产生的行贿受贿、贪污腐化已成为社会公害,严重影响了社会主义市场经济建设。本文主要从理论和实践两个方面,分析权力市场化的法律性质以及对社会发展的影响,指出通过完善市场体系,实现社会主义民主宪政和法制,根除权力市场化,保证社会主义市场经济建设健康有序地发展。     

The legal effect of EU Regulations

The EU institutions are increasingly addressing harmonisation by means of regulation rather than the traditional use of directives. This is particularly impacting areas such as data protection, financial services regulation and European standardisation in Information and Communications Technology. More broadly, using directly applicable regulations which may have horizontal and vertical direct effect rather than directives has important administrative and constitutional implications for their application in national law and impacts on Member States' discretion to implement supplementary legislation which falls within the remit of the regulation in question. This is of particular concern where governments implement policies which might be in contravention of these rules. This may be the case in relation to the UK government's public procurement policy which mandates royalty free standards rather than royalty bearing standards with the option for the licence holder to licence royalty free.