Baker & McKenzie's regular article tracking developments in EU law relating to IP, IT and telecommunications

This is the latest edition of Baker & McKenzie's column on developments in EU law relating to IP, IT and telecommunications. This article summarises recent developments that are considered important for practitioners, students and academics in a wide range of information technology, e-commerce, telecommunications and intellectual property areas. It cannot be exhaustive but intends to address the important points. This is a hard copy reference guide, but links to outside web sites are included where possible. No responsibility is assumed for the accuracy of information contained in these links.     

Microaggressions as Boundary Objects

What do new materialist activisms and direct theory look like? Something massively distributed yet also micro somehow in relation to persons, indeed crowd-sensible among personal storifyings, is emergent among and as microaggression and microaggressions. Literally we see, in data visualisation, this perhaps hyperobject (see the online Microaggressions Project). A mattering entanglement not simply micro or macro reframes anything personal, person-all. And the connections with movements of re-action, #Baltimore, #Ferguson, and #BlackLivesMatter, matters too along with other massive distributions: of military hardware escalating aggression in police forces, of debt peonage of whole towns, and county, regional, and national citizenry to pay to arm police, against themselves. People gathering in their person at sites of danger to confront these activating realities, as well as to enact the distributive social media and art activisms supporting them and making their actions widely available. All this at scales both intentional and not, sometimes tactical and often spontaneous, escalations fraught with danger and release, and all thoroughly neurologically entangled as mattering motivations: caring, attention, attachment, aggression. These move within and through and among bodies and infrastructural embodiments. Our holobiont/s include/s it all.     

Sport,Empire, and Diplomacy: “Ireland” at the 1930 British Empire Games

ABSTRACT

International sport, as Geoffrey Pigman has correctly observed, emerged “as a quintessential case study demonstrating the part that public diplomacy plays in contemporary diplomacy.” The British Empire Games/Commonwealth Games [BEG/CG] are one such example, being the second largest multi-national multi-sport event today. Their origins lie in the interwar era when members of sporting organisations, many of whom were active in other formal aspects of public life, considered the organisation of specific Imperial events through international networking. Described as lacking a “thoroughly analytical and interpretive account of their history,” questions of identity politics, public diplomacy and statecraft are at their core because the BEG, inaugurated in 1930, represented qualities and values that appealed to governments, civil society, and sportspeople alike. In the waning of the British Empire, the BEG was one attempt to maintain Imperial prestige and cement cultural bonds. Yet, not only is there an absence of analytical accounts of their history, but the inter-relationships between the BEG and diplomacy, and among global sport and diplomacy more broadly, have been similarly under-investigated. This absence is striking, representing a missed opportunity in understanding the development of global sport and international relations more generally.     

Institutional Paths to Policy Change: Judicial Versus Nonjudicial Repeal of Sodomy Laws

What variables lead judicial and nonjudicial decision‐making bodies to introduce policy change? In the theoretical framework proposed, the path‐dependent nature of law has a differential impact on courts and legislatures. Likewise, certain political institutions including elections and political accountability lead those bodies to introduce policy change under dissimilar circumstances. Global trends, however, affect both institutional paths equally. We test this theory with data for the repeal of sodomy laws in all countries from 1972–2002. Results from two disparate multivariate models overwhelmingly confirm our predictions. The unique institutional position of courts of last resort allows them to be less constrained than legislatures by either legal status quo or political accountability. Globalization, on the other hand, has a comparable effect on both. This work is path breaking in offering a theoretical framework explaining policy change via different institutional paths, systematically testing the framework comparatively and with respect to a policy issue still on the agenda in many countries.     

Development and Initial Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention Curriculum for Domestic Violence Hotline Workers

Despite evidence of an intersection between suicide risk and intimate partner violence (IPV), crisis hotlines tend to focus on callers at-risk for suicide or callers involved in IPV, but not both. In an effort to begin to address this gap, we developed and conducted an initial pilot test of a suicide prevention curriculum for hotline workers at the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH), highlighting the intersection of these two public health issues. A mixed methods approach was used as a first step to assess the impact of the 3-h suicide prevention training for 42 domestic violence hotline workers. Results showed significant increase in knowledge regarding suicide risk from pre to post-training and a high degree of satisfaction among attendees. Focus groups conducted with hotline workers 3 months after training indicated a greater willingness to engage callers in suicide screening and prevention efforts. A 6-month follow-up focus group with NDVH managers revealed that suicide prevention had become more integrated in the agency culture, a finding that was consistent with an environmental scan of the workplace that showed an increase in displays of suicide prevention information. In sum, suicide prevention training can be feasibly incorporated into domestic violence hotline workers’ roles. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Forensic DNA analysis on microfluidic devices: a review

The advent of microfluidic technology for genetic analysis has begun to impact forensic science. Recent advances in microfluidic separation of short-tandem-repeat (STR) fragments has provided unprecedented potential for improving speed and efficiency of DNA typing. In addition, the analytical processes associated with sample preparation--which include cell sorting, DNA extraction, DNA quantitation, and DNA amplification--can all be integrated with the STR separation in a seamless manner. The current state of these microfluidic methods as well as their advantages and potential shortcomings are detailed. Recent advances in microfluidic device technology, as they pertain to forensic DNA typing, are discussed with a focus on the forensic community.     

China and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Prospects and Challenges

This article looks at China's engagement with internationalhuman rights treaties and the extent to which this is bringingunderstanding of, and compliance with, international human rightsnorms as a background to China's possible ratification of theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).It explores, in respect of two particular articles in the ICCPR,Article 14 and Article 6(2), where China stands with its currentdomestic legislation and practice in terms of conformity andargues that there still needs to be significant legal reformin the area of fair trial issues and the use of death penaltybefore ratification is possible. Finally, it looks at the stateof civil and political rights in China and the problem of democracyand concludes that although China will unquestionably ratifythe ICCPR, change will still be gradual.