Fair use and copyright protection: a price theory explanation

Copyright scholars suggest that computer technology has reduced transaction costs associated with copyright transfer, allegedly eliminating the need for the fair-use doctrines that were developed to allow limited use of copyrighted material in situations where the transaction costs of securing authorized use would be prohibitive. According to this emerging view, in an ideal world with no contracting costs, third party use of copyrighted material could realistically only take place with the express consent of the copyright holder. This would give the author absolute power to dispose of his work, including the right to veto uses, without the possibility of a fair use “override” of any sort.This paper shows the limits of such transaction cost-based arguments. If transaction costs provide the dominant economic justification of “fair-use” doctrines, an exogenous reduction of such transaction costs would limit the scope and application of the defense of fair use. Nevertheless, in this paper we suggest that, when viewed in light of the anticommons theory, fair-use doctrines retain a valid efficiency justification even in a zero transaction-cost environment. Fair-use defenses are justifiable, and in fact instrumental, in minimizing the welfare losses prompted by the strategic behavior of the copyright holders. Even if copyright licenses can be transferred at no cost (for instance, in a “click and pay” frictionless computer world), the strategic behavior of the copyright holders would still create possible deadweight losses.In this context, we identify a number of critical variables that should guide and constrain the application of fair-use doctrines. These variables include (a) the number of copyright holders; (b) the degree of complementarity between the copyrighted inputs; (c) the degree of independence between the various copyright holders in the pricing of their licenses; and (d) ability to price discriminate.     

猪卵丘细胞和胎儿成纤维细胞的分离培养及传代

对猪卵丘细胞和胎儿成纤维细胞的分离、培养和传代进行了系统研究。结果显示,猪的卵丘细胞生长形成单层需要5~6 d;运用组织块法和酶消化法获得胎儿成纤维细胞单层的生长时间分别为10~11 d和8~9 d。猪的卵丘细胞和胎儿成纤维细胞均可以建立并获得稳定的细胞系,这些方法的应用可为猪体细胞核移植研究提供丰富的供体细胞。     

关于我国引进外资质量问题的思考

引进外资的实质，就是让出国内部分市场、资源去换取国际资本的一部分资金和技术。我国在引进外资时一定要注意其负面效应。本借鉴发展中国家和发达国家引进外国资本的经验、教训，结合我国的实际，提出了我国今后利用外资的若干对策建议。     

经济全球化背景下的文化问题——兼驳"文化全球化"论

关于“文化全球化”的争论关系到我们能否正确地制定自己的文化发展战略。“文化全球化”论者对全球化的本质、文化的本质、文化和商品经济的关系等问题的一些观点,均有可质疑之处,需要进一步展开讨论。     

The Legal Response of the League of Nations to Terrorism

Terrorism was first confronted as a discrete subject matterof international law by the international community in the mid-1930s,following the assassination of a Yugoslavian king and a Frenchforeign minister by ethnic separatists. The League's attemptto generically define terrorism in an international treaty prefiguredmany of the legal, political, ideological and rhetorical disputeswhich plagued the international community's attempts to defineterrorism in the 50 years after the Second World War. Althoughthe treaty never entered into force following the dissolutionof the League itself, the League's core definition has beenhighly resilient and has influenced subsequent legal effortsto define terrorism. While the League's 1937 Convention forthe Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism is often referredto obliquely in international legal discussions of terrorism,the drafting of the Convention has seldom been intensively analysed.By closely examining its drafting, this article elucidates howthe drafters of the Convention agreed on a definition of terrorism,and why they rejected alternative definitions. In doing so,it hopes to refresh and enliven current international debatesabout definition in the wake of the United Nation's 60th anniversaryyear, which saw renewed emphasis placed on the quest for definition.     

以邓小平理论为指导 加强市场经济条件下的民警思想政治建设

在市场经济条件下如何以邓小平理论为指导,加强公安民警思想政治建设,构筑公安民警廉政为公、勤政为民的精神支柱,已成为和平时期确保政治稳定、维护社会安定最为紧迫的问题。文章从社会主义市场经济条件下加强公安民警思想政治建设的重要性和紧迫性;当前存在的影响公安民警思想政治工作的难点和问题;从社会到个人、从领导到基层、从机制到素质、从热心为民到从优待警等三个方面阐述了如何运用邓小平理论加强公安民警的思想政治建设。     

Net neutrality: A user's guide

Net neutrality is a complex issue that has generated intense levels of political discussion in the United States, but which has yet to attract significant attention from regulators in the UK. Nevertheless, the question of whether network operators should be prevented from blocking or prioritising certain network traffic or traffic from particular sources is a significant one for a wide range of stakeholders in the digital networked economy. Network operators contend that the build costs for the next generation of networks are so high that they must be permitted to monetise their control over this infrastructure as efficiently as possible. Meanwhile, an eclectic mix of interests including content and service providers, free speech and special interest groups and entertainers, argue that net neutrality regulation is necessary to guarantee that the Internet's core values and social utility are preserved. This article offers an introduction to net neutrality from a UK perspective. The authors explain the technical, commercial, political and legal considerations that underpin the issue and suggest that, whilst net neutrality regulation in its strongest incarnation is not practical or desirable, a level of regulatory action designed to enhance the choices of end users is the best way forward.