THE POTENTIAL DEMISE OF ANOTHER NATURAL MONOPOLY: RETHINKING THE COLLECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF PERFORMING RIGHTS

In most countries the right to publicly perform music is notadministered individually by the copyright holders but rathercollectively by performing rights organizations (PROs). Thecommon explanation behind the proliferation of collective administrationis that some aspects of copyright administrations are naturalmonopolies. It is often argued that individual administrationis impracticable or at least non-economical. Collective administrationis therefore promoted as the most efficient method for licensing,monitoring and enforcing those rights. In addition, becausethe market is a natural monopoly, regulation, rather than anattempt to foster competition, is thought to be the optimalregulatory response. This is the first in a series of two articlesthat critically analyzes this natural monopoly argument. Inthis article I argue that the case for PROs is not as straightforwardas it is assumed to be. I show that many of the underlying costefficiencies that are attributed to PROs are usually simplyassumed and, in many cases, could be equally achieved underless restrictive arrangements.     

Evaluation of cast methods for estimating age from the os pubis.

Age-related changes of the pubic symphysis have gained wide acceptance among physical anthropologists as one basis for estimating adult skeletal age. However, these methods have not been tested by independent observers on large samples with known ages at death that represent contemporary populations. In this study 202 female and 116 male pairs of pubes collected at autopsy were blindly evaluated for age using the McKern-Stewart or Gilbert-McKern and Suchey-Brooks methods. Performance of the methods was measured by mean absolute deviation of true age from scored interval means and frequencies of true age falling within +/- 1 and +/- 2 standard deviations from the mean. The results suggest that the Suchey-Brooks methods are superior in forensic applications and that the racially specific refinement for males should be used. Age estimates should include +/- 2 standard deviations, and chances of error should be considered, especially when advanced age or debilitation is suspected.     

A Longitudinal Family-Level Model of Arab Muslim Adolescent Behavior Problems

Arab-American Muslim adolescents in immigrant families face a number of challenges that put them at risk for behavior problems. This study of Arab-American Muslim Adolescents and their relatively recent immigrant mothers tested a longitudinal family-level model of adolescent behavior problems. Mother-adolescent dyads (N = 530) completed measures of maternal and adolescent stressors, active and avoidance coping, and social support; maternal distress; quality of mother–child relationship; and adolescent behavior problems at Time 1 and approximately 18 months later. The youth were between the ages of 11 and 15 years at Time 1 and 48.7% were girls. Longitudinal analyses were conducted using latent change modeling with change scores from Time 1 and Time 2 data. Social support facilitated active coping for both mothers and adolescents. Although maternal avoidance coping mediated maternal stressors and its effect on maternal distress, maternal stressors and maternal distress were not related to adolescent behavior problems. The only factor mitigating the effects of adolescent stressors on adolescent behavior problems was the quality of the mother–child relationship. These findings suggest that adolescents are insulated from maternal stress and distress as long as there is a good mother–child relationship.