China Internet going wild: Cyber-hunting versus privacy protection

The Internet is notoriously known to be the “human flesh search engine” in China when it is used against private individuals for the purpose of social shaming, monitoring and revenge. In such case of cyber witch hunting, personal information of the targeted individuals is often ruthlessly exposed and their lives are mercilessly disrupted. In the face of the growing resort to the human flesh search engine, the Beijing Court delivered the first ruling condemning this practice and affirming privacy rights for Chinese citizens at the end of 2008. This article discusses the trend of cyber-manhunt in China, with specific focus on the judgment of the Beijing Court. It points out the inadequacy in the ruling and argues that legislative enactment to protect personal information at the national level is essential in China.     

Regulating webcasting: An analysis of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the current broadcasting law in the UK

Webcasting is an emerging industry, which steadily gains significance as technology enables efficient delivery of video content via Internet. The regulation of webcasting is a topic worthy of debate: Regulating webcasting heavy-handedly may result in stifled innovation whereas not imposing any regulation carries the danger of an un-level playing field between webcasters and stringently regulated broadcasters. In the wake of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive's adoption, the debate has inevitably come to the attention of national regulators of EU Member States, and will remain on OFCOM's agenda until the Directive's implementation into UK law is completed. This article provides an analysis of both the AVMS Directive and the current UK broadcasting law as regards to its applicability to Internet-based services in order to identify UK's current standing prior to implementation; discusses the role of alternatives to state regulation (self- and co-regulation) in the implementation process and finally addresses the DCMS Public Consultation on the Implementation of AVMS Directive revealing the government's plan for the implementation.     

Asia-Pacific news

This column provides a country by country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications' industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or developments.     

Internet of things – Need for a new legal environment?

The Internet of Things as an emerging global, Internet-based information service architecture facilitating the exchange of goods in global supply chain networks is developing on the technical basis of the present Domain Name System; drivers are private actors. Learning from the experiences with the “traditional” Internet governance it is important to tackle the relevant issues of a regulatory framework from the beginning; in particular, the implementation of an independently managed decentralized multiple-root system and the establishment of basic governance principles (such as transparency and accountability, legitimacy of institutional bodies, inclusion of civil society) are to be envisaged.     

Online protection of the child within Europe

This article discusses the online protection available to children and young people within Europe. Children and young people are significant users of information technology and they must be able and comfortable to safely use this technology. The European Union and the Council of Europe have been at the vanguard of attempts to regulate the information society in order to protect young netizens.     

网络文化对高校青年学生价值观的影响及对策

网络的发展对人们的工作、生活以及价值观念产生了重大影响,由网络衍生出来的网络文化,在体现社会进步的同时,也给我国高校青年学生价值观教育也带来了严重的冲击。应加强高校网络德育工程建设,完善校园网建设,加强高校德育队伍建设,以利于青年学生价值观的形成和发展。     

网吧管理与未成年人犯罪的实证分析

透过未成年人与网络互动关系的分析,可以发现未成年人犯罪与网吧管理之间存在多项内在关联。网吧建设中的制度性缺陷与管理手段的松散致使网吧成为未成年人犯罪的主要犯罪场所,为了保护未成年人合法权益且减少未成年人犯罪的发生,综合性地加强网吧管理是必然选择。     

论网络环境下的商标使用行为

互联网的勃兴在商标领域引发了一系列新问题,《商标法》必须进行相应的变革。网上商标使用行为对商标权的取得和维持具有重要意义;准确界定网络环境下的商标使用行为是解决一系列网络商标争议的前提。是否产生"商业影响"应当是界定网上商标使用行为的关键。     

论网络商业方法的可专利性

随着Internet的发展 ,电子商务成为人们关注的焦点 ,而与网络有关的商业方法专利 ,也成为热门话题。然而 ,尽管商业方法已成为美国法律的法定保护客体 ,对于这种新兴专利合法性的讨论 ,仍是方兴未艾。     

互联网使用、社会资本与家庭捐赠行为——来自CFPS的经验证据

慈善捐赠是慈善事业高质量发展的基石,影响着第三次分配作用发挥。基于2014年、2016年和2018年三期CFPS调查数据,考察了互联网使用对家庭捐赠行为的影响效果及作用机制。当前互联网使用显著提高了家庭向亲属捐赠、其他人捐赠、社会捐赠的数额,同时互联网使用对上述三类捐赠的作用效果不同,具体而言对亲属捐赠的影响最大,对社会捐赠的影响次之,对其他人捐赠的影响相对较小。互联网使用通过丰富结构型社会资本和关系型社会资本提高家庭三类捐赠规模,并通过丰富认知型社会资本积累促进家庭向亲属捐赠。研究不仅深化了对“互联网+慈善”的理解,而且对促进公众参与慈善具有一定参考价值。