New directions in information technology law: learning from human–computer interaction

ABSTRACT

Effectively regulating the domestic Internet of Things (IoT) requires a turn to technology design. However, the role of designers as regulators still needs to be situated. By drawing on a specific domain of technology design, human–computer interaction (HCI), we unpack what an HCI-led approach can offer IT law. By reframing the three prominent design concepts of provenance, affordances and trajectories, we offer new perspectives on the regulatory challenges of the domestic IoT. Our HCI concepts orientate us towards the social context of technology. We argue that novel regulatory strategies can emerge through a better understanding of the relationships and interactions between designers, end users and technology. Accordingly, closer future alignment of IT law and HCI approaches is necessary for effective regulation of emerging technologies.     

Wasting or saving time? How government and opposition parties use time during legislative debates. Evidence from the Italian case

The use of plenary time during legislative debates has consequences for the enhancement of party goals. Hence, parties have different preferences on how legislative time should be managed: while some parties would like time not to be ‘wasted’ on the floor, other parties may instead try to ‘consume’ as much time as possible. Speeches delivered in the plenary signal these preferences. Focusing on plenary debates on legislation, this paper proposes a theory for explaining party speech-making behaviour that takes into consideration parties’ preferences on the use of time and their incentives related to the divide between government and opposition. The theoretical argument also emphasises the role of issue salience and party cohesion, which interact with the incentives faced by government and opposition parties. Hypotheses are tested against data from over 21,000 speeches delivered in the Italian parliament. Results highlight the importance of considering the different incentives faced by government and opposition parties when analysing speech making in parliamentary settings, and suggest some interesting avenues for future enquiry.     

Role of family factors in adolescent delinquency in an Elazig/Turkey reformatory

Family is one of the most important factors in the social and psychological progress of an adolescent. Social behavior disorders in childhood have been reported to be caused by many factors that may lead children to commit a crime. Our study included a total of 106 convicted adolescents from Eastern Turkey in a reformatory and 126 unconvicted adolescents with a similar socio-economic status. A survey form was completed during a face-to-face interview and a review of official records was undertaken. The role of family disruption, education levels of parents, the rate of imprisonment among first- and second-degree relatives, migration as a family from their place of birth, and the number of delinquent children in the family were evaluated. There was a significant difference between the conditions in the families of convicted and unconvicted adolescents. Family factors play an important role in the development of adolescent delinquency. To prevent or decrease this rate of childhood or adolescent delinquency, there needs to be an improvement in the socio-cultural conditions of families.     

知识产权基本法之构建

知识产权基本法的制定意义重大.知识产权基本法,是指统一调整和规范知识财产的支配关系的法律规范.知识产权基本法为形式意义上的知识产权法,是各知识产权单行法的母法,性质为私法.我国知识产权基本法的立法应采取三步走的步骤:第一步是制定知识产权基本法,第二步是在民法典中制定知识产权法编,第三步是制定知识产权法典.     

The Victim–Offender Overlap Behind Bars: Linking Prison Misconduct and Victimization

Despite a growing body of research on the victim–offender overlap, limited scholarship has examined this phenomenon in the context of the prison. This paper advances theory and scholarship on the victim–offender overlap and prison social order by examining linkages between prison misconduct and victimization. Examination of the overlap in the prison context extends the generality of the model and provides greater insight into the implications of the prison experience on behavior. This paper uses nationally representative data from the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities and bi-probit analyses to estimate whether the overlap exists within the prison setting and whether victimization and misconduct can be explained using the same theoretical framework. Findings suggest that common and unique risk factors exist for victimization and misconduct. Results have implications for theory, research, and policy related to understanding the relationship between victims and offenders and deviance in the prison setting.     

Green Light for PPP on German Motorways?

While public–private partnerships (PPPs) have surged worldwide since the 1990s, they have been met with growing skepticism during the last years. A recent revision of Germany’s constitutional rules on motorway construction and observations on the use of PPPs published by both the German and the European Courts of Auditors illustrate this new caution. These two examples fit into a general trend towards a revival of the public sector, which can be summarized under the cross-level umbrella term “publicization.” It would, however, be remiss to replace the uncritical euphoria that once surrounded privatization with a similarly undifferentiated euphoria regarding publicization. Rather, it is crucial to identify the most appropriate solution for the fulfilment of each public task from the “toolbox” of publicization on the one hand and privatization on the other hand in order to ensure the most effective completion of public functions.     

Extraction and isolation of cannabinoids from marijuana seizures and characterization by 1H NMR allied to chemometric tools

Marijuana, a drug derived from the Cannabis sativa L. plant, is the world's most consumed illicit drug. In this paper, a total of 156 marijuana samples seized in the state of Espírito Santo (ES), Brazil were studied and analysed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy to identify the major cannabinoids present. A crude extract of all samples was purified using high performance liquid chromatography so that these compounds could serve as reference substances. Nine fractions were obtained and analysed by ¹H NMR and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), with five presented cannabinoids. ?⁹-THC (Δ⁹-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol), ?⁹-THCA (?⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid), ?⁸-THC (?⁸-tetrahydrocannabinol), 11-hydroxycannabinol, CBV (cannabivarin), and CBN (cannabinol) were found, and their chemical structures were confirmed by GC–MS. The latter compound was obtained with high purity (≈100%), while the others were obtained as less complex mixtures with purity higher than 75% (except for Δ⁸-THC). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used on the ¹H NMR spectra of the 156 samples, and it was found that the samples were grouped according to the months, differentiating into two groups (from July 2014 to January 2015 and from February 2015 to July 2015), where non-grouping was observed from four macro-regions of the ES state (North, Central, Metropolitan, and South). The chemical profile of the seized samples was correlated to the ¹H NMR spectrum of an isolated CBN sub-fraction, in which the group formed by samples seized in the year 2015 presented lower CBN content in the chemical composition. From the PCA score plot, two groups of samples were confirmed using the partial least squares discriminant analysis and orthogonal projections to latent structures classification methods.     

论人工生殖子女父母身份之认定

传统民法中父母子女关系的建立,血缘与怀胎是母亲同时具备的要素,法律上兼以二者作为认定母子关系的指标。随着医学科技的发达,人工生殖技术使得血缘与怀胎间的相连性不再理所当然,不孕夫妻可以借用他人的精卵通过体内或体外受精,使妻孕育分娩子女,甚至可以将不孕夫妻的受精卵植入他人的子宫怀胎分娩,使得人类的繁衍可以在血缘之外的母体进行。生殖科技对现行法律制度提出了诸多挑战,人工生殖子女之父母身份的认定问题尤为突出。为避免因采用特殊规则形成人工生殖子女为特殊子女的不当认识,立法上应力求采用与自然生殖同样的父母认定标准确定人工授精子女的亲子关系,即依据出生事实确定谁是母亲,根据婚生推定及否认制度确定谁是父亲,丈夫的术前同意限制其对子女的婚生否认权的行使;立足于有限性开放代理孕母的观点,确定代孕子女的父母身份时,法律应突破传统的分娩者为母亲的观念,通过特殊立法规定遗传父母为代孕子女之法律父母。     

The role of institutional and governance factors in public–private partnerships infrastructure investments in emerging economies

The overall development and sustained growth of any economy depend heavily on its infrastructure provisioning. Emerging economies are usually characterised by constrained public investments in infrastructure. Budgetary constraints of the governments are one of the major hurdles to these investments. Due to these reasons that governments of emerging economies continuously seek collaborations with the private sector for additional sources of funding infrastructure. Economies with solid institutional and governance frameworks are known to provide a conducive environment for enhanced private sector attraction in the sector. However, emerging economies face greater institutional and governance issues than developed economies, and they sometimes fall short of luring private investments in the infrastructure sector. The objective of this study is to empirically evaluate the role of institutional and governance aspects in private sector attraction in emerging economies. This study provides empirical evidence with a sample of 114 emerging economies over a period of 20 years. Various econometric estimates were developed to explore the interplay between public-private partnership investments and governance factors. The results of the study provide an evidence of a positive association between these factors and private investments in public-private partnership arrangements.     

跨国公司的债务责任承担探析

随着跨国公司在国外设立子公司数量的增多,母公司为实现全球性战略目标而牺牲子公司利益进而损害东道国利益的行为成为了一个经常性的可能与事实。在这种情况发生的时候,若仅根据有限责任原则让子公司独立承担责任显然有违法律和社会的公平与正义。在母公司对子公司的经营管理进行了过度的控制而导致债务发生的时候,让跨国公司的母公司为子公司的债务承担责任具有充分的理由和现实意义。