Patterns of Local Policy Disruption: Regulatory Responses to Uber in Ten North American Cities

Since its inception in 2009, Uber has grown into a technology behemoth, with operations in over 70 countries and 500 cities around the world. Along the way, it has successfully forced regulatory upheaval in hundreds of local taxi markets controlled by municipal authorities. In this sense, Uber is not only a market disruptor, but also a policy disruptor. This paper examines the nature of such policy disruption at the local level by reviewing regulatory responses to Uber in ten North American cities. We find that regulatory outcomes are a function of two factors: Uber’s government relations strategy, either cooperative or confrontational, and the degree to which local governments perceive Uber as complementary or harmful to the existing marketplace. We conclude by proposing a typology of regulatory responses to Uber as a basis to identify patterns in the behavior of municipal regulatory authorities and political leaders.     

The Future of Consumer Web Data: A European/US Perspective

The article considers the subject of clickstream data from aEuropean/US perspective, taking into account the Data ProtectionFramework (Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC; Directive onPrivacy and Electronic Communications 2002/58/EC) and the USlegal framework and in particular, the Wiretap Act U.S.C. 2701(2004) and related statutes. It examines the extent to whichclickstream data is considered "personal data" within the DataProtection Directive and the implications to consumers and businesses.     

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。     

以BOT投资方式促进西部基础设施建设

作为一种特殊的直接投资方式 ,BOT对我国西部地区引进外资并加快当地的基础设施建设具有重要意义 ,为在西部地区充分利用BOT方式 ,有必要克服观念、体制及法律方面的不利因素。     

加入WTO后中小企业核心竞争力的培育

加入WTO后，国外的商品可以长驱直入我国的消费市场，这使一些发展水平低的产业（尤其是中小企业）将受到较大的冲击。同时，国内市场的竞争将更加激烈。近几年来，我国的中小企业之所以能较快发展，很大程度还是得益于关税壁垒的调节和政府的宏观调控能力。而入世后，关税降低     

关于哈尔滨旅游产业发展的对策思考

哈尔滨市旅游产业的发展既有优势，又有劣势，存在难得的发展机遇，又面临严峻的挑战。总的来说，优势大于劣势，机会大于威胁，困难与希望同在。应扬长避短，把优势化为胜势，将哈尔滨建设成为旅游强市。     

Determination of an effective housekeeping gene for the quantification of mRNA for forensic applications

The potential application of mRNA for the identification of biological fluids using molecular techniques has been a recent development in forensic serology. Constitutively expressed housekeeping genes can assess the amount of mRNA recovered from a sample, establish its suitability for downstream applications, and provide a reference point to corroborate the identity of the fluid. qPCR was utilized to compare the expression levels of housekeeping genes from forensic-like body fluid stains to establish the most appropriate assessment of human mRNA quantity prior to profiling. Although variability was observed between fluids and individuals, results indicated that beta-2 microglobulin exhibited the highest expression for all body fluids examined and across donors. A one-way analysis of variance was performed for housekeeping gene variability between donors (at the α, 0.05, significance level), and the results indicated significant differences for semen, vaginal secretions, and menstrual blood.     

Allocative or Distributive Aims of Income Taxation?

Relations of income tax legislation and economic development are traditional subjects of German public finance. Reginald Hansen's book (1996) on practical consequences of the “Methodenstreit” for income taxation is considered under three aspects: history of economic thought, tax-systems and aims of income taxation. The introduction is followed by four paragraphs: 1. Long-term views of income taxation, 2. Reginald Hansen's comments on income taxation in Germany, 3. From Schmoller and Wagner to the modern German type of income taxation, 4. “Ability to pay,” “Pay as you use” or what else? The article demonstrates progressive and restrictive results of the long-term view focusing on the evaluation of income taxation principles.     

A CONSUMER-WELFARE APPROACH TO NETWORK NEUTRALITY REGULATION OF THE INTERNET

"Network neutrality" is the shorthand for a proposed regimeof economic regulation for the Internet. Because of the trendto deliver traditional telecommunications services, as wellas new forms of content and applications, by Internet protocol(IP), a regime of network neutrality regulation would displaceor subordinate a substantial portion of existing telecommunicationsregulation. If the United States adopts network neutrality regulation,other industrialized nations probably will soon follow. As aresult of their investment to create next-generation broadbandnetworks, network operators have the ability to innovate insidethe network by offering both senders and receivers of informationgreater bandwidth and prioritization of delivery. Network neutralityregulation would, among other things, prevent providers of broadbandInternet access service (such as digital subscriber line (DSL)or cable modem service) from offering a guaranteed, expediteddelivery speed in return for the payment of a fee. The practicaleffect of banning such differential pricing (called "accesstiering" by its critics) would be to prevent the pricing ofaccess to content or applications providers according to priorityof delivery. To the extent that an advertiser of a good or servicewould be willing to contract with a network operator for advertisingspace on the network operator's affiliated content, anotherpractical effect of network neutrality regulation would be toerect a barrier to vertical integration of network operatorsinto advertising-based business models that could supplementor replace revenues earned from their existing usage-based businessmodels. Moreover, by making end-users pay for the full costof broadband access, network neutrality regulation would denybroadband access to the large number of consumers who wouldnot be able to afford, or who would not have a willingness topay for, what would otherwise be less expensive access. Forexample, Google is planning to offer broadband access to end-usersfor free in San Francisco by charging other content providersfor advertising. This product offering is evidently predicatedon the belief that many end-users demand discounted or freebroadband access that is paid for by parties other than themselves.Proponents of network neutrality regulation argue that suchrestrictions on the pricing policies of network operators arenecessary to preserve innovation on the edges of the network,as opposed to innovation within the network. However, recognizingthat network congestion and real-time applications demand somedifferential pricing according to bandwidth or priority, proponentsof network neutrality regulation would allow broadband Internetaccess providers to charge higher prices to end-users (but notcontent or applications providers) who consume more bandwidthor who seek priority delivery of certain traffic. Thus, thedebate over network neutrality is essentially a debate overhow best to finance the construction and maintenance of a broadbandnetwork in a two-sided market in which senders and receivershave additive demand for the delivery of a given piece of information—andhence additive willingness to pay. Well-established tools ofRamsey pricing from regulatory economics can shed light on whethernetwork congestion and recovery of sunk investment in infrastructureare best addressed by charging providers of content and applications,broadband users, or both for expedited delivery. Apart fromthis pricing problem, an analytically simpler component of proposednetwork neutrality regulation would prohibit a network operatorfrom denying its users access to certain websites and Internetapplications, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Althoughsome instances of blocking of VoIP have been reported, suchconduct is not a serious risk to competition. To address thisconcern, I analyze whether market forces (that is, competitionamong access providers) and existing regulatory structures aresufficient to protect broadband users. I conclude that economicwelfare would be maximized by allowing access providers to differentiateservices vis-à-vis providers of content and applicationsin value-enhancing ways and by relying on existing legal regimesto protect consumers against the exercise of market power, shouldit exist.     

Mothers on Trial: Discourses of Cot Death and Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy

This article explores some of the issues raised by Munchausens Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) and the relationship between medicine and law, specifically the discourses which feature in the courtroom portraying motherhood and expectations of parenting. These discourses are often hidden yet play a determining role in prosecutions for alleged maltreatment of children involving medically unexplained infant death syndrome. We offer a critique of MSbP and seek to unveil the assumptions about mothers, the parent predominantly affected by the diagnosis, and mothering that underlie the association of women accused of deliberating harming their children. We suggest such insights are valuable because although the syndrome has never acquired a clear medical or legal definition, it has had repeated appearances in the literature and courtroom over the last 25 years and has more recently attracted attention from government, health care practitioners, academics and the media. We explore these issues through an examination of two recent Court of Appeal decisions in England: those of Sally Clark and Angela Cannings.