Property and the cloud

Data is a modern form of wealth in the digital world, and massive amounts of data circulate in cloud environments. While this enormously facilitates the sharing of information, both for personal and professional purposes, it also introduces some critical problems concerning the ownership of the information. Data is an intangible good that is stored in large data warehouses, where the hardware architectures and software programs running the cloud services coexist with the data of many users. This context calls for a twofold protection: on one side, the cloud is made up of hardware and software that constitute the business assets of the service provider (property of the cloud); on the other side, there is a definite need to ensure that users retain control over their data (property in the cloud). The law grants protection to both sides under several perspectives, but the result is a complex mix of interwoven regimes, further complicated by the intrinsically international nature of cloud computing that clashes with the typical diversity of national laws. As the business model based on cloud computing grows, public bodies, and in particular the European Union, are striving to find solutions to properly regulate the future economy, either by introducing new laws, or by finding the best ways to apply existing principles.     

Toxicological Analysis of Opiates from Alternative Matrices Collected from an Exhumed Body

In this case study, the body of a 45‐year‐old man was exhumed after 1 year at the request of the public prosecutor to assess whether the death was caused by drug consumption. Toxicological analyses were performed on several matrices, including liver, kidney, and the alternative matrices hair and teeth. The systematic toxicological analysis (STA), which consisted of basic and acid liquid/liquid extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis, showed the presence of opiates in each of the matrices analyzed. Subsequently, to confirm and quantify the presence of opioids, samples of each of the matrices were subjected to solid‐phase extraction and specific GC‐MS analysis. The case presented demonstrates the possibility of drug detection in an exhumed body that has been buried for 1 year, despite the problems of quantitative interpretation of the data, and that toxicological results could be useful along with other forensic evidence.     

‘Full’ Compensation Criteria: An Enquiry into Relative Merits

The principle of full compensation is said to restore the victim of an accident to the position he was in before the tort. The conventional pre-tort position of the victim is taken to be the one in which he bears no accident losses at all. Therefore, a negligent injurer is required to compensate his victim fully. In an interesting paper in this journal, Van Wijck and Winters (2001) have reinterpreted the pre-tort position of the victim, and proposed an alternative specification of liability for the purpose of compensation. We study the relative merits of the two compensation criteria. We show that while the alternative compensation criterion is indeed insightful from economic as well as legal point of view, at the same time it suffers from some serious limitations.     

Sixth Graders’ Conflict Resolution in Role Plays with a Peer,Parent, and Teacher

This study used conflict resolution role play vignettes and self-report surveys of 450 New York City 6th graders to examine associations between adolescents’ conflict resolution efficacy and social skills. Vignettes covered 3 social contexts, conflict with a peer (disagreement over activities), with a parent (raise in allowance), and with a teacher (low grade on report). Effective and ineffective strategies for resolving these conflicts were coded from the videotaped interactions. Adolescents were more often effective in resolving conflict with peers than with parents (χ²(1) = 7.10, p < .01). Strong communication skills cut across interpersonal context as associated with effective resolution. Assertiveness and absence of aggression were associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with peers. Assertiveness was also associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with parents, however nervousness was unexpectedly found to facilitate conflict resolution in vignettes with parents. Only skills observed within a particular context were associated with effective resolution in that context; self-report skills and cross-context observed skills were not associated with efficacy. Implications for implementation and evaluation of social skills curricula and conflict resolution process are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, LA, April 2002Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2004. Research interests include adolescent social competence and youth development programs.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Research interests include the psychosocial correlates of puberty, stress reactivity, and health compromising behaviors and adjustment.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in 1975 from University of Pennsylvania in Human Learning and Development. Research focus centers around designing and evaluating interventions aimed at enhancing the wellbeing of children living in poverty and associated conditions. Conducts research on transitional periods during childhood and adolescence, focusing on school, family and biological transitions in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Specific interests are in the factors that contribute to positive and negative outcomes, and changes inwell-being over these years.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in 1977. Research interests include tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse prevention, violence prevention, AIDS risk reduction among adolescents, health promotion and disease prevention, smoking cessation.     

Trade, Harmonization, and Domestic Autonomy in Environmental Policy

This article evaluates the environmental criticisms of free trade that have been such an important part of the critique of globalization. The first section briefly surveys the range of criticisms environmentalists have brought against the new economic order. The second section examines the available literature on the race to the bottom, one of the key concerns. The third section analyzes the World Trade Organization trade rules and how they have been interpreted by dispute resolution panels involving environmental issues. The fourth section turns to the specific rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement and examines several case studies of environmental issues in that region. The final section provides a summary evaluation of the environmental criticisms. The article argues that the environmental criticisms are exaggerated. Trade agreements leave far more room for domestic environmental measures than is frequently argued. The political globalization of the environmental movement has helped counter the threat to environmental policy created by the economic and trade aspects of globalization. Environmentalists do need to be careful about how they advance this critique of globalization, however, because their arguments risk becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.     

引进国外智力的政策选择

建国以来我国引进国外智力的政策经历了从小心翼翼的单一的引智到积极对外开放灵活多途的引智的变化.面对知识经济时代的要求以及国际间日益加剧的人才竞争,必须选择恰当的引智政策,为实现我国技术跨越和社会现代化服务.     

论经济纠纷与经济犯罪交叉案件的处理原则——先刑后民原则的适用

“先刑后民”是司法实践中公安、司法机关处理经济纠纷与经济犯罪交叉案件的原则之一。目前,立法上关于经济纠纷与经济犯罪交叉案件处理标准的规定过于抽象,导致司法实践中公安、司法机关对“先刑后民”原则适用较为混乱。因此,应当从明确适用标准和健全移送机制两方面完善“先刑后民”原则在经济纠纷与经济犯罪交叉案件中的适用规则。     

“110”解决社会日常纠纷功能研究——以国家、社会和市民的多向维度为视角

“110”解决纠纷已经成为中国社会纠纷解决的一种常规机制,这一日常纠纷的解决机制具有一定的合理性,其实质和功能是为了树立和扩展国家在民众中的权威。     

契约视角下的刑事和解

刑事和解是一种以协商为特征的纠纷解决方式,旨在被害人获得损害赔偿,犯罪人获得宽恕谅解,社会秩序得到恢复。刑事和解的本质是刑事法领域中的契约关系,鉴于刑事法的内在特性,需要对刑事和解进行理性定位和科学设计。     

劳动争议案件司法精神病鉴定研究

目的探讨劳动争议案件的司法精神病鉴定的现状及发展趋势。方法回顾性分析1990～2001年156例劳动争议案件司法精神病鉴定中的被鉴定人一般资料、案由、委托方、鉴定时机、病史、鉴定结论等情况。结果44.2%的被鉴定人处于30～39岁,委托方多为法院(68.6%),大多数案件由家属和法院申请鉴定;终(中)止合同的案件占75.7%,劳动报酬的案件大幅度上升;争议起始至申请鉴定平均相距21.9个月,12个月以内的占69.2%;鉴定诊断精神分裂症82例(51.3%),无精神病16例(10.2%),结论与既往临床诊断一致的占91.2%;评定为有、限制、无行为能力的比例分别为23.7、23.1和52.6%。结论近年来劳动争议案件在数量、案由、鉴定时机等方面发生较大变化,有关民事行为能力的评定应引起司法精神病学界关注。