Calling on Jefferson: the ‘custodiary’ as the fourth estate in the Democratic Project

Aimed at reinforcing the democratic values of freedom of speech and increased diversity in civic access to the means of communication, this paper examines the concept of democracy within an information and communication technology-mediated context. Discussion proceeds with an analysis of orthodox views adopted by Jefferson and the architects of the American Constitution. Building on the Jeffersonian tradition, a critique is presented of present-day, non-transparent constraints on the democratic values of freedom of speech, information access and the structural constrains mitigating unfettered public access to critical information and debate on fundamental social and political issues of the day. The proposed ‘custodiary’ model for the new Democratic Project is premised on the development of a constitutional framework which encourages information diversity and freedom of access and expression as a way of bringing back ‘discourse’ into democratic praxis.     

Are courts re-inventing Internet regulation?

The article reviews the evolution and key dimensions of the jurisprudence around the world as it relates to the Internet regulation and governance. It argues that while the judicial sector played a fairly marginal role as far as on-line issues were concerned in the first two decades of the Internet development, judicial rulings have now emerged as one of the main forces shaping on-line freedom of expression and information and the Internet governance. The article reviews a number of decisions from Europe and Latin America to demonstrate that judicial ruling are challenging some of the Internet’s founding principles and values. They have become highly influential, not just as interpreters of the law (the tribunals’ traditional function) but as shapers or transformers of the Internet norms and values. This evolution has become particularly clear over the last three to five years, demonstrating the increasing confidence of judges and Tribunals in challenging engineers, users, corporations, or indeed governments and possibly establishing different norms as far as the cyberspace is concerned.     

论商誉侵权行为及其反不正当竞争法规制

近年来,商誉和商誉权法律保护问题开始引起人们的关注。司法实践中商誉损害赔偿纠纷也越来越多,对商誉提 供全面的法律保护已成为市场经济发展的必然要求。我国《反不正当竞争法》应将损害商誉不正当竞争行为准 确、科学地加以类型化,同时适度扩大对商誉的保护范围和保护力度,维护公平竞争,保护权利人的合法权益。     

强制缔约制度之探析

强制缔约是现代合同法的一项重要制度 ,她可以防止被强制方滥用其权利 ,维护弱势群体的利益 ,践行合同正义。但其适用亦有其条件限制 ,责任承担的方式比较特殊。我国相关立法规定比较滞后 ,应予以完善 ,以求对有关问题加以妥善解决     

第三人胁迫略探

我国民法通则和合同法都未对第三人胁迫作出规定。文章比较了国外三种立法例,从是否应该保护善意相对人以及因第三人胁迫所为的民事行为的效力是无效行为还是可撤销行为这两方面进行了阐述,指出意思表示自由更值得保护。     

特留份制度--社会本位的选择

不受限制的遗嘱自由会导致自由的滥用 ,使每个人都成为该滥用行为的潜在的受害者。所以从社会本位角度考虑 ,我国应当采用特留份制度代替现在的必留份制度来限制遗嘱人的遗嘱自由。     

Who's flying the plane: serotonin levels, aggression and free will

The present paper addresses the philosophical problem raised by current causal neurochemical models of impulsive violence and aggression: to what extent can we hold violent criminal offenders responsible for their conduct if that conduct is the result of deterministic biochemical processes in the brain. This question is currently receiving a great deal of attention among neuroscientists, legal scholars and philosophers. We examine our current knowledge of neuroscience to assess the possible roles of deterministic factors which induce impulsive aggression, and the extent to which this behavior can be controlled by neural conditioning mechanisms. Neural conditioning mechanisms, we suggest, may underlie what we consider the basis of responsible (though not necessarily moral) behavior: the capacity to give and take reasons. The models we first examine are based in part upon the role played by the neurotransmitter, serotonin, in the regulation of violence and aggression. Collectively, these results would appear to argue in favor of the view that low brain serotonin levels induce impulsive aggression which overrides mechanisms related to rational decision making processes. We next present an account of responsibility as based on the capacity to exercise a certain kind of reason-responsive control over one's conduct. The problem with such accounts of responsibility, however, is that they fail to specify a neurobiological realization of such mechanisms of control. We present a neurobiological, and weakly determinist, framework for understanding how persons can exercise guidance control over their conduct. This framework is based upon classical conditioning of neurons in the prefrontal cortex that allow for a decision making mechanism that provides for prefrontal cortical control of the sites in the brain which express aggressive behavior that include the hypothalamus and midbrain periaqueductal gray. The authors support the view that, in many circumstances, neural conditioning mechanisms provide the basis for the control of human aggression in spite of the presence of brain serotonin levels that might otherwise favor the expression of impulsive aggressive behavior. Indeed if those neural conditioning mechanisms underlie the human capacity to exercise control, they may be the neural realization of reason-responsiveness generally.     

宗教自由基本权利的肥大症——关于宗教和世界观自由与一般权利有效性请求的关系

当人们通览宗教和世界观自由的基本权利在过去十几年里的实际运用和法教义学上的发展时,很难忽略其在规范性轮廓上萎缩这一事实。这一现象由构成要件要素的发展上更多地考虑主观标准所承载,并且经由联邦宪法法院在司法判例中对有关限制问题的决断性的、限制性的判决而被强化。因此,相对于依据宗教或者世界观的动机而提起的个人的发展请求,一般的法治国规范的有效领域持续地受到限制。当相关现象的潜在冲突在德国呈现趋势性增长的时候,这样的判断就显得越发的危险。     

Planning for the succession of digital assets

Estate planners’ current strategies for the disposition of digital assets are quickly becoming out-dated. This is largely the result of ambiguities concerning proprietary rights of digital assets after death. When advising clients on how to plan for the succession of digital assets, it is important for estate planners to understand the nature of digital assets today and to recognize how these assets may evolve. In failing to take into account the evolving nature of digital assets, estate planners are liable to craft short-sighted and thus ineffective succession plans. As the popularity of digital executor businesses increases, estate planners ought to caution clients on their shortcomings. Additionally, legislatures must create statutes which outline the rights of individuals vis-à-vis online service providers.     

论格式免责条款的效力层次——兼谈《合同法》及其司法解释之间的矛盾及其协调

格式免责条款效力如何,合同法及其司法解释都有明确的规定。不过,这些规定之间大都相互冲突,矛盾重重。为了化解矛盾,有必要先区分格式条款提供方是否违反说明或提请注意义务。违反者应视为没有订入合同,若没有违反,则应区分4种不同情况而对效力进行规定。唯有如此,才能在格式免责条款上达成自由与公平的平衡。