Digital Commons Network^™

Scenario Building: A Suitable Method For Strategic Property Planning?, John Ratcliffe

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The scenario method has been widely used by decision-makers in business, industry and government for over thirty years as an unrivalled technique to learn about the future before it happens. This paper examines the principles, practice and pitfalls of scenario building with the prime aim of presenting the technique as one singularly relevant to the study of future property investment, development and management decisions and land use policy formulation. The origins of the approach from its military based beginnings, through the popularised global environmental applications to the current widescale use by industry and commerce are traced. Some definitions are advanced …

Wrong Turn In Cyberspace: Using Icann To Route Around The Apa And The Constitution, A. Michael Froomkin

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The Internet relies on an underlying centralized hierarchy built into the domain name system (DNS) to control the routing for the vast majority of Internet traffic. At its heart is a single data file, known as the "root." Control of the root provides singular power in cyberspace.

This Article first describes how the United States government found itself in control of the root. It then describes how, in an attempt to meet concerns that the United States could so dominate an Internet chokepoint, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) summoned into being the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers …

Reporting The Official Truth: The Revival Of The Fcc's News Distortion Policy, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Telecommunications In The Twenty-First Century: Global Perspectives On Community And Diaspora Among Netcitizens, Madeleine M. Plasencia

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The Internet brings heady communications opportunities to those who have access to the Internet. Yet, mounting evidence has proven that a gap or divide exists on Internet usage and access. The divide exists within the United States and, increasingly, on a global basis. Part I of this Article introduces the term "digital divide" and explores the deployment of advanced telecommunications in the United States. Part II traces patterns of access to the Internet based on race and income and subordinates the statistical evidence to the realities of lack of access, and lends a human face to contextualize the real losses …

Governments, Citizens, And Injurious Industries, Hanoch Dagan, James J. White

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In this Article, Professors Hanoch Dagan and James White study the most recent challenge raised by mass torts litigation: the interference of governments with the bilateral relationship between citizens and injurious industries. Using the tobacco settlement as their case study, Dagan and White explore the important benefits and the grave dangers of recognizing governments' entitlement to reimbursement for costs they have incurred in preventing or ameliorating their citizens' injuries. They further demonstrate that the current law can help capture these benefits and guard against the entailing risks, showing how subrogation law can serve as the legal foundation of the governments' …

Race In The Courtroom: Perceptions Of Guilt And Dispositional Attributions, Samuel R. Sommers, Phoebe C. Ellsworth

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The present studies compare the judgments of White and Black mock jurors in interracial trials. In Study 1, the defendant’s race did not influence White college students’ decisions but Black students demonstrated ingroup/outgroup bias in their guilt ratings and attributions for the defendant’s behavior. The aversive nature of modern racism suggests that Whites are motivated to appear nonprejudiced when racial issues are salient; therefore, the race salience of a trial summary was manipulated and given to noncollege students in Study 2. Once again, the defendant’s race did not influence Whites when racial issues were salient. But in the non-race-salient version …

Aggregation And Settlement Of Mass Torts, Edward H. Cooper

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It is the way of symposia that, after conveners assign topics for discussion, participants interpret those topics to cover subjects that interest themselves. I understand my assignment to be discussion of "nonbankruptcy closure" and "settlement." The Judicial Conference Working Group on Mass Torts suggests possible approaches that might facilitate closure of mass tort claims by litigation or by settlement! This paper will explore two models prepared to illustrate the challenges that confront any approach to fair and efficient closure. The first model is the "All-Encompassing Model," while the second is a draft of settlement-class provisions for Federal Rule of Civil …

Lifting The Veil: The Arts, Broadcasting And Irish Society, Brian O'Neill

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This article examines the role played by broadcasting in Irish artistic and cultural life from independence in 1922 to 1960 with the onset of formal modernization. It examines the cultural context for the arts in early independent Ireland in which a mood of ambivalence and sometimes outright hostility to high culture prevailed. Rather than a profound disjunction between pre- and post-modernizing phases of Irish history, however, this article argues that there were important lines of continuity in cultural experience, in particular middle-class experience of the arts, which continue to inform Irish cultural life up to the present. Such cultural experience …

Re-Examining The Role Of Patents In Appropriating The Value Of Dna Sequences, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

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As public and private sector initiatives race to complete the sequence of the human genome, patent issues have played a prominent role in speculations about the significance of this achievement. How much of the genome will be subject to the control of patent holders, and what will this mean for future research and the development of products for the improvement of human health? Is a patent system developed to establish rights in mechanical inventions of an earlier era up to the task of resolving competing claims to the genome on behalf of the many sequential innovators who elucidate its sequence …

Law's Expression: The Promise And Perils Of Judicial Opinion Writing In Canadian Constitutional Law, Paul Horwitz

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This article argues that there is a link between ones theory of constitutional law and ones judgments about style in judicial opinion writing It identifies several special functions of the constitutional opinion including the democratic function of responding to the countermajoritarian difficulty through an act of public justification and the intergenerational function of provoking a temporally extended dialogue about constitutional values Drawing on these functions it argues for an opinion writing style dubbed opentextured minimalism which seeks to resolve cases narrowly articulate fundamental values and principles and spark longterm debates about the underlying values supporting each decision The article then …

America, Defender Of Democratic Legitimacy?, James C. Hathaway

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American exceptionalism - a belief that the United States has a unique mission to lead the world, but ought logically to be exempt from the rules it promotes - is at the root of much of the American academy's effort to rationalize the US government's increasing rejection of multilateralism as the cornerstone of modern public international law. Even American scholars who disagree fundamentally on the problems with multilateralism (Kenneth Anderson arguing that it favours anti-democratic intervention by unelected NGOs, Michael Reisman asserting that it privileges elitist state-based lawmaking in the face of more democratic non-state 'lawmaking' processes) can agree on …

Private Remedies For Public Wrongs Under Section 5 (Symposium: New Directions In Federalism), Evan H. Caminker

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The Supreme Court has ushered in the new millennium with a renewed emphasis on federalism-based limits to Congress's regulatory authority in general, and Congress's Section 5 power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment in particular. In a recent string of cases, the Court has refined and narrowed Section 5's enforcement power in two significant ways.1 First, the Court made clear that Congress lacks the authority to interpret the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment's substantive provisions themselves, and may only "enforce" the judiciary's definition of Fourteenth Amendment violations. 2 Second, the Court embraced a relatively stringent requirement concerning the relationship between means …

Analyze This: A Law And Economics Agenda For The Patent System, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

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Legal scholars and economists might enhance the value and impact of their work by making more effective use of each other's knowledge and capabilities. Legal scholars can offer a more nuanced understanding of the legal rules that underlie the patent system and the doctrinal levers that might be manipulated in furtherance of public policy goals. Economists bring to bear a set of analytical and methodological tools that could shed considerable light on what these doctrinal levers are doing and which of them we ought to be manipulating. Together, we have a better chance of asking the right questions and thinking …

An Object-Oriented Ll(1) Parser Generator, Bernd Kuhl, Axel-Tobias Schreiner

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This paper describes oops, an object-oriented parser generator implemented in Java [1]. Oops takes a grammar written in EBNF, checks that it is indeed LL(1), i.e., suitable for recursive descent parsing, and produces a parser as a set of serialized objects. A scanner must be provided and classes satisfying certain interfaces can be implemented which the parser uses to build parse trees. The paper discusses the ideas behind oops — which are not specific to an implementation in Java — and shows the advantages of an object-oriented approach to grammar verification and parsing.

Development And Implementation Of The C-Print Speech-To-Text Support Service, Michael Stinson, Barbara Mckee, Lisa Elliot

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In this chapter we provide an overview of the growth of this system from an idea to a system that hundreds of deaf and hard of hearing students depend on everyday for communication access and learning. This chapter addresses the following questions regarding the development and implementation of C-Print. Why is there a need for the system? How does C-Print work? What have been the phases in creating the current system? What is the research evidence regarding its effectiveness and limitations? How might the system change in the future as new technologies emerge?

Environmental Applications Of Remote Sensing, Anthony Vodacek

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This article may also be accessed from the publisher's website at http://www.svifsi.ch/revue/pages/issues/n004/no004.html Remote sensing is routinely used for understanding many aspects of the earth environment that are important to sustainability. Remote sensing is used in weather forecasting and global climate studies, natural hazard analysis, crop condition and yield prediction, and forestry applications, for example. The techniques and hardware used to obtain the remotely sensed data for these applications are as widely varying as the applications themselves. Remote imaging systems may collect spectral data of reflected sunlight, emitted thermal or microwave radiation, or reflected radar signals to provide the desired information …

Bridging The Gap, Jackie Schertz

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No abstract provided.

The Anytime Anyplace Degree In Information Resources And Library Science, Marianne Buehler

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The innovative distance education program at the School of Information Resources and Library Science is a model for higher education and the information industry for instructing information specialists and librarians on how to move information from place-to-place and from person-to-person. Geographically dispersed students directly experience electronic learning and communication via the Internet. Looking ahead to the future, this electronic wave of disseminating knowledge is increasingly more in demand and requires skills and expertise to successfully serve a clientele. This distance education program may be the only way a graduate student interested in information resources and library science can complete a …

Beta Induced Sparsity Algorithm, Ernest Fokoue

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We propose a novel technique that exploits some interesting properties of the Beta distribution to derive a sparse solution to the traditional general linear regression under the Gaussian noise assumption. Our proposed technique provides a theoretically, conceptually and computationally better alternative to both the LASSO and the relevance vector machine in the sense that it is centered around an objective function that is convex and easy to interpret. We demonstrate the strength of our proposed technique through examples, and we also provide a theoretical proof of the merits of our method.

Visual Modeling Of Business Simulations, Victor Perotti, Thomas Pray

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This paper presents a visual modeling technique which will aid designers of business simulations. Three demand examples are presented using the visualization software, Mathematica.

The Amateur Sky Survey Mark Iii Project, Michael Richmond, Thomas F. Droege, Glenn Gombert, Michael Gutzwiller, Arne A. Henden, Chris Albertson, Nicholas Beser, Norman Molhant, Herb Johnson

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The Amateur Sky Survey (TASS) is a loose confederation of amateur and professional astronomers. We describe the design and construction of our Mark III system, a set of wide-field drift-scan CCD cameras which monitor the celestial equator down to thirteenth magnitude in several passbands. We explain the methods by which images are gathered, processed, and reduced into lists of stellar positions and magnitudes. Over the period October, 1996, to November, 1998, we compiled a large database of photometric measurements. One of our results is the tenxcat catalog, which contains measurements on the standard Johnson-Cousins system for 367,241 stars; it contains …

Financing Clinical Research And Experimental Therapies: Payment Due, But From Whom?, Patricia C. Kuszler

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This article will explore the realm of clinical research and the question of who should finance such research. The first part will define the various types and levels of clinical research in terms of the regulatory controls and oversight applied to such research. Then the article will summarize how the costs of clinical research and experimental therapies have been covered in the past. Finally, the article will evaluate the risks and benefits derived by the various stakeholders and propose a financing rationale for therapies that places the burden of cost squarely on the stakeholders most likely to benefit.

Who Owns The Customer? The Emerging Law Of Commercial Transactions In Electronic Customer Data, Jane Kaufman Winn, James R. Wrathall

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The Information Revolution is changing the way commerce acted and value is defined within transactions. Before the Internet and "e-business" took center stage, "electronic commerce" meant electronic data interchange, just-in-time inventory systems, supply chain automation, and corporate reengineering.

But the rise of the Internet as a communications medium has coincided with a shift in management focus, from merely trying to improve the efficiency of business logistics systems to a more holistic perspective on improving customer relationships. Intangible assets such as intellectual property rights, human capital in the form of employee knowledge, and established relationships with customers and suppliers are playing …

Electronic Records And Signatures Under The Federal E-Sign Legislation And The Ueta, Robert A. Wittie, Jane K. Winn

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Federal legislation establishing legal parity between electronic records and signatures and their paper and ink counterparts was signed into law June 30, 2000, and became effective, at least for most purposes, on October 1. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN or the Act) effectively sweeps away a myriad of anachronistic and inconsistent state and federal requirements for paper and ink documents and signatures. In so doing, E-SIGN eliminates many of the legal uncertainties that have surrounded the use of electronic media in commerce and should enable businesses and consumers alike to more fully realize the cost …

Developing Marketing Competence And Managing In Networks: A Strategic Approach, Aidan O'Driscoll, David Carson, Audrey Gilmore

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Two important domains of scholarly investigation over the last decade, competency development and networks, share important common ground. These domains are also comprehended gainfully in terms of their wider strategic underpinning. This paper first contends that competence is considered best in terms of the particular strategy–structure–shared values constellation of a firm. This enables competence, including marketing competence, to be understood in terms of competency deepening (within the conventional marketing function), broadening (marketing activity which must be shared and co-managed with other parts of the firm), and of partnering (essentially, the ability to manage alliances, networks and relationships between the firm …

Media Education In Ireland: An Overview, Brian O'Neill

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No abstract provided.

Information Intervention: Bosnia, The Dayton Accords, And The Seizure Of Broadcasting Transmitters, Monroe E. Price

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The article examines the international community's use of media intervention in Bosnia following the Dayton Peace Accords, highlighting the establishment of mechanisms to regulate and influence media to prevent ethnic conflict. It explores the legal justifications and challenges surrounding such interventions, emphasizing the role of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and the OSCE in promoting a pluralistic media environment. The analysis underscores the tension between international intervention and national sovereignty, raising important questions about the legal framework governing such actions.

Images Of Justice, Lela P. Love

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No abstract provided.

Training Mediators To Listen: Deconstructing Dialogue And Constructing Understanding, Agendas, And Agreements, Lela P. Love

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This article examines the unique components of dialogue between disputing parties that mediators extract and reframe to move the discussion forward. The same components provide the building blocks of the discussion agenda and the framework of the mediation agreement. The article suggests a number of teaching strategies for training mediators to listen effectively and proactively.

The Costs Of Confidentiality And The Purpose Of Privilege, Melanie B. Leslie

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No abstract provided.