 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table of Contents |
|
3rd edition; October 2005 Dipl. Jur. Nils Hullen, LL.M., Master of Law and Information Technology, German Rules of Professional Conduct and the European Double Deontology - Aspects of Lawyers Webvertising within the EU Abstract: European law firms offering and advertising legal services within the European Union by means of the Internet are confronted with the problem of a double deontology. Legal practitioners are subject to various legislations and ethics rules of their home countries, as well as of the host EU Member State. The reason for this double deontology is to be found in two sectoral EU directives applicable to lawyers acting in different EU Member States on the one side, and a lack of uniform guidelines which should help the lawyer to act in compliance with different ethics rules on the other side. Thus, disciplinary consequences are hardly foreseeable, which detracts law firms from advertising on the Internet. Advantages as high-speed dissemination of information, a wide range of legal content provided by means of ITC, an overcoming of geographical restrictions, as well as cost efficiency, a broader field of legal consultancy, extensive availability and improvements of marketing concepts are likely to be vitiated. The article introduces to some problems of national professional rules. German legislation is used to highlight this. In addition it provides some basic guidance regarding advertising on the Internet and stresses the exigency of supranational regulations. Keywords: Webvertising, Professional Conduct, Ethics Rules, German Federal Lawyers' Act, Deontology, European Lawyers Peter Lanchidi, LL.M., Master of Law and Information Technology, Competition Law v Intellectual Property Rights within the field of the Internet - Part I of II Abstract: This paper, in two parts of which the second will be published in the next issue of the Virtual Law Journal, considers some of the many competition law related issues in connection to intellectual property rights within the field of the Internet. In the first part, following an introduction both to competition law and to intellectual property rights, the paper addresses the issues of music industry and those market players who act under the guise of justice but actually protect their existing privileges and market positions. In part two, standard-setting within the network environment will be examined. The author claims that the legal instrument of intellectual property rights has to be considerably weakened in order to preserve the openness of the Net, thus the innovative potential of the market. Kristel Kreek, LL.M., Master of Law and Information Technology, Electronic Signatures and E-invoicing; legislative approaches to electronic authentication and integrity of data Abstract: The thesis expands upon such topics as: legal functions of handwritten signatures as well as electronic signatures in the digital context; legal consequences of electronic signatures; requirements for E-signatures in Estonian legislation in order to secure authenticity and integrity of E-invoices; international recognition of electronically signed documents in the light of E-commerce. 2nd edition; February 2005
Abstract: The letter of credit has a long and illustrious history used by Kings and Presidents as well as merchants. In the age of electronic commerce and the Internet, this venerable instrument is undergoing a reluctant facelift. Aspects of proving electronic documents and transactions clash head on with the traditional approach of examination undertaken by bankers on the presentation of documents. This paper considers problems associated with using and proving the validity of electronic documents in the context of documentary credits. The law of evidence emerged with concepts such as documents, original and copy all referring to hardcopies, namely paper of parchment, at a time when copies were hand made. Copies are now digital and indistinguishable from the original. Indeed, where documents originate electronically, courts have refused to accept paper printouts as equivalent. Dr. Leyla Keser,
A New Regulation Field for The Telecommunication Board: E-Signature
Abstract:
On 23rd of July 2004, the Act on E-Signature came into force in Turkey. The Act was prepared in line with the EU E-Signature Directive and with the guidance of some of the member states. After the Act on E-Signature, the E-Signature Regulation and Communique became operative. This paper is written about the Act on E-Signature and the E-Signature Regulation. As the paper explains the new regime offered with these legal regulations, it also provides the differences from the EU Directive. Apart from the general characteristics of the Turkish E-Signature Regulation, the main subject of the paper is the Turkish Telecommunication Board which is the responsible body of the operation of the E-Signatures regulations. Therefore, the duties of the Turkish Telecommunication Board, the principles followed by it in the operation, certificate service providers and their positions in the system are analysed in the paper. Dr. Emmanuel C. Lallana and Attorney Rodolfo Noel S. Quimbo,
The Philippine E-Commerce Law: A Preliminary Analysis Abstract: When President Estrada signed the E-commerce law, the This paper is meant to address some answers to questions as to how the law was intended to mean. This will discuss many, not all, provisions of the law that we feel is the most important for the private as well as public sectors. It will take into consideration pertinent laws that is applicable to online contracts, taxation, law privacy and personal data protection, intellectual property, data transfer restrictions and regulation of networks. Frida Eklof, Erik Spieler and Oleg Tukh,
Knowledge Management Systems as a Disruptive Technology in the Legal Industry
Abstract: Lawyers are typical knowledge workers as they are highly dependent on the speed and efficiency in the creation and transfer of legal knowledge. Therefore, effective management of this knowledge is a crucial factor for competitiveness in the legal-advice business arena. The competitive landscape of the industry has, due to technological changes, become customer rather than product orientated. Further, the clients have increasingly become price-sensitive and the legal industry overall has become more competitive. The authors of this article consider information technological (IT) supported knowledge management (KM) to be a disruptive technology in the legal advice industry due to its capability to codify, store, share and communicate knowledge more easily and cheaply than ever before. IT supported KM/KM systems (KMS) do not only contribute to effectiveness and efficiency gains in the production of knowledge, but also yield product attributes directly related to customer value. Therefore, KMS is argued to be both a process and a product innovation. The authors of this article argue that the process innovation of KMS is needed in order for a law firm to stay competitive, whereas the product innovation may contribute to a competitive advantage. The main content of the article is an analysis of the Norwegian law firm Schjødt, which is using the evolving technology of KMS for strategic purposes. Petter Gottschalk, Kristin Brekke and Hanne C. Pedersen,
Incentives for Knowledge Sharing Through Information Technology in Law Firms
Abstract:
We studied whether rewards, associations, own contribution, or perception of management commitment, for sharing knowledge through IT within the organization, motivates knowledge workers. The research was conducted in two law firms in
1st edition; June 2004. Prof. Petter Gottschalk and Prof. Vijay Khandelwal,
Stages of Knowledge Management Technology: A Comparison of Law Firms in Abstract: In this paper, information technology support for knowledge management is linked to stages of growth, using a stages of growth model consisting of four stages. This model is used to compare how the law firms in Prof. Christina Ramberg, Electronic Communication under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Abstract: Knowingly the CISG is one of the most successful international instruments which produce uniform substantive rules for international trade. It is often pointed out that, world-wide two thirds of international sale transactions are conducted between parties based in a CISG country. In addition more than 1000 judicial and arbitral decisions have been identified and are now featured in the relevant databases, such as "www.cisg.law.pace.edu." In this sense, CISG is a successful and mature text of protean nature, which has been supported and enhanced by legal practice over the last 15 years. Most recently, UNCITRAL, the CISG formulating agency, has completed a digest which provides a comprehensive presentation of case law on the CISG and aims at assisting courts in the application of the Convention. In the following some of the most problematic articles in CISG with respect to electronic communication are commented. Each comment is made individually in order to enable the reader to go directly to the relevant article instead of having to read the whole report. The Opinion is short and after follows a more explanatory comment as to rationale behind the opinion. Ricardo Guilhermo Filho, Brief Considerations on Intellectual Property Rights Related to ebXML Abstract: Since the advent of Internet and the strengthening of international trade, e-Business, especially in the form of business-to-business commerce (B2B), has been touted as one of the fastest evolving areas of cyberspace, as the so-called markup languages (like HTML, SGML and XML) brought along a stream of consolidated standards and practices to corporate transactions and commercial environments. In this sense, ebXML stands out as one of the most famous and versatile frameworks originated to solve real-life quandaries of e-Business. Introduced back in 1999 by means of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), it tries to normalize XML as the main track for e-Business solutions, while combining in one single source a plethora of markup language initiatives that had roughly the same objective of generating a unique online global market. Accordingly, this short article, extracted from the forthcoming thesis by the same author on the legal aspects of ebXML, intends to discuss one of the most relevant legal issues connected to such framework, namely in what concerns Intellectual Property Rights, covering, among other topics, the copyrightability of DTDs and Schemas, and also a short discussion about the patentability of ebXML components. It is not the author's objective to deplete all discussions about the IPR implications on ebXML in this paper, but just to provide a general and more comprehensive impression of what has been, in the author's opinion, a clearly overlooked matter when it comes to ebXML analyses, more or less confirmed by the lack of specific legal examinations on the theme.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| © Virtual Law Journal |
|