1. Introduction
Imagine you have just won the Euro lottery jackpot (in a rollover week). You can design and build a mansion, own a wardrobe consisting exclusively of Prada bags, Hermes scarves and Gucci shoes and own a fleet of Ferraris, Porsches and other luxury sports cars. You can drive downtown (or indeed have a chauffeur drive you) in your Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder to meet your pals at an exclusive club, where you puff on your collection of Cohiba cigars and savour Remy Martin from a Baccarat glass. These days, even if you are not the lucky recipient of a lottery win, these branded luxuries (and chauffeur) can be virtually yours if you simply take up ‘residence’ in a virtual world, the latest Internet spawned runaway phenomenon.
1. Introduction: Privacy and Biobanking
Research efforts in the computer industry, in general, and bio-informatics, in particular have concentrated on developing specific privacy enhancement technologies (PETs) to protect personal privacy, prevent unauthorised access to this information and, most importantly, to enable authorised access to information. In the 1970s and 1980s, the informatics era was accompanied by public concerns about telecommunications and the security of personal information held by governments, banks and other credit organisations. These concerns were to the forefront in the introduction of the Commonwealth Privacy Act in 1988.
Abstract
Rapid development of the Internet has brought revolutionary impacts upon all aspects of life. Many are benefiting from the communication superhighway and the myriad commercial opportunities it brings. However, at the same time new conflicts have arisen and new crimes have emerged. Some have turned the Internet into profitable commercial enterprises, but at the expense of fair and open access to information by the public. Others have gone even further – exploiting the medium to commit acts of fraud and disseminate obscenity that is both immoral and criminal. What is more, those operating in cyberspace seem to be beyond the reach of national governments and regional law enforcers. How can we regulate the Internet when a netizen can be simultaneously present in multiple jurisdictions while there are neither uniform rules nor agreements among these jurisdictions, when new technologies enabling new means of interaction emerge everyday while a piece of legislation may take years to be enacted? This paper endeavours to explore the question of if and how cyberspace may be effectively regulated as well as the role of law in this process. It will be shown that while many technologies pose great challenges to Internet regulators, they may also turn out to be of assistance to them. The central argument put forward is that while new paradigms and mechanisms of control will be necessary to adapt to governance of cyberspace, the rule of law still plays a crucial role in achieving the ultimate regulatory objective: to utilise technology to facilitate a fair, safe and efficient space for social and commercial interactions while maintaining a balance between various competing interests and values.
1. Introduction
Partial DNA matching is a forensic technique that compares the DNA profiles of two individuals to determine whether it is likely that they are close genetic relatives. When DNA is left at a crime scene the technique can be used in combination with a DNA database or a mass screening to ‘track down’ the posited offender, usually when more traditional investigative techniques have failed. In the United Kingdom and the United States the technique has been used in criminal investigations since 2002 and has led to some spectacular successes in solving violent crimes, including in cold cases that would otherwise have remained unsolved. Part One of this article describes the science behind the partial DNA matching technique and ways that it can be used in criminal investigations.
Abstract
The year 2006 marked the end of over five years of patent litigation between NTP Incorporated (NTP) and Research In Motion Limited (RIM). The dispute centred on alleged infringement of a number of NTP’s patents by RIM, makers of the BlackBerry electronic mail (email) device. It created a major stir in the legal and business worlds since NTP sought damages and injunctive relief, with threatened shutdown of the extremely popular BlackBerry relay. In the dispute, RIM was the favourite of both public and private business, largely because of growing concern about ‘patent trolls’ in the information technology sector. The dispute concerned the BlackBerry email system, which has an ever-expanding user base, comprising many powerful and influential business and government figures. The dispute was closely followed over a long period by devotees and industry analysts since it raised issues of patent protection for information technology dependent on underlying prior art. The litigation revealed the inability of the United States patent system to accommodate emerging convergent technologies like the BlackBerry handheld device.
This paper highlights several doctrinal errors made in the BlackBerry dispute by the United States Federal Court. These relate to the standard of obviousness, the availability of injunctive relief, and the interpretation of the extraterritorial scope of infringement provisions. The BlackBerry litigation is now recognised in terms of qualitative failure by the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO), misapplication of United States patent law at the Federal Court level, and lack of Supreme Court intervention. This paper addresses the growing concern over the impact of ‘patent trolls’ on innovation, particularly in the information technology industry. The United States Congress needs to consider reform within the patent system to encourage the convergence and integration of useful inventions by innovation and to allay intervention by ‘patent trolls’. The dispute represents an illuminating case study of the machinations of the United States patent system, highlighting failure at all levels to promote innovation in convergent information technology.
