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Spannende neue Zeitschrift..........
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: Spannende neue Zeitschrift..........
- From: UZS106@ibm.rhrz.uni-bonn.de
- Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 16:56:09 +0200
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
- Sender: owner-debate@fitug.de
Vielleicht auch langweilig, wie so vieles, aber vielleicht interessierts
hier jemanden:
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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The International Journal of Communications Law and Policy (IJCLP) has
launched its web-site today.
Please see the full content at:=20
http://www.digital-law.net/IJCLP/
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Editors' Statement
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"Writing about the past in the past" is the continual accusation laid by
users of academic research, whether government, industry or,
increasingly, students. This frustration at the lack of contemporary
relevance in the universities' function is compounded by two relatively
recent concerns of which universities are 'late adopters'. These are:
the globalisation paradigm in its many forms, and the onset of
digitalised information transfer.=20
These associated phenomena have led proponents to suggest that the
social sciences should respond by rephrasing their mission, presently
defined by the nation-state and spatially defined by their local
physical environment, towards a multinational and 'virtual' Internet
project.
The editors (in alphabetical order):
Dr. Gunnar Bender (M=FCnster)
Campbell Cowie (London)
Andreas Gr=FCnwald (M=FCnster)
Markus H=F6ppener (M=FCnster)
Christopher T. Marsden (Warwick)
Stefaan Verhulst (Oxford)
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Articles=20
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There are three: by professors from three different countries, focussing
on three separate policy areas. First, member of the editorial advisory
board Monroe Price of Cardozo Law School, New York, who writes a
provocative and stimulating article on the future of public service
television in the United States. In part comparative, the article
strikes a nerve for European policy-makers in its advocacy of an auction
for public service provision in the digital age. Public ownership is a
primary means of ensuring pluralism and diversity in media sources. In
the second article, Jens Cavallin, expert advisor to the Council of
Europe Mass Media Committee, and the Swedish Committee on Media
Pluralism, adopts the 'long view' of media ownership and pluralism law
and policy in the European arena, with contemporary warnings that
ownership legislation is falling further into disrepute as attention is
drawn to competitiveness and convergence. The competitiveness theme is
taken up in the third article. Professor Christian Koenig and Ernst
Roeder of Marburg University provide a critical appraisal of German
constitutional law, in its regulation of new media and digital services.
The federal-state tensions inherent in the Basic Constitution have
created a duplication of regulators, and consequent incoherence and
inefficiency for investors. In a convergent digital era, they believe
that Germany cannot compete for multinational investment without
substantial reform of the constitution, to allow unified regulation by
the federal government.
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Work In Progress
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The work in progress provides the clearest examples of the academic
interdisciplinary nature of IJCLP: work on the policy implications of
digital convergence on the future of the city by an urban geographer;
future directions in communications policy in a transitional economy by
a Romanian regulator; and the competition policy considerations which
will absorb the future attention of European Union and North American
regulators by an English lawyer and Scottish economist. First, Andy
Pratt of the London School of Economics presents a provocative paper
which argues that the 'weightless economy' conceptualised by his
colleague in economics, Danny Quah , does not signal the death-knell for
the urban environment. On the contrary, it raises a series of new
questions and challenges for governments, which seek to increase
employability of their citizens in the Information Economy. Secondly,
Cowie and Marsden also seek to clarify policy analysis, in the provision
of converged communications. In their view, 'bottlenecks' in pay-TV are
the forerunner of increasingly complex and critically important
regulatory issues for communications regulators, in which
standards-setting in the vertical value chain takes on critical
importance for corporate and government actors. Thirdly, Nitilescu
throws regulating imperfect markets into stark contrast, with a case
study of Romania, typical of many transitional (and developing)
economies in its late, and far from smooth, embrace of commercial
communications actors.
=20
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Case Note
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- CompuServe in Free Speech Jeopardy in Bavaria -
The first case note in the journal is of profound significance for an
international analysis of communications regulation: the heavy-handed
and potentially unconstitutional conviction of the former General
Manager of CompuServe in Munich. Dr. Gunnar Bender explains the
significance and implications of the state prosecution of the
unfortunate Herr Somm, together with analysis of the case itself, and
the likely progress of an appeal.=20
It is hoped in future issues to address cases of similar significance
for an international readership. For instance, the facts of the 27 May
decision of DG IV of the European Commission to veto the proposed merger
of Bertelsmann-Ufa's pay-TV operations with those of Kirch Gruppe, via
Deutsche Telekom's cable network, are well-known. The implications for
future digital pay-TV joint ventures and mergers, particularly those of
Telepiu in Italy, MCI-Worldcom in the US, and BIB in the UK, are
profound. IJCLP will attempt to put these decisions into context.
In reporting casenotes, legislation and policy documents, the journal
will seek to bring a deeper analysis of the implications for future
communications policy. The dynamism of the law in this area, together
with the confusion of often clashing judgements of different
jurisdictions, demonstrates the need for lawyers, academics and policy
actors to stay abreast of current developments in this field.
Information is brought by the IJCLP newsletter: the journal will provide
the analysis.
---------------------------------------------
Legislative and Policy Analysis
---------------------------------------------
The first opinion on legislative analysis is equally contemporary, and
revealing of current US attitudes towards a critical socio-economic
indicator of regulatory intent: universal service in the Information
Age. In her exploration of the debate over the E-Rate (S.254,
Telecommunications Act 1996), Dr Beth Noveck supplies European and
international communications regulators and policy-makers with a
salutary example of best intentioned democratic legislation falling foul
of practical politics in its implementation. The definition of universal
service in the Information Age also occupied the minds of the workshop
on Internet telephony organised at the University of Marburg at the
beginning of June (see Conference Abstracts) and the International
Telecommunications Society Biennial Conference (see Conference Reviews).
Readers exploring this site for further information are thus supplied
with a combination of resources: policy opinion, workshop abstracts,
conference reviews and links to the conference papers. It is hoped that
this example of providing a wide range of resources to our readers -
that of universal service and the Internet - can be repeated for other
topics. For instance, the associated topic of convergence is discussed
in a work-in-progress, conference abstracts, the links page, call for
papers for Issue 2, the link to the prototype issue, and the conference
reviews.
Readers are encouraged to use this new site as a wide-ranging resource:
any suggestions for further features and links they wish to see covered
should be e-mailed to the Editorial Team.=09
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Dr. Gunnar Bender
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Institute for Information, Telecommunications and Media Law (ITM)
Section for Administrative Law - Prof. Dr. Bernd Holznagel LL.M.
University of Muenster, Germany
Universitaetsstr. 14-16; D- 48143 Muenster
Tel.: +49/251/8328411 Fax: +49/251/8321830
E-Mail: benderg@uni-muenster.de
Institute: http://www.uni-muenster.de/Jura.tkr/
Private: http://www.digital-law.net/
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