This summer issue of SCRIPTed marks the beginning of the sixteenth volume of our journal and its fifteen-year anniversary. In this issue we are delighted to present a report from our fifteen-year anniversary conference which took place on Monday 28th January here in Edinburgh.
We are also delighted to be presenting a fully peer reviewed article from Ananay Aguilar who examines the experiences of UK performers using the services of collective management organisation Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) – a UK Collective Management Organisation established by record companies that also manages the rights of performers. Through the use of interviews with performers and by drawing upon publicly available data, Ananay demonstrates that PPL prioritises the interests of record companies over those of performers and discusses certain alternatives to the current regulatory framework.
This issue also presents a case comment by Vasil Stoynov looking at the European Commission’s decision to impose a fine on Google because of its anticompetitive practices regarding the mobile operating system Android. Vasil argues that the majority of existing commentaries regarding this case focus on the record-breaking size of the penalty imposed on Google and the political message that some analysists see in the context of the tense EU – USA economic relations. However, Vasil focuses on the importance of the Commission’s comments in terms of the settled understanding and practice on the abuse of dominant position which can be applied in the digital technology position.
Also included is an equally diverse set of book reviews that will provide our readers with lots of ideas on what to add to their reading lists ranging from privacy to blockchain technologies.
At this marked event in the life of SCRIPTed, we would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who have helped make SCRIPTed the journal it is today. From all the contributing authors, to editorial teams past and present, the hard work put in by these people has helped grow SCRIPTed over the past fifteen years, and we look forward to this continued growth in the future.