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- Word Protein
Eveline Kolijn
Most contemporary art on (human body) bio-engineering is a critical comment on modern research involving genetic manipulation. Word Protein is an example of such comment; it is an artistic investigation of form and pattern in nature, and the dialectic between man and machine. This particular piece is a photograph of a protein that is part of a bacterium chosen by poet Christian Bök to realise the Xenotext Experiment project (see the Editorial).
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| Editorial |
- The Xenotext Experiment
Christian Bök, pp.227-231
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The degree to which the biochemistry of living things has become a potential substrate for inscription is increasingly debated. Not simply a code that governs both the development of an organism and the maintenance of its function, the genome can now become a vector for modes of artistic innovation and cultural expression. In the future, genetics might lend a possible, literary dimension to biology, granting every geneticist the power to become a poet in the medium of life. In this spirit, the Xenotext Experiment is a literary exercise that explores the aesthetic potential of genetics in the modern milieu, doing so in order to make literal the renowned aphorism that “the word is now a virus”.
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| Reviewed Articles |
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The "Efficacy" of Indian Patent Law: Ironing out the Creases in
Section 3(d)
Shamnad Basheer & T. Prashant Reddy, pp.232-266
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Indian patent law recently landed
itself in the eye of a TRIPS storm on account of the rejection
of a patent application covering Novartis' famed anticancer
drug, Glivec. The rejection stemmed, inter alia, from a unique
section in the Indian patent regime (section 3(d)) that seeks to
prevent "ever-greening" by prohibiting the patenting of new
forms of existing pharmaceutical substances that do not
demonstrate significantly enhanced "efficacy."
Not only did Novartis appeal the patent office decision, but in
a rather controversial move, it challenged the TRIPS
compatibility and constitutionality of section 3(d). This
paper not only offers suggestions on how these creases may be
ironed out, but also goes on to suggest an amendment to section
3(d).
While some of the suggestions in the paper are immediately
implementable, other issues will necessarily involve a more
detailed empirical/policy investigation. This paper highlights
some of the factors that one might consider whilst undertaking
such empirical investigation, a task which is likely to go to
the very heart of the age-old debate about what constitutes
optimal intellectual property norms for developing countries.
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A Tale of Two Standards: Drift and Inertia in Modern Korean
Medical Law
Shawn H.E. Harmon and Na-Kyoung Kim, pp.267-293
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Like all nations, the national
character of Korea has been shaped by a variety of geographic
and historical factors. Some of the characteristics that have
emerged from Korea's experience are "familism" and "scientism",
both of which have had, and are having, a fundamental impact on
the content and application of medical law. These phenomena,
combined with recent events both inside Korea (eg: a physicians'
strike (2000) and the more important Hwang scandal (2005)) and
outwith (eg: the spread of "informed consent" (1980s), the
commencement of the Human Genome Project (1990), and the cloning
of Dolly the Sheep (1997)), have contributed to a flurry of
recent governance activity in Korea. Given the latest
legislative proposals offered, we explore two areas of Korean
medical law with a view to exposing their trajectories. First,
we examine the governance of the patient-physician relationship
in the clinical setting, paying particular attention to consent
and to liability. Second, we examine the legal-ethical control
of biotech research in the medical research setting, paying
particular attention to consent, quality control and limits. We
conclude that these two arenas appear to be travelling down two
dramatically different (if not divergent) roads; in the case of
the former, drifting away from traditional practices, and in the
case of the latter, remaining mired in imbalance and dominated
by antithetical interests.
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How to Get There From
Here: Re-use Of Administrative Records In The Netherlands And
The UK
Catherine Heeney, pp.294-308
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The traditional methods of record
management and the legal system in the UK have not easily
supported access to and reuse of public sector administrative
records by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs). This paper
will consider the measures being taken to address this
situation. These include the Statistics and Registration Service
Act 2007, which comes into effect in 2008 and strategies, such
as the National Programme for IT, (NPfIT), the aim of which is
to standardise record management within the National Health
Service (NHS). It will be argued that albeit that these are
important facilitators of reuse of administrative records for
research purposes, the ethical dimensions of such moves must be
carefully thought through. This is important if the widespread
social acceptance necessary for sustainable access and reuse of
administrative records by NSIs is to be achieved. This paper
will discuss how lessons can be learnt from the approach taken
by the Netherlands to aspects of data management including their
approach to access, reuse and future dissemination of
statistical products.
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Deep Impact On The Mobile Communications Market: A Case Study
In Applying The Regulatory Rules To Assess A Proposed Enterprise
Combination
Jongho Kim, pp.309-374
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The face of communication
technology is changing rapidly - fixed-line telephony is in
decline, while fourth-generation fully-mobile services are
coming to the fore and will be widely available in the near
future. Some say, "You cannot store new wine in old bottles,"
and "Let bygones be bygones," but I suggest that it is by
exploring the old that we are able to understand the new. Many
countries' merger guidelines were enacted years ago, and these
guidelines will continue to be applied to specific merger cases
now and in the future. The discussion of merger cases in
high-innovation markets contributes not only to understanding
the real-world enterprise's competitive ability to survive the
technology war, but also to confirming that traditional rules
and assessment standards remain valid in a rapidly changing
market and technological environment. In support of this
argument, I describe current developments in the mobile
communications market and introduce a Korean mobile
communications firm merger case. I then review the criteria of
merger assessments and analyse the competition issues. I discuss
the exceptions where mergers are permissible and the corrective
measures taken where they are not. I conclude that the
traditional approach to the assessment of merger cases is still
valid in a high-innovation market. The standards argued for do
not necessarily represent a view as to what the law is or should
be. Rather, they reflect an assertion regarding what firms may
successfully argue in terms of legal, technological, and
economical issues without running risks of antitrust liability
under any conceivable standard. We should keep in mind that the
fastest route to a destination is not always the best.
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Reasonable Expectations of Geo-Privacy?
Sjaak Nouwt , pp.375-403
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This article endeavours to
highlight the technological developments for Location Based
Services by governments in relation to the data protection rules
and to the concept of privacy. The main question is whether the
"reasonable expectations of privacy" is a suitable concept for
privacy protection in the context of geo-information about
citizens. The use of modern positioning techniques makes it easy
to collect and record geographical location information about
people. As a result, time and place are now becoming important
elements again whereas in the Internet era they were beginning
to diminish. By using location information, governments are able
to develop Location Based Services for their citizens. These
services are especially interesting from a data protection and
privacy perspective because when the services are not in
compliance with the data protection and privacy rules, providing
these services might be annulled by the courts. Data protection
issues relating to location information follow from three
European Directives regulating respectively data protection,
privacy and electronic communications, and data retention. Where
it seems rather easy to conclude whether data protection rules
are applicable to location information, this does not appear to
be so easy for the recognition of privacy. We shall discuss the
"reasonable expectations of privacy" and the privacy concept of
Article 8 ECHR in that context. The question is, which one will
provide enough guidance for the protection of geo-privacy?
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| Analysis |
- “Just One of the Challenges of 21st-Century Life”: Oscar Pistorius in the Court of Arbitration for Sport
David McArdle, pp.404-413
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On May 16th 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down its decision in Oscar Pistorius v The International Association of Athletics Federations. Pistorius is a class-43 (double amputee) athlete from South Africa, born in November 1986. His legs were amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old because he had been born without fibulas (a lower-leg bone which supports about 15% of an adult’s body weight). He started running at the beginning 2004 to assist his rehabilitation from a serious rugby injury, but such was his progress in the discipline that he competed in the September 2004 paralympics, using prosthetic titanium lower legs manufactured by a company in Iceland. He came first in the 200m. At the 2006 Athletics World Championships he won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400m events and he remains the world record holder at all those distances for class-43 athletes. Pistorius asked to be considered for selection in South Africa’s 2008 Olympic squad in the 400m and in the 4 x 400m relay, using his prostheses but in all other respects running on equal terms against the other participants.
- A Closer Look at the Canadian Copyright Act: Can Corporations Hold Moral Rights?
Emir A C Mohammed, pp.414-418
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Traditional wisdom holds that moral rights are personal rights and therefore cannot be held by a corporation. This submission challenges both views. It aims to show that in Canada, moral rights are not entirely personal in nature, and that corporations can indeed hold moral rights.
- The Internet: Where Did IT All Go
Wrong?
Robert Schifreen, pp.419-427
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It is hard to imagine life today without the Internet, and all
of the benefits that it brings to our business and personal
lives: convenient, cheap and instant communication across time
zones and national boundaries; online shopping and banking;
document and data exchange without the need to ship media;
collaborative working and online entertainment; and free access
to more information than previous generations could ever have
dreamed of. This analysis assesses the various
ways in which the Internet has changed our lives, and the
problems that it has brought. It also offers suggestions and
advice as to how the effects of those problems can be mitigated
in the future.
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| Reports |
- Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation (iSEI)
Muireann Quigley and Sarah Chan, pp.428-431
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| Book Reviews |
- Biotechnologies And International Human Rights
By Francesco Francioni (ed.)
Reviewed by
Amina Agovic, pp.432-433
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- Defending The Genetic Supermarket: The Law And Ethics Of Selecting The Next Generation
By Colin Gavaghan
Reviewed by Eva Asscher, pp.434-437
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- Patents, Inventions And The Dynamics Of Innovation: A Multidisciplinary Study
By Roger Cullis
Reviewed by Rosa Maria Ballardini, pp.438-439
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- Law And Internet Cultures
By Kathy Bowrey
Reviewed by
Amanda Harmon Cooley, pp.440-443
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- Wired Shut:
Copyright And The Shape Of Digital Culture
By Tarleton Gillespie
Reviewed by
Michael Holloway, pp.444-446
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- Property In The Body: Feminist Perspectives
By Donna Dickenson
Reviewed by Remigius N. Nwabueze, pp.447-448
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