I was asked to post a paper I wrote a little while ago relating to Open Source Software and Patents — given the prominence of this subject at the moment. The internet is profoundly reshaping the manner in which we are interacting with technology in our world. It has transformed not only the way in which we share and communicate information but also how we locate, learn and explore different types of media online.
The regulation of information dissemination in free markets is a vital aspect in ensuring that investors and business are protected, and security markets maintain their integrity. Disclosure is a core component in each of these three objectives such that it ensures investors are able to make accurate and timely decisions.
Copyright is a set of exclusive rights which are automatically assigned to an original piece of work for the purposes of protecting the creator’s skill, labor and judgment involved in the production of the work as opposed to any creative merit derived from the work.
The engagement in litigation is synonymous with risk and the inherent probability that the case brought forth against the defendant may fail. The burden of costs imposed on a party who has unreasonably rejected an otherwise reasonable offer of compromise has been a long established rule of judicial engagement.
Mabo and Others and The State of Queensland was a High Court native title, constitutional and real property law case involving a series of claims by the Meriam peoples for native title of the Murray Islands — a series of Islands Annexed to the Colony of Queensland.
The concept of State and diplomatic immunity flows from customary international law and it is often expressed in the maxim par in parem non habet jurisdictionem, or more simply, that no State can claim jurisdiction over another.