The Politics of Peer to Peer

Whereas Lessig's recent work engages with questions of culture and creativity in society, this paper looks at the role of culture and creativity in the law. The paper evaluates the Napster, DeCSS, Felten and Sklyarov litigation in terms of the new social, legal, economic and cultural relations being produced. This involves a deep discussion of law's economic relations, and the implications of this for litigation strategy. The paper concludes with a critique of recent attempts to define copyright law in terms of first amendment rights and communicative freedom

Patient and Family Caregivers’ Experiences of Living With a Jejunostomy Feeding Tube After Surgery for Esophagogastric Cancer

BACKGROUND: Jejunostomy feeding tubes (JFTs) can be used to provide nutrition support to patients who have had surgery for esophagogastric cancer. Although previous research reports how patients cope with a gastrostomy tube, little is known about the impact of having a JFT. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how patients and their informal caregivers experience living with a JFT in the first months following surgery. METHODS: Participants were purposively sampled from a cohort of patients recruited to a trial investigating home enteral nutrition vs standard care after esophagogastric surgery for cancer. The sampling framework considered age, sex, and marital status. Informal caregivers were also invited to participate. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes related to living with a JFT. RESULTS: Fifteen patient interviews were conducted; 8 also included a family caregiver. Analysis of the data resulted in 2 main themes: "challenges" and "facilitators" when living with a JFT. While "physical effects," "worries" and "impact on routine" were the main challenges, "support," "adaptation" and "perceived benefit" were what motivated continuation of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that participants coped well with a JFT, describing high levels of compliance with stoma care and the feeding regimen. Nonetheless, disturbed sleep patterns and stoma-related problems proved troublesome. A better understanding of these practical challenges, from the patient and family caregiver perspective, should guide healthcare teams in providing proactive support to avoid preventable problems

A systematic review of the nutritional consequences of esophagectomy

Background & aims As improved outcomes after esophagectomy have been observed over the last two decades, the focus on care has shifted to survivorship and quality of life. The aim of this review was to determine changes in nutrition after esophagectomy and to assess the evidence for extended nutrition support. Methods A search strategy was developed to identify primary research reporting change in nutritional status a minimum of one month after esophagectomy. Results Changes in nutritional parameters reported by 18 studies indicated a weight loss of 5–12% at six months postoperatively. More than half of patients lost >10% of body weight at 12 months. One study reported a persistent weight loss of 14% from baseline three years after surgery. Three studies reporting on longer term follow up noted that 27%–95% of patients failed to regain their baseline weight. Changes in dietary intake (three studies) indicated inadequate energy and protein intake up to three years after surgery. Global quality of life scores reported in one study correlated with better weight preservation. There were a high frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms reported in six studies, most notably in the first year after surgery, but persisting up to 19 years. Extended enteral nutrition on a selective basis has been reported in several studies. Conclusions Nutritional status is compromised in the months/years following oesophagectomy and may never return to baseline levels. The causes/consequences of weight loss/impaired nutritional intake require further investigation. The role of extended nutritional support in this population remains unclear

Nuclear Waste and Society: A Historiographic Review And Analysis of Two Approaches

This paper identifies and analyzes two approaches to the study of the history of nuclear waste in society – the "people-oriented" approach and the "policy-oriented" approach. The people-oriented approach places emphasis on marginalized people, as well as the concepts of space and boundaries. In contrast, the policy-oriented approach often emphasizes legal or policy concerns at the national or international level. Several works that exhibit the key characteristics of each branch of scholarship are discussed and compared. The essay concludes by noting the unique strengths of the people-oriented approach and commenting on this body of literature\u27s relevance to contemporary societal debates

Is copyright blind to the visual?

This article argues that, with respect to the copyright protection of works of visual art, the general uneasiness that has always pervaded the relationship between copyright law and concepts of creativity produces three anomalous results. One of these is that copyright lacks much in the way of a central concept of 'visual art' and, to the extent that it embraces any concept of the 'visual', it is rooted in the rhetorical discourse of the Renaissance. This means that copyright is poorly equipped to deal with modern developments in the visual arts. Secondly, the pervasive effect of rhetorical discourse appears to have made it particularly difficult for copyright law to strike a meaningful balance between protecting creativity and permitting its use in further creative works. Thirdly, just when rhetorical discourse might have been useful in identifying the significance and materiality of the unique one-off work of visual art, copyright law chooses to ignore its implications

Racist Ideology & Hashtag activism: The Collision of Art, Brand and Law in Peter Drew’s Aussie Folk Hero, Monga Khan

Racist ideology is reproduced in daily communications and in art. Racism is also challenged. In this essay I explore the way ideology is present in Peter Drew’s ‘Monga Khan’ posters — artwork designed to provoke critical reflection about representations of race and Australian identity. Part I discusses the ideological engagement Peter Drew anticipated arising from his art ‘hactivism’ and critical reception of the work. I compare Drew’s oeuvre to 1970–80s protest posters, showing the effects of greater exposure to intellectual property constructs, marketing, and commercial branding on the ambition of art activism. Part II shows how attribution practices in the art world and media connect the politics of hactivist art with commodification. I discuss how ‘Blackness’, represented by Drew in the form of challenge to racialized ideas of Australian identity, functions as Drew’s ‘second skin’, or brand identity. Subaltern voices also challenge the authority of white artists to speak for the ‘Other’, but due to the way today we attribute ownership to image and voice, these protests metamorphise into a passing parade of objectified cultural difference. Part III draws out the implications for law, addressing the socio-legal reproduction of ideology, outside of relations normally identified with the lived experience of law

David Unaipon, Inventor

Unaipon descendant, Kym Kropinyeri, had promised to Unaipon and other Ngarrindjeri elders that he would pass on their history, including accounts of what happened to them at Point McLeay mission. This article addresses the Unaipon inventions. We provide a comprehensive account of Unaipon’s patent applications and the Protection-era restrictions that impacted Aboriginal inventors. The fate of Unaipon’s much celebrated 1909 shearing patent is fully explored. Exploitation of this invention is contextualised with reference to the patent activities of one of the most successful twentieth-century agricultural conglomerates that sold shearing handpieces, Cooper Engineering Ltd (Aust). Unaipon’s claim he was ripped off is considered in light of the demands made on him by the Chief Protector, politicians, religious groups, museum staff, and harassment by mission superintendents and police. All these factors impacted the capacity of Unaipon to pursue his scientific interests and delivered him into poverty