International Initiatives To Eliminate Corruption: Has Bribery Declined?

Bribery discriminates against honest companies by creating a barrier to entry in the form of a competitive disadvantage.  An important legal issue with significant implications is whether recent international anti-corruption laws have leveled the playing field for firms doing business abroad.  One of the first laws proscribing illicit payments to foreign public officials is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), initially enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1977.  From its inception, the FCPA has been criticized for placing U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage based on the fact that few countries outlawed bribery of foreign officials.  In the past ten years, several international treaties have been ratified that seek to criminalize bribery and eliminate the tax deductibility of corrupt payments made to foreign public officials.  This paper discusses anti-corruption laws and their effectiveness in creating a transparent business environment that discourages bribery.     

Student Use Of Technology In Class: Engaged Or Unplugged?

In recent years, there has been a great deal of discussion about the need for student engagement and a meaningful connection in the classroom. With the advent of cell phones, computers and the Internet, students are more connected to, and, at the same time, more disconnected from each other than ever before. We are living in the age of exponential change and technological convergence where forms of technology speak to each other. The omnipresent cell phone is a mini-computer and according to futurist Ray Kurzweil, “What now fits in your pocket 25 years from now will fit into a blood cell and will again be millions of times more cost effective.” (Greene, 2010) A survey of 211 undergraduates was conducted in an effort to determine whether student use of technology in the classroom enhances engagement or encourages disconnection. The results are discussed and suggestions are proposed

Monitoring E-Mail In The Workplace: Privacy Rights And Employer Responsibilities

Two important legal issues with significant implications for both employers and employees are whether employers have a right to access their employees’ e-mail correspondence and whether employers should monitor their e-mail systems.  Many people assume that e-mail messages sent and received at work are afforded the same legal protection from invasion of privacy afforded traditional letters.  This assumption could not be further from the truth. Privacy law, case law, and Title VII responsibilities are discussed.  Suggestions are made for procedures employers should follow to ensure the proper use of e-mail in the workplace

Immigration Enforcement and Fairness to Would-Be Immigrants

This chapter argues that governments have a duty to take reasonably effective and humane steps to minimize the occurrence of unauthorized migration and stay. While the effects of unauthorized migration on a country’s citizens and institutions have been vigorously debated, the literature has largely ignored duties of fairness to would-be immigrants. It is argued here that failing to take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized migration and stay is deeply unfair to would-be immigrants who are not in a position to bypass visa regulations. Importantly, the argument here is orthogonal to the debate as to how much and what kinds of immigration ought to be allowed

Potential formulation of the dispersion relation for a uniform, magnetized plasma with stationary ions in terms of a vector phasor

The derivation of the helicon dispersion relation for a uniform plasma with stationary ions subject to a constant background magnetic field is reexamined in terms of the potential formulation of electrodynamics. Under the same conditions considered by the standard derivation, the nonlinear self-coupling between the perturbed electron flow and the potential it generates is addressed. The plane wave solution for general propagation vector is determined for all frequencies and expressed in terms of a vector phasor. The behavior of the solution as described in vacuum units depends upon the ratio of conductivity to the magnitude of the background field. Only at low conductivity and below the cyclotron frequency can significant propagation occur as determined by the ratio of skin depth to wavelength.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, major revision, final version, to appear in Po

BLOGS: ANTI-FORENSICS and COUNTER ANTI-FORENSICS

Blogging gives an ordinary person the ability to have a conversation with a wide audience and has become one of the fastest growing uses of the Web. However, dozens of employee-bloggers have been terminated for exercising what they consider to be their First Amendment right to free speech and would-be consumer advocates face potential liability for voicing their opinions. To avoid identification and prevent retribution, bloggers have sought to maintain anonymity by taking advantage of various tools and procedures - anti-forensics. Unfortunately some anonymous bloggers also post content that is in violation of one or more laws. Some blogging content might be viewed as harassing others - an area known as cyber-bullying. Law enforcement and network forensics specialists are developing procedures called Counter Anti-forensics that show some promise to identify those who violate the law. However, these techniques must be used with caution so as not to violate the rights of others

Employee Blogs: Protected Speech Or Grounds For Discharge?

Posting and reading blogs is one of the fastest growing uses of the Web.  Blogging gives an ordinary person the ability to have a conversation with a wide audience.  Dozens of employee-bloggers have been “dooced” (terminated) for exercising what they consider to be their First Amendment right to free speech.  An important legal issue with significant implications for both employers and employees is to what extent are employee blogs a form of protected speech.  The First Amendment, employment at will, and laws protecting employee speech are discussed.  Suggestions are made for procedures employees should follow to safely blog.       &nbsp

Stationary and Axisymmetric Solutions of Higher-Dimensional General Relativity

We study stationary and axisymmetric solutions of General Relativity, i.e. pure gravity, in four or higher dimensions. D-dimensional stationary and axisymmetric solutions are defined as having D-2 commuting Killing vector fields. We derive a canonical form of the metric for such solutions that effectively reduces the Einstein equations to a differential equation on an axisymmetric D-2 by D-2 matrix field living in three-dimensional flat space (apart from a subclass of solutions that instead reduce to a set of equations on a D-2 by D-2 matrix field living in two-dimensional flat space). This generalizes the Papapetrou form of the metric for stationary and axisymmetric solutions in four dimensions, and furthermore generalizes the work on Weyl solutions in four and higher dimensions. We analyze then the sources for the solutions, which are in the form of thin rods along a line in the three-dimensional flat space that the matrix field can be seen to live in. As examples of stationary and axisymmetric solutions, we study the five-dimensional rotating black hole and the rotating black ring, write the metrics in the canonical form and analyze the structure of the rods for each solution.Comment: 43 pages, v2: typos fixed, refs adde

Online Music Piracy: Are Lawsuits The Best Approach?

In the age of digital technology, perfect copies of sound recordings may be easily made and shared in violation of copyright law.  Music piracy in the form of illegal downloading is a worldwide phenomenon that has a significant impact on the music industry.   In response to the perceived threat to the music industry, lawsuits have been filed in the United States and abroad based on copyright infringement for illegally downloading music. This paper examines copyright law, case law, and recent litigation.  In the wake of legal efforts to curtail illegal downloading, a survey of 112 undergraduate students was conducted in an effort to determine whether the lawsuits filed by the music industry are a deterrent to downloading music.  Potential solutions are proposed and economic consequences discussed

INFOSEC: What Is The Legal Standard Of Care?

The convenience of conducting personal business in the comfort of one’s home attracts millions of individuals to shop, pay bills, and bank online. In the process, sensitive personal and financial information is disclosed and the exchange of this information creates a risk of identity theft. Providing effective cyber security is an issue with significant implications for companies.  Failure to provide adequate security for consumer information may subject a company to legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  Information vulnerability, recent security failures and the standard of care are discussed