Regulating Data as Property: A New Construct for Moving Forward

The global community urgently needs precise, clear rules that define ownership of data and express the attendant rights to license, transfer, use, modify, and destroy digital information assets. In response, this article proposes a new approach for regulating data as an entirely new class of property. Recently, European and Asian public officials and industries have called for data ownership principles to be developed, above and beyond current privacy and data protection laws. In addition, official policy guidances and legal proposals have been published that offer to accelerate realization of a property rights structure for digital information. But how can ownership of digital information be achieved? How can those rights be transferred and enforced? Those calls for data ownership emphasize the impact of ownership on the automotive industry and the vast quantities of operational data which smart automobiles and self-driving vehicles will produce. We looked at how, if at all, the issue was being considered in consumer-facing statements addressing the data being collected by their vehicles. To formulate our proposal, we also considered continued advances in scientific research, quantum mechanics, and quantum computing which confirm that information in any digital or electronic medium is, and always has been, physical, tangible matter. Yet, to date, data regulation has sought to adapt legal constructs for “intangible” intellectual property or to express a series of permissions and constraints tied to specific classifications of data (such as personally identifiable information). We examined legal reforms that were recently approved by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to enable transactions involving electronic transferable records, as well as prior reforms adopted in the United States Uniform Commercial Code and Federal law to enable similar transactions involving digital records that were, historically, physical assets (such as promissory notes or chattel paper). Finally, we surveyed prior academic scholarship in the U.S. and Europe to determine if the physical attributes of digital data had been previously considered in the vigorous debates on how to regulate personal information or the extent, if at all, that the solutions developed for transferable records had been considered for larger classes of digital assets. Based on the preceding, we propose that regulation of digital information assets, and clear concepts of ownership, can be built on existing legal constructs that have enabled electronic commercial practices. We propose a property rules construct that clearly defines a right to own digital information arises upon creation (whether by keystroke or machine), and suggest when and how that right attaches to specific data though the exercise of technological controls. This construct will enable faster, better adaptations of new rules for the ever-evolving portfolio of data assets being created around the world. This approach will also create more predictable, scalable, and extensible mechanisms for regulating data and is consistent with, and may improve the exercise and enforcement of, rights regarding personal information. We conclude by highlighting existing technologies and their potential to support this construct and begin an inventory of the steps necessary to further proceed with this process

THE 2002 US FARM BILL'S IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMODITY MARKETS AND CANADA'S AGRI-FOOD SECTOR

This report's intent is to analyze the 2002 US "Farm Bill" to determine whether it is production and trade distorting, and how it will affect commodity markets as well as how it will affect Canadian agri-food. The objectives are to: · To explain the producer subsidy programs and how payments under these programs will be calculated; · To explain other provisions in the Farm Bill that are of interest to the Canadian agriculture and agri-food industry; · To discuss the implications of the producer subsidy programs for US producers' decisions to grow the major commodities and pulses, and the likely implications of those decisions for market prices; · To discuss the implications of other Farm Bill provisions, including trade and conservation programs, and country of origin labeling; · To discuss the implications of the Farm Bill for the current round of WTO negotiations; and · To provide some initial thoughts on how governments and firms in Canada and other countries might respond to the Farm Bill. To accomplish the objectives, we provide a thorough description of the Act and its provisions. We apply it to a fictitious 1000 acre farm in the US Midwest to show its financial consequences. We also use production costs from certain regions of the US to determine the level of incentive built into the Act.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Marine and coastal ecosystem services mapping and assessment - an application to the municipality of Sines

Anthropogenic pressures threaten the provision of marine and coastal ecosystem services (MCES) that are essential for human well-being. Ecosystem-based marine spatial management that is informed by mapping and assessing MCES and pressures is needed. Using an expert-based matrix approach based on literature findings, this study maps and assesses the potential capacity of MCES provision in Sines. The results show that provisioning services are potentially provided at high levels, whereas regulatory and cultural services are only provided by certain habitats. The potential pressures were identified, which relate mainly to the maritime-industrial complex in Sines. An expert survey was conducted to obtain more precise data, the results of which cannot yet be presented

Ion Exchange for Nutrient Recovery Coupled with Biosolids-Derived Biochar Pretreatment to Remove Micropollutants

Wastewater, especially anaerobic treatment effluent, contains high ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) and inorganic orthophosphate (PO4-P), which necessitate additional treatment to meet stringent discharge regulations. Ion exchange regeneration is a process that can be adopted for not only removing but also recovering nutrients. However, recovering nutrients by ion exchange from nutrient-rich effluents that also contain micropollutants (which typically pass through anaerobic treatment as well) may result in subsequent problems, since micropollutants could end up in ion exchange effluent, regenerant, or recovered fertilizer products. Micropollutant removal by a nonselective adsorbent, such as biosolids-derived biochar, before nutrient recovery processes would mitigate potential risks. The objective of this research was to evaluate the capability of biosolids-derived biochar as a pretreatment step for separating micropollutants from nutrient-rich water before ion exchange for nutrient recovery. In the presence of ammonium and phosphate, both pristine and regenerated biosolids-derived biochar could effectively adsorb triclosan (TCS) and estradiol (E2), and to a lesser extent, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in batch sorption experiments. On the other hand, nutrient ions were not effectively adsorbed by biosolids-derived biochar. A continuous flow-through system consisting of columns in series filled with biochar, LayneRT, and then clinoptilolite was operated to test selective removal of micropollutants and nutrients in a flow-through system. The biochar column achieved more than 80% removal of influent TCS and E2, thereby reducing the chances of micropollutants being adsorbed by ion exchangers. Sulfamethoxazole removal through the biochar column was only 50%, indicating that biosolids-derived biochar would have to be optimized in the future for hydrophilic micropollutant removal. Influent nutrients were not effectively removed by the biochar column, but were captured in their respective selective ion exchanger columns. This research revealed that biosolids-derived biochar could be employed before ion exchange resins for removal of micropollutants from nutrient-rich water

Is Government Welfare Able to Change? Analysing Efforts to Co-create an Improved Social Welfare System through Taking Advantage of a Collaborative Economy

Welfare sectors across the world are facing the need to balance the contrast between economic pressures due to demographic changes and peoples’ rising expectations of receiving services that are transparent; timely and tailored to citizens’ habits and needs. This means that governments are pressured to look for new ways to deliver public services. This article looks at two co-created peer-to-peer platforms that are engaged in delivering public services in the welfare sector, Helpific and Caremate, and their development and role in the Estonian welfare sector. These platforms appear to hold substantial potential for changing the current system of delivering public services, however they have not yet managed to acquire the anticipated level of success. By examining these two cases, it is proposed that the room and support for developing new solutions, using experience in the field and overcoming the digital divide must be assured in order to make changes in government welfare possible

Die letzten Menschen am Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts

Literatur entsteht nie unabhängig von Gesellschaft. In meiner Diplomarbeit beschäftige ich mich mit Mary Shelleys Roman The Last Man (1826) und Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainvilles Text Le Dernier Homme (1805). Die Werke spielen in ferner Zukunft, jedoch spiegeln sie die historischen Umstände des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts wider. Folgende Analyseachsen zeigen, dass die Werke einerseits politische Veränderungen dokumentieren und andererseits Bezug auf wissenschaftliche Errungenschaften nehmen. Zwei der bekanntesten Theoretiker des späten 18. Jahrhunderts, die sich mit gesellschaftspolitischen Fragen beschäftigten, sind Thomas Malthus und Edmund Burke. Die Auseinandersetzung mit den Werken dieser beiden Theoretiker erkundet inwieweit in den Prosatexten, die meiner Arbeit zugrunde liegen, politische Ideen implizit verhandelt werden. Die geologische Forschung Buffons und Cuviers hat das Selbstverständnis der Menschen radikal verändert. Die Entdeckung prähistorischer Arten kann als Freud'sche Kränkung beschrieben werden. Untergangsszenarien werden zum geeigneten Rahmen um jene naturwissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zu verarbeiten. Beide meiner Werke lassen sich in den Kontext romantischer Literatur einbetten. Motivische Ähnlichkeiten finden sich zu anderen KünstlerInnen wie Caspar David Friedrich oder William Wordsworth. Durch diese Annäherungen an The Last Man und Le Dernier Homme soll gezeigt werden, dass in der Romantik zum ersten Mal säkulare Untergangsszenarien entstanden, die neue Möglichkeiten baten über die Existenz der Menschen zu reflektieren.Literature never evolves separately from society. In my diploma thesis I'm dealing with Mary Shelley's novel The Last Man (1826) as well as Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainville's text Le Dernier Homme (1805). The works are situated in the distant future, however they mirror historic circumstances of the 19th century. The following analysis attempts to show how the works reflect on political change and reference scientific achievements of the time. Two of the best known theoreticians of the late 18th century, who dealt with socio-political questions, are Thomas Malthus and Edmund Burke. The examination of their work explores how the pieces of prose, underlying my thesis, implicitly debate political ideas. The geological research of Buffon and Cuvier radically changed the self-image of humankind. The discovery of prehistoric species can be illustrated in terms of a narcissistic wound, as described by Freud. Apocalyptic scenarios turn into a suitable frame to face these natural scientific findings. Both my works can be embedded into a context of romantic literature. Similarities in themes are found with other artists such as Caspar David Friedrich or William Wordsworth. With this approach to The Last Man and Le Dernier Homme I'm pointing out how secular apocalyptic scenarios first appeared in romanticism, subsequently offering new possibilities to reflect about humankind