Digital Markets, Rules of Conduct, and Liability of Online Intermediaries—Analysis of Two Case Studies: Unfair Commercial Practices and Trade Secrets Infringement

Author(s):  
Reto M. Hilty ◽  
Valentina Moscon

This chapter will explore the liability of online intermediaries (OIs) under European law, with a focus on infringements of rights and legal interests other than IPRs. The main research question is whether European law adopts a consistent regulatory approach with regard to content hosted by OIs against rules on market functioning that do not assign exclusive rights but simply impose rules of conduct (e.g. rules on unfair commercial practices). This chapter investigate whether and under which conditions OIs are liable and—beyond the liability of OIs—whether the interests protected by European laws governing the functioning of the market receive the same level of protection in different contexts. To carry on such analysis, the chapter takes into consideration as case studies two bodies of the law, the first one dealing with online unfair commercial practices (UCPs) and the second one with the unlawful acquisition, use, and disclosure of trade secrets. After having summarized the distinguishing features of the safe harbour regime and its interplay with injunctive relief, the chapter will focus on the UCPs and Trade Secrets Directives in relation to the position of OIs. Reference is made to the criteria of interpretation of European law in order to assess the relationship between specific provisions and the concurrent regime set forth in the e-Commerce Directive. Finally, this chapter assesses the emerging results, highlighting the issues which hinder the creation of a coherent and satisfying legal framework.

Author(s):  
Masoumeh Livani ◽  
Hamidreza Saremi ◽  
Mojtaba Rafieian

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate how the city is influenced by the ritual of Muharram. The main research question is: what is the relationship between the city and the ritual of Muharram? To answer this question, we examined different intangible layers of this ritual heritage. This study is based on the three components of the sense of place. The research method is qualitative and a context-oriented approach is adopted. The context of the study is the historical texture of the city of Gorgan, Iran. The data were collected through library research and immediate observation. Next, content analysis and data coding were used to obtain a set of thematic categories. The results suggest that, as a kind of ritual-social behavior, the ritual of Muharram has had remarkable, enduring effects on the city over centuries. The non-urban-development dimension has thus allowed for the formation of sense of place in the relationship between people and the urban environment through a different process.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-411
Author(s):  
Qaiser Rafique Yasser ◽  
Abdullah Al-Mamun

We adopt a multi-theoretic approach to investigate a previously unexplored phenomenon in extant literature, namely the differential impact of ownership identity and director dominate shareholding on the performance of emerging market firms. The main research question addressed is, whether the impact of this relationship is conditional on the identity of the block investor. First, the relationship between overall block ownership and firm performance is tested by employing multiple regressions on 500 firm-year observations for the period from 2007 to 2011. Then, the block ownership is classified as the state, individuals, insiders, financial institutions, corporate and foreign investors and the influence of these identities on firm performance is examined. It was found that only the ownership categories such as the government, institutions and foreign ownership have positive influence on the firm performance. The results also indicate that high level of insider ownership also negatively associated with the firm performance. The main contribution of this paper is the examination of the relationship between block ownership and firm performance from the perspective of the identity of investors


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katia Mihailova ◽  

The paper presents results of media monitoring during the election campaigns held in Bulgaria between 2014 and 2019 – after the adoption of the new Electoral Code in 2014 until the last local elections in 2019. The main research question is to what extent the media as mediators in the election campaigns know, respect and comply with the legal regulations concerning their activities during such campaigns. The results outline the models of legal socialization of the Fourth Estate in the election campaigns. They also show patterns of compliance and violation of the legal framework. In addition, they reflect the way in which the media work to change the regulations in question. The research sample included between 117 and 180 media service providers in various election campaigns. There were representatives of all media subfields – traditional media, new media, yellow media, brown media, Prokopiev’s media, Peevski’s media, as well as Russian and American “propaganda media”. The period of research includes almost two full election cycles ‒ two parliamentary elections, two European elections, two local elections, and one presidential election which was held after the clear definition of the legal framework for media in the 2014 Electoral Code. No changes were made to this framework during the study and prior to the publication of this paper. This leads to conclusions regarding the electoral legislation and the regulation of the media system in the electoral process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 979-992
Author(s):  
Mustafa Hakan SALDI

The emotional mind which was granted to human beings in order to add the meaning of their perception through the data, information and knowledge that are being gathered from all around the outside environment with senses and the experiences of realities that have effects on the attitude of a person which can be observed as stereotypes, have effects on the decision making processes of investors, which was proven with general assumptions and theories with countless times in the background of the subject. Differently, this research is mainly designed for in-depth investigation of the relationship between parts of the human brain and endocrine system which have a role on emotional actions that can be observed of investors' behaviours in financial markets. From the viewpoint of experimentally tested studies, the discovery of the response of the subproblems will be explored in the main research question of why the risky assets are being selected by the investors relative to the sciences of neurology and endocrinology. Also, the amygdala, testosterone and cortisol relation which is the predictive factor of behaviours is going to be explained in terms of showing their effects on decision making in monetary management and will be analysed as a moderator with depth observations to understand the relationship between investment behaviour and emotions as well. As a result, the study will bring different perspectives to investors who are both experienced and inexperienced in trading with financial instruments by the addition of consideration of emotional side of the human mind to the logic and rational part.


Author(s):  
István Kovács

Az elmúlt néhány évtizedben a szabványosítás terén igen komoly változások mentek végbe. Ugrásszerűen megnőtt a szabványok száma, és jelentősen átalakult a szabványosítás folyamata is. Ezzel párhuzamosan a téma gazdasági hatásaival foglalkozó kutatások száma is megsokszorozódott, ami elsősorban a hálózati externáliák irodalmának robbanásszerű gyarapodásának köszönhető. Jelen tanulmány – az elméletek fősodrától eltérően – a tranzakciós költségek elméletében (TKE) helyezi el a szabványosítást. A szabványok és a tranzakciós költségek kapcsolatáról már születtek korábban is tanulmányok, de ezek a szabványoknak a tranzakciós költségekre gyakorolt hatásaira fókuszáltak. A tanulmány ezzel szemben arra helyezi a hangsúlyt, hogy azonosítsa a tranzakciós költségeknek a szabványosításra gyakorolt hatásait. A kutatás célja, hogy olyan elméleti alapot adjon, amelyben a témakör átfogóan elemezhető. A fő kutatási kérdés az, hogy mitől függ az, hogy melyik mechanizmus kereteiben érdemes a szabványosítást lebonyolítani. ________ Significant changes have characterized the last few decades of standardization. The number of standards has dramatically increased and processes of standardization have also changed a lot. At the same time the amount of researches that are concerned with the economic impact of standardization has also multiplied due to the boom in the literature of network externalities. Unlike the mainstream, this paper places standardization in the theory of transaction cost economics. Although there are earlier papers that are concerned with the relationship between standards and transaction costs, these studies focus on the impact of standards on transaction costs. In contrast, this paper lays emphasis on the identification of the impact of transaction costs on standardization. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive analyses. The main research question: What determines which coordination mechanism is used to evolve a standard?


Author(s):  
Zofia Chłopek

The present paper investigates the issue of motivation of foreign language learners. The main research question, concerning a possible link between the amount of language learning experience and learner motivation, remains unanswered. However, it turns out that a few learner characteristics which some researchers believe to correlate with language learning experience can probably serve as good predictors of foreign language learners’ motivation.


Author(s):  
Dorottya Osváth

This paper is related to research on language use on the Internet and gender linguistics. It briefly describes an online questionnaire attitude survey conducted in November 2020. In this questionnaire, it was examined whether women and men communicate differently in the discourse-type called chat, in the opinions of informants who filled in the questionnaire. This main research question was addressed by the overall research in several different ways. One focal area was the use of emoticons. In the study I present the results of one task from the questionnaire that asked informants to classify twelve emoticons as feminine, masculine, or neutral without any context. Therefore, classification had to be performed based on the way the emoticons were represented. The twelve emoticons were shown to the informants in a picture attached to the task. According to the results some tendencies can be identified in the visual appearance of emoticons which can imply feminine, masculine, or neutral qualification even without context. But these are only general statements whose contextual validity is shaped by certain factors. For instance, the nature of the relationship between two communicating parties can affect what emoticons are used, regardless of the gender of the parties.


Author(s):  
Ewa Kiełek-Rataj ◽  
Anna Wendołowska ◽  
Alicja Kalus ◽  
Dorota Czyżowska

Openness and communication between partners are key elements of dyadic coping with stress. Our main research question is: what is the impact of these factors on relational satisfaction in spouses struggling with infertility or miscarriage? In the current study, by applying the actor–partner interdependence model to 90 heterosexual couples (N = 180), we examined the link between the spouses’ openness (the Giessen Test), communication (Flexibility and Cohesion Evaluation Scales) and relationship satisfaction (the Marriage Success Scale). Controlling for relevant covariates (communication, own openness and type of stress experienced by the spouses: infertility or miscarriage), a dyadic analysis revealed significant actor (−0.24; p < 0.001) and partner effects (−0.20; p < 0.001). We conclude that the relationship between the perception of the partner’s openness and the relationship satisfaction in women is strong, in the context of the analyzed potential confounding variables. We also observe that the relationship satisfaction in women from the group of infertile spouses is 6.06 points lower compared to women from the group of marriages after miscarriage (p = 0.034).


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Tuuli Turja ◽  
Oxana Krutova ◽  
Harri Melin

During COVID-19, telework has become a new form of work for broader groups of workers who were not teleworking prior to the pandemic. In this study, we ask what we will be returning to after COVID-19, if teleworking will become a new norm or if most workplaces will merely return to the old forms of work. The main research question of this study was to estimate the role of telework in perception of workload. More specifically, to gain an understanding of the stakes involved when reorganizing work after the pandemic, we analysed the relationship between perceived workload and opportunities to telework. Multilevel analysis utilized representative national data of wage earners in Finland (N = 4091). The findings showed that the opportunity to telework is associated with lower perceived workload in the capital area but not in the rural areas. More specifically, increasing telework opportunities among different-level workers, particularly in educational and social work in the capital area, would be beneficial in terms of increasing well-being at work. There could be good reasons for organizations to reject returning to the status quo ex ante after COVID-19 and to consider the new norm, where opportunities to telework are offered to wider worker groups.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andrew Thompson

Oman is often held as a model of religious tolerance in the Arabian Peninsula. The core hypothesis at the centre of this thesis is that, the religious freedom of the church in Oman is directly influenced by its distinctive prevailing school of Islam. The main research question is “How does the prevailing theology of Ibadi Islam impact the experience of religious freedom for Christian communities in Oman and how do the Islamic authorities relate to the Christian church?” By using interviews, historical and theological sources, this research concludes that other factors besides theology shape Oman’s distinct approach to interfaith relations. A part of this thesis will be highlighting the contemporary presence of the church in Oman, of which little is known. This is a unique contribution to knowledge about Christianity and Islamic relations in the Arabian Gulf.


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