On this day in ... ...2003, following 4 days and 21 rounds of secret
balloting by the 85 states then eligible to vote in the Assembly of
States Parties, the inaugural 18-member bench of the International
Criminal Court was chosen from among 10 female and 33 male candidates.
Elected, as follows, were 7 women and 11 men: Elizabeth Odio Benito
(Costa Rica), Rene Blattmann (Bolivia), Maureen Harding Clark
(Ireland); Fatoumata Dembele Diarra (Mali), Adrian Fulford (United
Kingdom), Karl Hudson-Phillips (Trinidad Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

(IntLawGrrls welcomes back alumna Doris Buss, who contributes this
Write On! guest post regarding a call for papers for an upcoming
conference she's organizing) "Sexual Violence and Conflict in Africa"
is the subject of a 2-day workshop to be held May 5 & 6, 2010, at
my home institution, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. At this
event, which is supported by the United Nations University, we plan to
bring together academics and activists to initiate a detailed,
multi-disciplinary, and multi-sectoral Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

(Taking context-optional note of thought-provoking quotes) [B]logging
is now the uncoolest thing you can do on the Internet. It's even
uncooler than editing Wikipedia articles or having a Second Life
avatar. In 2006, 28% of teens were blogging. Now, just three years
later, the percentage has tumbled to 14%. Among twentysomethings, the
percentage who write blogs has fallen from 24% to 15%. Writing
comments on blogs is also down sharply among the young. It's only
geezers - those over 30 - who are doing more Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

Following-up on this follow-up post, here's more about current
disagreements over trade in asbestos: Controversy over asbestos
exports continued to dog Quebec Premier Jean Charest right up to the
very last day of a trade mission to India. Indian unions and other
groups twice called on Charest during the week-long mission to put a
halt to the export of the cancer-linked material that is used in
construction. And just days prior to leaving on the mission, more than
100 scientists from 28 countries lent their Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:59 am

The Economist has a piece on competition in the market for building
nuclear reactors, in which they discuss how state support for domestic
competitors may be playing a role: ... the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
completed a tender for four nuclear plants in December, Vietnam is
planning a similar deal this year and many other countries, from Italy
to Indonesia, are hoping to build new reactors soon. Yet the $40
billion contract in the UAE, won by a consortium led by Korean
Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:59 am

From Arlen Specter: I have a two-part question, and just a brief
statement of the issue. We have lost 2.3 million jobs as a result of
the trade imbalance with China between 2001 and 2007. The remedies to
save those jobs are very ineffective -- long delays, proceedings
before the International Trade Commission, subject to being overruled
by the President. We have China violating international law with
subsidies and dumping -- really, a form of international banditry.
They take our money and then they lend it Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:58 am

Inspección General de Justicia, 21/02/05, Rekers Investment S.A.
Resolución nº 214/05. Sociedad constituida en el extranjero
(Uruguay). Celebración de tres contratos de mutuo hipotecario. Ley de
sociedades: 118. Res. 8/03. Acto aislado. Manifestación en la
escritura. Criterio restrictivo. Ejercicio habitual en Argentina.
Intimación a inscribirse en la Inspección General de Justicia.
Publicado por Julio Córdoba en DIPr Argentina el 05/02/10. Buenos
Aires, 21 de Febrero de 2005.- Y vistas: Las presentes Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 2:43 am

CNCiv. y Com. Fed., sala II, 24/02/09, Samara, Christian Carlos Rafael
y otro c. Alitalia s. pérdida/daño de equipaje. Transporte aéreo
internacional. Transporte de personas. Convención de Varsovia de
1929: 26. Protesta. Necesariedad. Rechazo de la demanda. Publicado por
Julio Córdoba en DIPr Argentina el 02/02/10. En Buenos Aires, a los
24 días del mes de febrero de dos mil nueve reunidos en acuerdo los
señores Jueces de la sala II de la Cámara Nacional de Apelaciones en
lo Civil y Comercial Federal, para Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Inspección General de Justicia, 30/05/08, Cordes, Diego M. y Cordes,
Alejandra R. c. Castlegreen Corp. Sociedad Extranjera s. denuncia.
Sociedad constituida en el extranjero. Sociedad off shore.
Participación en sociedad local. Ley de sociedades: 123. Falta de
inscripción en la Inspección General de Justicia. Consecuencias.
Resolución IGJ 7/05 y 9/05. Incumplimiento. Irregularidad e
ineficacia a los efectos administrativos de las asambleas ordinarias.
Publicado por Julio Córdoba en DIPr Argentina el Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm

I just received this announcement. Please note that it is essentially
aimed at recent college graduates.The China Law Center of Yale Law
School is seeking candidates for a one-year Research Associate
position based in Beijing beginning this summer. The Research... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:58 am

Here's a statement from Liu Xiaobo dated Dec. 23, 2009; translation
courtesy of Prof. David Kelly of the China Research Centre, University
of Technology Sydney. English text below; Chinese text here. It may
not be an original observation, but I... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:58 am

Caixin (Hu Shuli's new vehicle) has a nice English-language page on
the Li Zhuang case, with stories and relevant links about various
aspects of the case. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:58 am

by Kevin Jon Heller Eight Oscar nominations and accolades at the
Museum of Tolerance - not a bad week for Mr. Tarantino: Last night at
a special community screening at The Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of
Tolerance, internationally renowned rabbi Marvin Hier addressed the
film's growing cultural significance among a panel that included
Tarantino, 'Basterds' producer Lawrence Bender, actor Eli Roth and
media entrepreneur Dan Adler, who organized the evening in honor of
his recently deceased father Mayer Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:09 am

by Julian Ku Last week, the U.S. and Canada reached an agreement to
permit Canadian firms to bid on projects funded by U.S. stimulus money
based on the legislation enacted last year. The confusing part is just
how exactly this will occur. According to CTV, Canadian firms will be
exempted from "Buy American" restrictions under seven of the stimulus
programs, in 37 U.S. states that signed on to the World Trade
Organization. Those states will be able to use American stimulus money
to buy Canadian manufactured Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:09 am

by Kevin Jon Heller I am delighted to announce that Opinio Juris has
formed a partnership with the Melbourne Journal of International Law,
one of the leading non-US journals in the field. Twice a year,
beginning tomorrow, we will be hosting the same kind of symposia that
we have been holding the past couple of years for the Yale Journal of
International Law and the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Unlike those journals, MJIL is student-run but peer-reviewed. The
first symposium will feature two Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:09 am

A2K4: Access to Knowledge and Human Rights Conference, February 12-13
The Access to Knowledge and Human Rights Conference seeks to lay the
groundwork - conceptual and strategic - to build bridges between the
A2K and human rights communities pursuing common goals of promoting
greater access to knowledge, culture, technology and tools for
innovation worldwide. The two-day conference will feature an
international lineup of academics and practitioners addressing topics
including Technologies of Dissent, Freedom Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 6:14 am

Last Saturday, the Sacramento Bee ran my op-ed on Google's leadership
in China. I begin: While most American companies are rushing into
China, why are so many Americans cheering Google pulling out? This
week Google announced it had discovered attempts to hack into the
Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. This prompted Google
to declare it was ready to leave China if it could not provide honest
search results to the people of China. At the same time that Google
was boldly threatening to pack its Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 6:14 am

Posted on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 1:37 am

A senior Australian police officer was arrested earlier this week in
Sydney, charged with conspiracy for allegedly coordinating a plan to
smuggle precursor chemicals into the country in an attempt to
synthesize over $115 million worth of methamphetamine. Mark Standen,
51, who served as Assistant Director of the New South Wales Crime
Commission, was arrested in his office Monday, following a Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 10:14 am

Early last week, 38 persons from Romania and the United States, some
with alleged connections to organized crime, were indicted in US
federal court for computer and credit card fraud. The scam reportedly
involved "phishing," soliciting personal information via email for
illegal use, and "smishing," soliciting personal information via text
messages for illegal use.[1] Deputy Attorney General Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 12:41 am

Alleged international arms dealer Viktor Bout, arrested in March in
Thailand during a joint operation involving agents from the Drug
Enforcement Administration, was indicted by a federal grand jury this
week on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.[1] As
previously reported in this blog, Bout had been accused of trafficking
arms to various blacklisted rebel groups and governments, Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 9:32 am

The American Bar Association Section of International Law has an ILEX
Briefing Trip this week in Australia and New Zealand. U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his wife are joining us as part of
the delegation. It should be... Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 3:09 pm

The Appellate Chamber of the International Criminal Court has ordered
the pretrial chamber to reconsider adding the charge of genocide to
the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Mr.
al-Bashir became the first sitting head of State to be... Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Many of the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide filed plans for
cutting emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 with the United Nations
this past week in compliance with the January 31 deadline set by the
Copenhagan Accord. 55 nations... Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 4:25 am

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the decision
of the Court of International dismissing Totes-Isotoner Corp. v.
United States. As in the decision from the CIT, this case turns more
on technical issues concerning the pleading of the case than it does
on the merits. Thus, it is unclear whether this is the last word on
whether tariff items that differentiate among products based on the
gender or age of their intended users are unconstitutional. On its
face, this seems like an easy Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 9:42 pm

By that title, I mean this is an update about the blog. My routine in
the morning is to check the Federal Register for agency updates and
the Court of International Trade and Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit pages for new cases. I also have Google alerts for relevant
topics. I tweet the little things that strike me as interesting or
amusing. And, I feel like it has been quiet lately. Not much has
seemed blog-worthy. I do have the UPS decision from the Court of
International Trade sitting on my desk. Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Because I have previously discussed my views on the Customs and Border
Protection proposal to interpret the valuation statute to do away with
the so-called first sale rule, I probably should have mentioned that
the International Trade Commission has published its congressionally
mandated report on the topic. Note that the report is 255 pages,
although the narrative is in the first 35 or so, the remainder is
appendices and charts. There is not a whole lot of data here. Here are
some of the highlights based Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:42 am

Indonesian Executions Stalled as Judicial-Review Question Languishes
UnansweredFrom The Jakarta Globe, 31 January, 2010 By Heru Andriyanto
The absence of executions in 2009 was the result not of an intentional
moratorium but because the Supreme Court has failed to provide a
specific timeframe within which death row inmates are allowed to
request a judicial review, the Attorney General's Office said. The AGO
last year proposed that the top court issue a ruling to limit the
period, to prevent inmates from Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 6:25 am

Alabama A-G: death penalty 'still on table' MARISSA CALLIGEROS From:
The Brisbane Times, 14 January 2010 The Attorney General of Alabama
has refused to back down from a possible capital murder charge against
honeymoon dive killer Gabe Watson, despite knowing Australia will not
extradite a person if they may face the death penalty. Gabe Watson,
32, was convicted this year of manslaughter after leaving his wife of
just 11 days, Christine 'Tina' Watson, to drown on the floor of the
Great Barrier Reef in 2003 Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Mongolia announces moratorium on executions Statement from Amnesty
International 14 January 2010 Amnesty International has welcomed the
announcement made by the government of Mongolia on Thursday declaring
an official moratorium on executions in the country. The organization
said it believes President Tsakhia Elbegdorj has taken a bold move for
the protection of human rights in Mongolia and welcomed this important
development as a key step toward full abolition of the death penalty.
"The government of Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Yes, it's that time of the year again. TechSoup Global ("TSG"), where
I work, is actually looking to add a couple of Staff Attorney Fellows
this year. Above the Law and other news outlets have been covering the
news for 2010 law school graduates, and it looks a lot like 2009:
deferred start dates and stipends of $60,000 to $75,000 to volunteer
at a public interest organization. Our selling point: how many
non-profit orgs can offer you a chance to work on cutting edge
international legal issues, in-house Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 8:23 pm

Looks like Xinhua published its defense of the execution of a British
mentally ill man in an article entitled "Experts defend China's
execution of British drug smuggler". I'm actually glad they did-it
makes it a lot easier to dissect. And for the poor professors
(Mingliang Wang and Jinzhan Xue), I'm sorry, you lose and that's just
how the game is played. Again, caveat: I normally don't just go into
attack mode like this anymore. (I don't litigate on a regular basis
anymore and I try to turn off this gear Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 12:55 pm

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year in 2010! May this year
prove to be exciting and joyful for all of you. (especially for my
regular readers!) And here's to hoping that readership at China
Esquire: Law and Business Blog will continue to grow in the coming
year. I want to become more active again, though it's difficult with
Baby China Esquire around-and either way, I don't think I can match
the rapid pace of my blogging activity in 2008. Let's keep our fingers
crossed. Best wishes to you and your Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 12:55 pm

Securities markets - On January 28, 2010, the Australian federal
government announced plans to increase the maximum penalties that can
be imposed for market misconduct. The Australian Securities and
Investment Commission (ASIC) will also have greater powers to
investigate... Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 7:02 am

Terrorism - On January 29, 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a
decision in the case of a Canadian citizen being held by U.S.
authorities in Guantanamo Bay. The Court ruled unanimously that the
detainee, Omar Khadr,... Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 7:02 am

Taxation - The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on
January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments.
(Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Rene Offermanns, Luxembourg:
Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE,... Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 7:02 am

Fourteen alleged warlords have been extradited from Columbia to the
United States to face drug trafficking charges in a move the Bush
administration feels supports a trade deal with Columbia.[1] Many
Colombians fear a narrow U.S. focus on drug crimes would allow for the
warlords and their allies to evade responsibility for committing
alleged human rights violations including the deaths of nearly 10,000
people.[2] Salvatore Mancuso and other top leaders of Colombia's
right-wing militias were spirited out of Posted on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 5:24 am

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher has announced that Carlos
Mario Jimenez-Naranjo, has been extradited from Colombia to the United
States to face drug trafficking charges. Jimenez-Naranjo faces
drug-related charges in the District of Columbia and the Southern
District of Florida. Jimenez-Naranjo has already made his initial
appearance before Judge Alan Kay in the District of Columbia.[1]
Jimenez-Naranjo was indicted in the District of Columbia for
conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 9:19 am

A member of the House Armed Services Committee has called for the
Department of Defense to review what he believes is a botched
investigation of a case involving a corporal accused of the murder and
rape of a pregnant Marine.[1] Authorities have alleged that Cpl. Cesar
Laurean, killed fellow Marine Maria Lauterbach in mid-December of
2007. Laurean is currently awaiting extradition back to the United
States after his arrest in Mexico. He has been charged with murder.[2]
Rep. Michael Turner contends that "As Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 4:02 pm

It is a largely quiet week on the Hill, as far as climate legislation
or hearings go. The big news this week will be roll out of the
President's budget and the expected votes to raise the nation's debt
ceiling. All of which will overshadow the one truly interesting
hearing on climate science that will be held in the House Science and
Technology Committee on Thursday. The hearing will be the first real
Congressional examination of geoengineering and whether it would work
to reverse climate trends. Tuesday, Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 12:30 pm

The U.S. government recently announced that it would award up to $2.3
billion in tax credits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act in accordance with Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code to 183
clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.
Following a competitive application process that opened in August of
2009, and the submission and review of over 500 applications for clean
energy manufacturing projects, these tax credits were awarded to
manufacturing projects in order to Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 9:19 am

Additional legislation and executive branch implementing regulations
will be required to boost substantial private investment in domestic
renewable energy (RE) projects inasmuch as private investment in this
area will follow - not precede - the federal government's investment
in major projects. Private Russian companies will nevertheless
continue to undertake feasibility studies as they await federal
legislation, as well as the development of specific regulations as
required by certain provisions of the Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 3:40 am

A few weeks ago, Jim Valderrama from Grant Thornton and I presented at
an international roundtable event at the University of Chicago Booth
School of Business - our theme was whether we have been seeing a
"de-globalization" of US mid-market companies that will extend beyond
the recession. (Thus, the tie-in to the photo caption - "Robinson
(American) falling into sea near Nice") We looked at data on US direct
foreign investment and cross-border acquisitions into many parts of
the world, and there has clearly Posted on Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Bharti Airtel had bid US$23 billion to take over MTN of South Africa,
a major telecommunications company. If completed, the deal would
become India's largest outbound deal to date, double the size of Tata
Steel's $13 billion acquisition of Corus, the UK steel company, in
2006. However, the deal talks have been extended until the end of
August and there is a cloud of uncertainty over the price and terms of
the deal. The talks come at a time of a substantial decrease in
India's cross border M&A activity - Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 at 4:55 am

A May 20th Financial Times Article on Korean M&A is reasonably
upbeat on the potential for further Korean deals and quotes a friend,
Paul Kang, an investment banker who focuses on Korean M&A deals.
Among the article's observations (click the blog title above for the
article and broader Korea report) are the following: Korean Companies
Shed Non-Core Assets. As is true in the US and elsewhere, until a
recovery gathers strength, some Korean companies are exploring the
potential sale of non-core assets Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 3:13 am

The final part of our blog symposium series is up, with contributions
from Veronica Taylor (U. Washington) and John Ohnesorge (Wisconsin). Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Daniel Kaufmann of Brookings has a great post on Misrule of Law
Matters: Time to Reboot? Posted on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3:31 am

The final part of the Future of Law and Development is up on the
Northwestern Law Review website, availabloe here. The final set of
contributions come from Daniel Sokol (University of Florida) and
Daniel Kaufmann (Brookings Institution). Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 8:44 am

TRATADO DE LA OMPI SOBRE DERECHO DE AUTOR (WCT) Adoptado en la
Conferencia Diplomática sobre ciertas cuestiones de derecho de autor
y derechos conexos que tuvo lugar en Ginebra del 2 al 20 de diciembre
de 1996. PREÁMBULO Las Partes Contratantes, Deseosas de desarrollar y
mantener la protección de los derechos de los autores sobre sus obras
literarias y artísticas de la manera más eficaz y uniforme posible,
Reconociendo la necesidad de introducir nuevas normas internacionales
y clarificar la interpretación Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm

CONVENCIÓN INTERNACIONAL SOBRE LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS ARTISTAS,
INTÉRPRETES O EJECUTANTES, LOS PRODUCTORES DE FONOGRAMAS Y LOS
ORGANISMOS DE RADIODIFUSIÓN Los Estados contratantes, animados del
deseo de asegurar la protección de los derechos de los artistas
intérpretes o ejecutantes, de los productores de fonogramas y de los
organismos de radiodifusión, Han convenido: Art. 1.‑ La protección
prevista en la presente convención dejará intacta y no afectará en
modo alguno a la protección del derecho de autor Posted on Monday, June 1, 2009 at 5:00 pm

CONVENIO PARA LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS PRODUCTORES DE FONOGRAMAS CONTRA
LA REPRODUCCIÓN NO AUTORIZADA DE SUS FONOGRAMAS Los Estados
contratantes, Preocupados por la extensión e incremento de la
reproducción no autorizada de fonogramas y por el perjuicio
resultante para los intereses de los autores, de los artistas
intérpretes o ejecutantes y de los productores de fonogramas;
Convencidos de que la protección de los productores de fonogramas
contra los actos referidos beneficiará también a los artistas Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Today is the anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. You can
see an image of the Treaty on the National Archives website. Per the
National Archives, "the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought an
official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-48), was signed on
February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city to which the Mexican
government had fled with the advance of U.S. forces. Signed on
February 2, 1848, this treaty ended the war between the United States
and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 4:06 am

The latest issue of Max Planck Institute's Zeitschrift für
Chinesisches Recht includes a comprehensive bibliography of academic
writings in Western languages published in 2008. See here
(Bibliography2009.pdf) for the bibliography compiled by Knut Pissler.
To locate the full-text articles, check Morris for serial holdings in
the law library and Orbis and the Online Journals & Newspapers A
to Z list for print and electronic holdings in other libraries on
campus. Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 10:44 am

The current official website of International Criminal Court (ICC) has
comprehensive research resources including basic legal texts relevant
to doing research relating to ICC. The Official Journal includes the
full text of the Rome Statute, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence,
and Regulations of the Court. Key filings, transcripts as well as
decisions can also be searched by party names and docket here. The UN
Secretariat ceased to serve as the ICC Secretariat in 2003 when the
Permanent Secretariat of the Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 10:44 am

Below is a basic summary of issues that bear on a non-Brazilian
company's intended participation in the Brazilian market as a
prospective supplier to Petróleo Brasieiro S.A. ("Petrobras")
including the following: i. pertinent proceedings and requirements for
registration as a Petrobras supplier; and ii. the establishment of a
foreign company in Brazil, either by means of a branch or a
subsidiary. I. Brief Overview A. Petrobras Vendor Requirements
Non-Brazilian companies ("NBC"s) are not required to register Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:07 am

Pace International Law Review will host a symposium entitled
"Comparative Constitutional Law: National Security Across the Globe"
in conjunction with the Blaine Sloan Lecture on International Law:
"After Gitmo: Obama Grapples with Preventive Detention." Scott Horton
of Harper's Magazine is the keynote speaker. The symposium will be
held on November 13, 2009. It is a day long discussion on the legal
issues faced by various nations which must balance constitutional and
civil rights with national security Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 2:47 pm

The biggest gap in world trade includes the U.S. trade deficit and the
Chinese trade surplus. This gap is driven, in part, by what some claim
is China's pegging of the Yuan at an artificially low rate against the
U.S. dollar in an effort to boost exports. But exports are slowing,
and, in a dramatic departure from previous policy China has indicated
it may allow yuan appreciation against the dollar. The Yuan recently
strengthened by nearly 20 percent against the Dollar (between July
2005 and July 2008) until Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 2:47 pm

In what appears to be a straightforward case of licensors of Animeware
- ODEX - for illegal downloading of pirated copies by thousands, Odex
filed suits against all the local commercial ISPs to obtain the
identities of those who downloaded the pirated Anime. Odex was able to
obtain orders against Singnet and Starhub but not against Pacific
Internet. According to the Straits Times report, District Judge Ernest
Lau gave a 14 page judgment explaining his grounds for his refusal to
allow for the application by Posted on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 10:34 pm

Day 1 of State of Play Conference. Interestingly the latest case
reported of the synthetic worlds is the case of EROS LLC suing Volkov
Catteneo" who broke the sex program's copy protection and sold
unauthorized copies. So naturally Alderman (owner of ErosLLC) filed a
civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court (real court not Second Life
court) in Tampa, Fla., last month for the alleged copyright breach.
For me, the interesting question is not about copyrightability of the
software but whether national regulatory Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 9:04 pm

Finally the long awaited conference has begun. Last night at the
opening dinner for participants, meeting all the thought leaders,
academics and businesses involved in the building and use of synthetic
environments is exciting. There was a great presentation by IDA on the
INSIGHT 2015 and how Singapore is going to adapt and capitalise the
interactive digital technologies. Also there was a great prelaunch
viewing of the movie "IdealWorld" that is a documentary of Second Life
activities and entities there. Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 7:44 pm

Today, in an interview with Fox News in Beijing, President Obama
warned that "the US economy could head into a 'double-dip recession'
unless urgent steps were taken to rein back America's mounting level
of public debt," reported the Financial Times. Speculation about a
double dipping, also known as W shape economy, has been on going among
academics ever since the US economy showed signs of recovery. I have
long been argued that there will be a U shape recovery- a sluggish
recovery but not another recession- Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 8:43 pm

The European Union last week produced an official notice derived from
its year-long investigation on human right violation in Sri Lanka.
Here are the Commission's final report, and the independent expert's
report. Given the Commission's conclusion that Sri Lankan government
breached its human rights commitments during it 25-year civil war with
the Tamil Tiger, the country is set to loose its trade concessions,
known as GSP Plus, to the European Union, a sanction which will cost
the country more than $100m Posted on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:40 pm

It's all over the news, and I should not be caught by surprise. Yet
here I am becoming very disturbed by the loopholes in our financial
institutions, which gave rise to an unprecedented amount of white
collar crime - from Bernard Madoff to Raj Rajaratnam. Wall Street this
week has seen the biggest insider trading charges in its history,
charges alleging the involvement of various ratings firms,
consultancies and half a dozen US public companies including IBM,
Intel and two top hedge fund managers of Galleon Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 12:07 pm

One the first major things that many foreigners have to work out when
starting a business in Moldova is getting the right to come and stay
in Moldova. The issues of getting a residence permit and to stay
legally in the territory of Moldova become a problem for many. This
post will cover some of these issues. Visas and visa prolongation
Moldova established the visa regime for visitors from most of the
countries. Only representatives of certain states may enter Moldova
without a visa. These are most of the Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 2:09 pm

As I regularly receive inquiries on how to register a company in
Moldova, I decided to make a separate post on that issue describing
some major procedures. Choosing the legal form of your company Fist of
all, before starting your business you should choose the form of your
future company. Two most popular forms of companies in Moldova are
limited liability company (Societate cu raspundere limitate - SRL) and
joint-stock company (societate pe actiuni - SA). As the second type
(SA) is subject to a very Posted on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 6:21 pm

It's now more than two years passed since this blog had been last
updated. There were many different reasons for that. However, I've
decided to re-start it, though with certain changes. I want to change
the topics that this blog will focus on. From now on there will be
very few general discussions on legal system of Moldova and the blog
will mostly concentrate on Moldovan business law issues. I really want
it to be useful for the readers containing the information on various
issues of business activities, Posted on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 4:39 am

On the eve of the beginning of jury selection in New York, it was
reported yesterday that Royal Dutch Shell settled the law suit brought
against it by the son of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the
families of the other activists killed with him. The plaintiffs
alleged that Shell officials helped furnish Nigerian police with
weapons, participated in security sweeps of the area, and hired
government troops that shot at villagers protesting the construction
of a pipeline. Moreover, that Shell helped the Posted on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 11:47 am

The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted several people for the
atrocities being committed in Darfur. The most famous of those wanted
is of course, the president of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, who
has mocked the tribbunal by traveling internationally since his arrest
warrant was issued. But, the ICC indicted a rebel leader as well, Bahr
Idriss Abu Garda ("Abu Garda"), a Zaghawa tribal member who is accused
of leading an attack on an African Union peace keeping location in
Northern Darfur. Posted on Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 10:06 am

The Sri Lankan governement finally crushed the Tamil Tiger rebellion
last week, killing the top three rebel commanders including their
leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran The government ignored the pleaas of
the U.N. and most of the Europeans nations to allow civilians to
escape from the last contested areaa. Civilian casualties are said to
be very high. The non Tamil population celebrated the end of the
Tiger's reign of terror, but Tamil people were conspicuously absent
from the celebration. Discrimination Posted on Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 10:02 am

Italian parliament passed a new law which extends the statute of
limitation for assessment of taxes due on income arising from foreign
investments and controlled foreign companies. The general statute of
limitation period is five years from the year in which the return is
filed. The special statute of limitation for income from foreign
assets and controlled foreign companies is extended to nine years. The
new measure is part of the package of measures which includes and
extension of deadlines for the tax Posted on Friday, December 25, 2009 at 4:51 pm

The Italian Desk of Ernst & Young in New York has published
comments on the new US-Italy Tax Treaty. The new Treaty entered to
force with the exchange of instruments of ratification on December 17,
2010. Posted on Friday, December 25, 2009 at 4:51 pm

On August 18, 2009 Italy's tax administration issued resolution n.
226/E (published only on December 6, 2009), which concerns the
application of the Italian participation exemption rules to gains from
sale of stock of an intellectual property holding company (Rul_ 226_E
- Aug_ 18, 2009.PDF). Italy operates a very favorable participation
exemption regime, pursuant to which 95 percent of the amount of gains
realized from the sale or exchange of stock is exempt from tax. The
remaining 5 percent is taxed at the Posted on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 4:44 am

Two weeks ago, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a
death penalty appeal. The defendant's legal arguments included, in
part, that the death sentence must be vacated because the death
penalty violates international law and that international law is
binding on the California state court. Specifically, the defendant
contends that the California death penalty statute violates the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and
evolving global norms against capital punishment. Posted on Friday, August 25, 2006 at 1:15 pm

Recent news articles suggest that Japan's real estate market is
finally starting to recover from the "bubble" economy that burst more
than a decade ago. Our direct experience in real estate transactions
in Japan also supports that view. For those interested in developments
in the real estate and REIT market in Japan, a new blog called Japan
Real Estate Blog has current information and some useful links. Share
this post: email it! | del.icio.us it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted on Monday, October 24, 2005 at 6:29 pm

The Japanese Government announced that the Japanese economy expanded
by 3.3% in the second quarter, largely as a result of business and
consumer spending. This is the first time since 1991 that the
economy's recovery has been fueled by consumer spending and capital
investment as opposed to government spending and exports. Share this
post: email it! | del.icio.us it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 at 6:32 pm

Tomen Corp. and Toyota Tsusho Corp., both Japanese trading houses
related to the auto giant Toyota, plan to merge in April. The merger
will create Japan's sixth largest trading house. Share this post:
email it! | del.icio.us it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 at 5:41 pm