“E-commerce has evolved dramatically since 1999, when the OECD Council adopted the first international instrument for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce (“1999 Recommendation”). On 24 March 2016, the OECD Council revised this instrument and the Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Protection in E-commerce (“the revised Recommendation”) now addresses new and emerging… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2016
UK Guardian – Libraries facing ‘greatest crisis’ in their history
The Guardian: “Nearly 350 libraries have closed in Britain over the past six years, causing the loss of almost 8,000 jobs, according to new analysis. In a controversial move that sparked protests by authors including Philip Pullman and Zadie Smith, councils across the country have shut their reading rooms in an effort to make deep… Continue Reading
NYT – Washington Metro, 40 and Creaking, Stares at a Midlife Crisis
The Washington DC Metro system opened on March 27, 1976. Much has been written recently, over the past few years and further back as well, about the system’s deteriorating safety, reliability, passenger dissatisfaction with increasingly frequent delays, overcrowding and relentless service delays. Citizens and public officials have called for much need improvements that include the… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Defense Support of Civil Authorities during Cyber Incidents, Library Services for Those with Disabilities, Retirement Security
Civil Support: DOD Needs to Clarify Its Roles and Responsibilities for Defense Support of Civil Authorities during Cyber Incidents, GAO-16-332: Published: Apr 4, 2016. Publicly Released: Apr 4, 2016. Library Services for Those with Disabilities: Additional Steps Needed to Ease Access to Services and Modernize Technology, GAO-16-355: Published: Apr 4, 2016. Publicly Released: Apr 4,… Continue Reading
NYT – New York Budget Deal With Higher Minimum Wage Is Reached
New York to provide new minimum wage and an expanded family leave policy – “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state legislative leaders announced on Thursday that they had reached a budget agreement that would raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 by the end of 2018, but initiate slower increases elsewhere, even… Continue Reading
Justices Reject Conservatives’ Challenge on ‘1 Person 1 Vote’
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to ‘One Person One Vote’ by Adam Liptak, New York Times – “The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, in drawing election districts. The decision was a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of… Continue Reading
IMF Global Financial Stability Report April 2016
Emerging Economies Affect Global Financial Changes IMF Survey, April 4, 2016. Changes in global asset prices increasingly reflect financial developments in emerging economies Financial integration main force for changes Policymakers must take into account emerging economies’ economic, policy developments Changes in emerging market asset prices explain over a third of the rise and fall in… Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Introducing a New Success Framework for Information Professionals
Via LLRX – Introducing a New Success Framework for Information Professionals – Author, librarian, and professor Bruce Rosenstein’s article clearly articulates key deliverables that librarians and information professionals can frame, communicate about and deliver – specifically expert knowledge services, data curation, research, training and leadership skills – to organizations in a wide range of sectors. Continue Reading
The Fate of Scholarship in American Law Schools – Conference at Baltimore Law
“The University of Baltimore School of Law …host[ed] this groundbreaking conference on March 31 and April 1, 2016, at UB’s landmark new John and Frances Angelos Law Center in midtown Baltimore. As American legal education faces an identity crisis, what will become of scholarship in U.S. law schools? Will it survive the tumult – should… Continue Reading
Doing Business 2016
“Economic activity requires sensible rules that encourage firm start-up and growth and avoid creating distortions in the marketplace. Doing Business focuses on the rules and regulations that can help the private sector thrive—because without a dynamic private sector, no economy can provide a good, and sustainable, standard of living for people. Doing Business measures the… Continue Reading
NASA, Japan Make ASTER Earth Data Available At No Cost
Via NASA – “Beginning today, all Earth imagery from a prolific Japanese remote sensing instrument operating aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft since late 1999 is now available to users everywhere at no cost. The public will have unlimited access to the complete 16-plus-year database for Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission… Continue Reading
The Power Canons
Heinzerling, Lisa, The Power Canons (March 31, 2016). William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 58, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2757770 With three recent decisions – UARG v. EPA, King v. Burwell, and Michigan v. EPA – the Supreme Court has embraced a new trio of canons of statutory interpretation. When an agency charged… Continue Reading
