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1 – 10 of over 11000America's movement to a digital network infrastructure may be threatened by the unavailability of high‐speed network channels to some sources of information. One reason for…
Abstract
America's movement to a digital network infrastructure may be threatened by the unavailability of high‐speed network channels to some sources of information. One reason for unavailability is fear by network intermediaries that they face legal liability for carrying harmful messages. Yet changing the law to require network intermediaries to provide equal access to their services raises First Amendment questions.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the USA's movement to a digital network infrastructure which may be threatened by the unavailability of high‐speed network channels to some…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the USA's movement to a digital network infrastructure which may be threatened by the unavailability of high‐speed network channels to some sources of information.
Design/methodology/approach
One reason for unavailability is fear by network intermediaries that they face legal liability for carrying harmful messages. Yet changing the law to require network intermediaries to provide equal access to their services raises First Amendment questions.
Findings
A mechanism should be established for providers of network services to inform potential customers of the terms on which they handle traffic. An electronic forum for notices of access policy would be one way to implement this recommendation.
Originality/value
Uncertainty about equal access, tort liability and First Amendment privileges adversely affects commercialization of the Internet. Commercialization must begin with acceptance of three goals for digital electronic network policy: encouraging a diversity of information products, preventing suppliers of information content from being foreclosed from access to markets, and allowing persons suffering legal injury, because of information content, to obtain compensation based on fault.
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The legal ramifications of the bill of lading continued to develop in the nineteenth century in the American Law. The bill of lading and the implications of its issue began to be…
Abstract
The legal ramifications of the bill of lading continued to develop in the nineteenth century in the American Law. The bill of lading and the implications of its issue began to be reported in many cases as early as the beginning of the 19th century. The leading cases of Delaware and Pollard v Vinton before the supreme court of the United States illustrate the position occupied by the bill of lading from its first steps in the world trade under the interpretation given by the American courts.
Discusses “recurrent approaches” to determining when todespatch a consolidated load. Unlike a “non‐recurrentapproach” (which sets a target time or weight prior toaccumulating…
Abstract
Discusses “recurrent approaches” to determining when to despatch a consolidated load. Unlike a “non‐recurrent approach” (which sets a target time or weight prior to accumulating orders and despatches when the target is reached), recurrent approaches re‐evaluate the shipment‐release decision several times within an order accumulation cycle. Presents two probabilistic recurrent models, one assuming private transportation and the other common carriage. Compares the performance of these models with the nonrecurrent rules of despatching the “economic shipment weight” or, in the case of common carriage, the minimum volume weight. Concludes that with both forms of transportation, the decision heuristic outperforms despatching the economic shipment weight when that weight is close to vehicle capacity. Shows that, with common carriage, the use of the more sophisticated model does not yield better cost results than the minimum volume weight despatch rule. Discusses the reasons for, and implications of, these results.
Owen Tang and Po-wan Sun
Antitrust exemptions to shipping alliances in the liner shipping sector have prevailed for many years. This study aims to examine anti-competition of ocean shipping alliances from…
Abstract
Purpose
Antitrust exemptions to shipping alliances in the liner shipping sector have prevailed for many years. This study aims to examine anti-competition of ocean shipping alliances from a legal perspective of the USA, the European Union (EU) and People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting the standard “doctrinal approach to legal research and analysis” in legal literatures, this paper reviews landmark court cases and legislations in the USA relating to shipping conference system from its beginning to its erosion, followed by its latest transition to non-ratemaking agreements, with discussions on the EU and some PRC treatments on shipping conferences.
Findings
Although antitrust exemptions to shipping conferences in the liner shipping sector were eliminated in the trades to/from the USA and the EU, there is a lack of evidence of the deterioration found in the viability of liner shipping carriers in both parts of the world trades. For the USA, shipping alliances will shift the focus to sharing resources for improvement of collective operational efficiencies, whereas the shipper groups in the EU have worried that a protected system of sharing information may lead to price fixing conducts among the carriers.
Practical implications
Through the discussions on the legal treatments of shipping conferences from the USA, the EU and PRC perspectives, this paper provides legal researchers with not only a new research direction on raising collective operational efficiencies through resource sharing but also an insight into shifting their research focus from purely price determination to the area of merger.
Originality/value
This paper reviews landmark court cases and related legislations about the treatments of different regulatory regimes, including the USA, the EU and PRC, to explore the illegitimacy of anti-competition conducts in ocean shipping alliances.
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Jay U. Sterling and Douglas M. Lambert
Academicians and practitioners alike recognise that logistics services and operating systems are an integral part of the overall marketing strategy of firms. Consequently, there…
Abstract
Academicians and practitioners alike recognise that logistics services and operating systems are an integral part of the overall marketing strategy of firms. Consequently, there is a need for an ongoing, interactive review of actual logistics system performance, so that firms can achieve operating systems improvements as well as select and implement the most profitable corporate strategies.
This paper provides a brief historical sketch of cable and telephone regulation in the USA, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the legacy that precedes contemporary debates…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides a brief historical sketch of cable and telephone regulation in the USA, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the legacy that precedes contemporary debates over competing models of digital networks, and to question the justifications offered for regulating such networks as private property with no corresponding public service obligations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on historical research to examine the rationales that have been used for cable and telephone regulation, based on the use of legal documents (statutes, regulations, court rulings).
Findings
The historic justifications that have been used to protect telecommunications from competition amounts to what is known as “corporate welfare”. Today's cable and telephone networks, and the accumulated wealth of the corporations that own them, would not have been possible without the willingness of regulators to favor particular firms and business models, and to protect these firms from competition under the rationale that these networks are “natural monopolies”.
Originality/value
Today's digital networks have been built on the wealth and market dominance that was made possible by protection from competition and the guaranteed rates of return that regulation permitted. Consequently, the property rights that have been afforded to network owners should be accompanied by responsibilities, namely, in the form of public service obligations.
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One of the less observed results of transportation deregulation has been the explosive growth of transportation intermediaries or third‐party specialists such as brokers…
Abstract
One of the less observed results of transportation deregulation has been the explosive growth of transportation intermediaries or third‐party specialists such as brokers, shippers' agents and integrated leasing companies for use by industrial purchasers and marketing management. Such transportation intermediaries have the performance potential and apparent reasons for existence to suggest that they can both reduce delivered product costs and enhance service quality attributes to promote a company's competitive advantage. In a broader sense, intermediaries may be ideally positioned to assist in coordinating and processing information for the entire value‐added chain.
Snehamay Banerjee and Damodar Y. Golhar
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is rapidly becoming integrated in awide range of businesses. EDI usage is expected to increase in theimmediate future. This high growth in a…
Abstract
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is rapidly becoming integrated in a wide range of businesses. EDI usage is expected to increase in the immediate future. This high growth in a potentially paperless environment presents a variety of security risks, such as disclosure of messages, tampering with messages, etc. Current legal and contract‐related literature dealing with paper documents is not equipped to deal with such problems. Identifies different types of security risks and EDI agreements, and examines potential security risks under these agreements. Discusses future research directions. This synthesis should be useful to EDI users and researchers.
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Noel D. Uri and Paul R. Zimmerman
In 1999 the Federal Communications Commission adopted an order granting complete deregulation of the rates for special access service for specific metropolitan statistical areas…
Abstract
In 1999 the Federal Communications Commission adopted an order granting complete deregulation of the rates for special access service for specific metropolitan statistical areas based on an objective showing that there was potential competition in that market. This was done in an environment where the local exchange carriers (LECs) subject to price caps were earning a rate of return in excess of 22 percent, with the rate of return on an upward trend. By 2002, the average rate of return across all price cap LECs topped 35 percent. The question that is investigated in this paper is whether the price cap LECs have market power in supplying special access service and whether they have taken advantage of this. The data clearly show that this is the case. Given the prevailing situation, there is a clear need to revisit the pricing flexibility order. First, the product market for special access service needs to be more carefully examined. Second, the metrics used to define the potential for competition need to be revamped.
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