Flexible Interpretation Research Articles

NEW THREATS TO CYBER SECURITY OF INTERNET SPACE AND POSSIBLE LEGAL WAYS OF THEIR PREVENTION

The relevance of the article lies in the fact that it contains answers to the most pressing issues related to ensuring users’ safety in the Internet space. The article contains an analysis of the problems of legal regulation of relations in the digital environment, measures to counter modern threats to cyber security. Purpose: to analyze the main theoretical positions on the specifics of legal regulation of Internet relations, development of doctrinal approaches to the legal impact on the Internet space. Methods: the author uses the method of formal legal analysis, the method of interpreting legal norms, describing and interpreting scientific doctrines. General scientific methods such as methods of dialectics, comparison, and formal logic are used. Results: based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the potential of the current legal regulation is clearly insufficient to counter cyber security threats. On the ground of a synergistic approach, the interdisciplinary aspects of the stated problems are considered. It is concluded that digitalization processes in some sense «control» the legal matter, motivating the law enforcement officer to a more flexible interpretation of legal norms in order to ensure their operation in the digital environment. One of the ways to overcome methodological problems of law in the digital age is the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach, which, due to the synergy of cognitive potentials of scientific disciplines, is able to enhance the effect of the impact of law, and will allow overcoming negative processes in the digital environment.

A Gloss to the Supreme Court’s Resolution of 26 July 2017 (III CZP 30/17) concerning the Exclusive Fault of a Third Party as an Exonerating Circumstance

In the said Resolution, the Supreme Court held that in order for a person running an enterprise or an establishment which are set in motion by natural forces to be effectively released from liability, it was not necessary to identify an entity in question (Article 435 of the Polish Civil Code). It was sufficient to demonstrate that the person in question was of sound mind, i.e. unlikely to be found guilty. According to the Supreme Court, such a flexible interpretation was supported by both systemic reasons and the fact that the liability based on Article 435 of the Civil Code was very strict. It was a question of the increased danger linked to risk-based liability, as the provision itself did not require the subjective criterion to be applied. It was sufficient to prove the objective premises (absolute certainty was not necessary). The author of this gloss points out that the proposed interpretation of the above-mentioned exonerating circumstance significantly weakens the situation of an injured party, who, in many cases, is not be able to obtain compensation either from the entity running an enterprise or from a third party (since it has not been identified) or from the liability insurer. Consequently, it indirectly weakens the extended protection provided to the victim in the risk-based liability. Moreover, it requires a hypothetical assumption not only of the guilt of an unidentified third party, but also of the fact that it is a third party who is in no way connected with the motion of an undertaking (enterprise). Finally, the author raises other objections, especially given that the aforementioned interpretation could be applied under Article 435 of the Civil Code and in all cases of risk-based liability as well.

Álitamál tengd innleiðingu hæfnimiðaðs námsmats í skyldunámi

Rannsóknastofa um námskrár, námsmat og námsskipulag stóð fyrir tveimur málþingum um námskrár og námsmat á vordögum 2019. Gestur fyrra málþingsins var hollenski námskrárfræðingurinn Jan van den Akker og á seinna málþinginu fluttu fimm hérlendir sérfræðingar erindi um innleiðingu nýs námsmatskerfis í skyldunámi. Undanfarin misseri hefur átt sér stað umræða um þetta kerfi eins og það var kynnt í núgildandi aðalnámskrá fyrir skyldunám. Skotið hafa upp kollinum áhugaverð álitamál og spurningar þessu tengdar. Þar má í fyrsta lagi nefna spurninguna um miðlæga samræmingu hæfniviðmiða og mats. Í öðru lagi beinast augu manna að faglegri ábyrgð kennara og um leið vaxandi vinnuálagi þeirra við námsmat sem er samofið námi og kennslu. Í þriðja lagi þarf að gefa nýjum hugtökum gaum og beitingu þeirra eða öllu heldur nýjum orðum yfir kunnugleg hugtök. Í fjórða lagi koma við sögu gamalkunnar hugmyndastefnur í námskrárfræðum og áhrif þeirra á setningu markmiða og hæfniviðmiða. Loks hafa vaknað spurningar um samband leiðsagnarmats og lokamats og aðferðir þar að lútandi. Markmið greinarinnar er að rýna nánar í þessi álitamál með vísan í rannsóknir og kenningar annars vegar og hins vegar erindi þeirra sem töluðu á málþingunum. Meginniðurstaða höfundar er að víðtækt mat á hæfni hljóti að stuðla að auknu réttmæti og þar með sanngjarnara mati öllum til meiri hagsbóta en áður tíðkaðist. Að sama skapi krefst framkvæmd slíks mats aukinnar matsfræðiþekkingar og faglegrar ábyrgðar kennara og stjórnenda. Um leið má þó ljóst vera að viðmið um hæfni og mat í hinu nýja kerfi eru á margan hátt óljós og því auknar líkur á ósamræmi í mati frá einum skóla til annars.

An Old Mechanism, Imitation, Geared for Socio-Material Knowing in a "Day in the Life" of First Graders.

This paper adopts sociomateriality as a theoretical lens to further our understanding of how imitation acts to support the use of objects, and in doing so, constitutes a sociomaterial practice. Within a sociomaterial perspective we aimed to perform the analysis of imitation as a powerful way to learn how to use objects embedded into the practices within which the objects are constituted. The contribution of this approach is illustrated using the findings of the application of the quasi-ecological Day in the Life (DITL) methodology to the everyday lives of two 6-year-old children. Within a case-study frame, we traced the children’s imitation behaviors focused on the use of objects during an entire day of their life, the various people and practices with which they were associated, the multiple sociomaterial configurations that the objects assume, and the social and material consequences of their use. Imitation appears to be is a complex activity, involving multiple stakeholders who interact in order to facilitate the understanding of various artifacts across diverse knowledge domains, and enhance their interpretive flexibility across communities of practice.

Problems and contradictions of international migration statistics

Analysis of problems and trends in the field of international migration development is impossible without reliable statistical data. Particular economic importance for any country including Russia are data on the flows of labor migrants, which have a great impact on the domestic labor market, gross domestic product, balance of payments. International organizations, including United Nations bodies, haven’t worked out single recommendations on proceeding migration statistics, stratification of migration flows. The universal worldwide technique with border and internal migrant calculation principles regarding flows and stocks of labor migrants is absent at the moment.The author focuses on key discrepancies of national migration statistics in different countries and widely practiced flexible interpretation of it by Western politicians and mass media, therefore, the acuteness of migration problems in the Western countries (first, in the European Union) is overestimated and, on the contrary, migration difficulties of such countries as Russia, Iran, Turkey are downgraded or fully ignored. The difficulties in the calculation of international migration, arising from the ambiguous interpretation of the concept of “migrant”, have been indicated. Three approaches – residence outside the country of birth, citizenship, place of usual daily rest – often conflict with each other, when it is necessary to establish the true country of origin of the migrant.The shortcomings of the main sources of information about immigrants: population census, administrative records, population surveys have been also analyzed in the article. New phenomena in international migration flows, such as “cross-motivation” of migrants and migration without going abroad, require their understanding.

The Grand Concepts of Environmental Studies Boundary objects between disciplines and policymakers

Inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration is necessary in order to take on the environmental challenges facing humanity. Different disciplines, stakeholders, and policymakers need to work together to produce the knowledge necessary to create effective and just courses of action to counteract environmental problems. Recently, the notion of ‘boundary objects’ has been increasingly used within environmental studies to explain how some objects facilitate communication across the boundaries between different groups of actors. Due to their vague use in common contexts and specific use in each group, these objects let groups retain their own understanding while still communicating successfully with others. Novel concepts like ‘resilience’, ‘ecosystem services’, and ‘sustainability’ are due to their interpretive flexibility commonly described as boundary objects. However, in order to implement these concepts in concrete policy, some amount of standardization is needed. This presents a tension with the vagueness required for the facilitation of communication. This paper explicates whether and how novel concepts in environmental studies can be usefully understood as boundary objects. I review how boundary objects have been applied in the literature surrounding inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations, focusing especially on instances where concepts were considered to be boundary objects. I suggest that novel concepts in environmental studies can be understood as both ‘grand concepts’ in their most widespread use and as ‘hubs and spokes’ in local contexts. This allows for both vagueness at the macro level and standardization at the local level. I also explore how models, frameworks, and data have been successfully used as boundary objects.

An Origin of Citations: Darwin's Collaborators and Their Contributions to the Origin of Species.

In the first edition of the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin apologized for not correctly referencing all the works cited in his magnum opus. More than 150years later we have catalogued these citations and analyzed the resultant data. Looking for a complete selection of collaborators, a flexible interpretation of the term citation was necessary; we define it as any reference made to a third party, independently of its form or function. Following the same idea, the sixth edition of the Origin, originally published in 1872 and reprinted with minor additions and corrections in 1876, was chosen for the research because it represents the end of a long debate between Darwin and his peers. It naturally is the edition with the greatest number of citations and collaborators. Through a diverse theoretical analysis, we aim to present a new perspective for the study of the Origin of Species: a bibliographic approach that provides the tools needed to understand the history of the book as a physical and cultural object. Bibliometrics provides a theory of citations as well as a quantitative analysis; science studies highlights the profound social aspects of science in the making. The analysis resulted in 639 citations to 298 collaborators and provided a new perspective of the rhetorical structure of the Origin, even though these results are only the tip of the iceberg of the potential of all the data gathered in this study.

Beyond prohibition: responses to illicit drugs in West Africa in an evolving policy context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss priorities for effective responses to illicit drugs in West Africa in a changing international policy environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzes published research, technical papers and reports on drug use and policy responses in West Africa and opines on priorities for drug policy in the region within the post-United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) 2016 policy environment. Findings Drug use and related harms continue to increase in West African countries despite efforts to reduce drug trafficking and use through legal prohibition. The UNGASS 2016 outcome document enables flexibility in policy interpretation and implementation, which provides an opportunity for governments to prioritize national needs in drug policy. West African countries should prioritize and support research and data collection, prevention, treatment and harm reduction and sustainable livelihoods. Originality/value The paper emphasizes the need for West African countries to seize the opportunity created by the ineffectiveness and weakening of the prohibition regime as well as new treaty flexibility following UNGASS 2016 to reform drug policies to prioritize regional and national needs.

Rewriting the Bible

When Protestant preachers interpret the Bible, the particular translation can constrain the apparent alignment between sermon and text. To improve alignment, preachers can appeal to the original biblical languages to rewrite the translation. Following the interpretive stases, a classical rhetorical theory of the issues that arise in arguments over textual meaning, this article identifies nine interpretive functions these sermonic appeals can serve. Appearing in diverse theological, political, and cultural Protestant contexts, these appeals increase the text’s interpretive flexibility and strengthen the biblical support for a claim. Examining these appeals raises important questions about preaching, biblical interpretation, and power in Protestantism.

The impact of educational policies in higher education in the context of sustainable development

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of educational policies in higher education in the context of sustainable development and identifies agents for positive change in reorienting societies towards sustainable development. The analyses highlight different effective implementation mechanisms of government policies to progress sustainable development. Interpretive and decision-making flexibility provides a new framework and new opportunities for evaluating the concept of sustainability in various academic traditions, at different management university levels, as well as for monitoring of the educational process in universities.

A Brief History of Cannabis and the Drug Conventions

“Drugs” have been regulated at the international level since 1912, while cannabis has been specifically regulated since 1925. Contemporary local, national, and international cannabis regulations are now diverging, with some jurisdictions legalising its recreational production, sale and consumption. This essay explores the legal and historical complexity and contingencies around the development of international cannabis regulations and prohibitions. It highlights that the global drug control system was not solely focused on prohibition and instead was a complex mix of regulations underpinned by frequently ill-defined and unclear prohibitions. It argues that the international drug control system should not serve as a bar to national-level reforms and that the two can continue to coexist. The essay favors a flexible, functional and pragmatic interpretation and implementation of the system as the most likely and indeed preferred outcome of international cannabis policy reforms.

Cluster validity indices for mixture hazards regression models.

In the analysis of survival data, the problems of competing risks arise frequently in medical applications where individuals fail from multiple causes. Semiparametric mixture regression models have become a prominent approach in competing risks analysis due to their flexibility and easy interpretation of resultant estimates. The literature presents several semiparametric methods on the estimations for mixture Cox proportional hazards models, but fewer works appear on the determination of the number of model components and the estimation of baseline hazard functions using kernel approaches. These two issues are important because both incorrect number of components and inappropriate baseline functions can lead to insufficient estimates of mixture Cox hazard models. This research thus proposes four validity indices to select the optimal number of model components based on the posterior probabilities and residuals resulting from the application of an EM-based algorithm on a mixture Cox regression model. We also introduce a kernel approach to produce a smooth estimate of the baseline hazard function in a mixture model. The effectiveness and the preference of the proposed cluster indices are demonstrated through a simulation study. An analysis on a prostate cancer dataset illustrates the practical use of the proposed method.

Complementary and alternative medicine and social medicalization: lack of definitions, risks, and potentials in primary healthcare

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) need to be increasingly understood in the academic and research setting, given their growing inclusion in health institutions and scientific studies. However, vague definitions or broad generalizations are common in the Brazilian scientific literature, an example of which is the relationship between CAM and social medicalization. This study aims to discuss the medicalizing and de-medicalizing potential of the use of CAM, especially in primary healthcare (PHC). This essay summarizes the underlying lack of definition concerning the medicalizing and de-medicalizing potential of various CAM, based on the selected literature, which reports theoretical and empirical convergences. The exercise of CAM in the clinical context has a medicalizing potential, due to its positive, expanded, and holistic conception of health and its etiological multidimensionality, potentially generating so-called "holistic illness", which has been reported theoretically and empirically. CAM also have de-medicalizing potential, depending on the practitioner, due to greater interpretative flexibility, contextualization, singularization, users' participation in the care, closer clinical relationship, the values and traditions of some CAM, diversity of interventions, and the potential for enrichment of self-care. The medicalizing or de-medicalizing potential of various CAM is activated by their practitioners, and the context of PHC tends to favors the de-medicalizing potential.

Evolucija sudske prakse u pogledu tumačenja standarda posredne odgovornosti u žigovnom pravu SAD

Secondary liability, according to the general rules on liability, is based on the issue of conscientiousness, in other words whether the intermediary knew or should have known that the right was infringed through his service. In U.S. law, the secondary liability standard is a result of case law. This paper presents the evolution of case law regarding the interpretation of secondary liability standard in U.S. trademark law. This standard was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in Inwood Laboratories Inc. v. Ives Laboratories Inc. regarding the liability of manufacturers and distributors. In the decades that followed, the U.S. Courts, with their creative interpretations, extended the scope of application of this standard, first to intermediary market operators, and later to online service providers (internet intermediaries). Also, the development of digital technology has influenced the case law to adapt the secondary liability standard for trademark infringement to the new circumstances in the digital environment. The most significant cases in this context are Hard Rock Café Licensing v. Concession Services, Inc., Tiffany Inc. v. eBay Inc. and Rosetta Stone Ltd. v. Google Inc. Finally, 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. Lens.com, Inc. demonstrates a slight turn of the U.S. Courts' practices towards a more flexible interpretation of secondary liability standard to online service providers.

A Question of Time: HQ Trivia and Mobile Streaming Temporality

A Question of Time: HQ Trivia and Mobile Streaming Temporality

복지포인트의 임금성 - 대법원 2019.8.22. 선고 2016다48785 판결(전합) 중심으로 -

The Supreme Court recently determined that welfare-point was not wage (Supreme Courten banc Decision). As a result of the judgment, welfare-point is not, of course, included in ordinary wage.BR The majority opinion took the position of that welfare-point is derived from flexible employee benefit system, moreover, it is not wage because it is based on The FRAMEWORK ACT ON LABOR WELFARE. Among the financial advantage paid by employers to employees, it gave them room for employee benefit, not wages, to be officially established.BR However, it is not appropriate to actively consider employee benefit based on U.S. notions that have evolved around Company Welfare, even from legal judgment. The name welfare cannot be regarded as a criterion or an obstacle in determining wage. Rather, wage should be judged from a legal point of view. Although the company paid financial advantage to the worker in the name employee benefits, however, if it continues to be paid and has a payment obligation and the employee can dispose of the financial advantages paid, it should be regarded as a wage.BR The majority opinion is that the allocation of welfare-point cannot be regarded as a payment of wages. The majority opinion did not accept a flexible interpretation of the new method of payment.BR However, if an employee is granted the right to dispose of the financial advantages and, in effect, the employee is entitled to the disposal of the property interest, a flexible interpretation of all these means of payment of wages is also necessary.BR Therefore, allocating welfare-point to workers constitutes a payment of wages in itself.BR In addition, if the allocation of welfare-point means that wage payment exists, the assigned welfare-point should also be regarded as equivalent to ordinary wages. This is because the actual use or result of use does not affect the fixedness of determining ordinary wages because it is already a consideration for the work.BR There are concerns that the Supreme Court’s ruling could create an opportunity to narrow down the scope of future wages. In addition, the employer actively utilizes employee benefit ,which is not recognized in terms of wages, as a negotiating strategy for workers, I am very worried because worker interests can be violated.

El FOGASA ante el despido de quien se integra en la mercantil que prosigue la actividad

En contextos de crisis económica, es un fenómeno reconocible el intento de quienes vieron extinguido su contrato de trabajo por cierre de empresa, de reactivar la actividad productiva, constituyendo sociedades limitadas que, con mimbres distintos a los de la economía social, reactivan la actividad de aquella mercantil insolvente o concursada aprovechando su experiencia laboral y los contactos con antiguos proveedores y clientes. Dicha “reconstrucción” de la empresa quebrada se percibe en muchos casos, por el Fondo de Garantía Salarial, como un fenómeno sucesorio que elimina el derecho de dichos trabajadores a percibir las indemnizaciones derivadas de aquella extinción contractual que el órgano de garantía no considera como tal. En este trabajo pretendemos distinguir aquellos supuestos en los que concurre la auténtica sucesión de empresa que neutraliza la intervención del Fondo de Garantía Salarial, de aquellos otros casos en que, siguiendo la interpretación flexibilizadora de nuestros Tribunales ante un panorama de destrucción y escasez del empleo como el actual, se considera compatible la compensación indemnizatoria por el empleo perdido con la nueva prestación laboral que surgió de las cenizas de la vieja empresa. In contexts of economic crisis, the attempt of those who saw their contract expired due to the closing of the company is a recognizable phenomenon, revive productive activity, constituting limited societies that, with different tools from the social economy, they revive the activity of that insolvent or bankrupt company taking advantage of their work experience, and contacts with former suppliers and customers. This “reconstruction” of the bankrupt company is perceived in many cases, by the Wage Guarantee Fund, as a succession phenomenon which eliminates the right of such workers to receive compensation arising from that contractual extinction which the guarantee body does not consider as such. In this project we intend to distinguish those assumptions in which the true company succession concurs and which neutralizes the intervention of the Wage Guarantee Fund, those other cases in which, following the flexible interpretation of our courts faced with a panorama of destruction and scarcity of employment as the current, compensation for jobs lost with the new labour provision that arose from the ashes of the old company is considered to be compatible.

Predefined criteria and interpretative flexibility in legal courts' evaluation of expertise.

This study examines two different approaches in empirical analysis of judges' evaluation of expertise in court: first, an analyst-based approach that employs predefined normative criteria to measure judges' performance, and second, an actor-based approach that emphasizes interpretative flexibility in judges' evaluation practice. I demonstrate how these different approaches to investigating judges' adjudication lead to differing understandings about judges' abilities to evaluate scientific evidence and testimonial. Although the choice of analytical approach might depend on context and purpose in general, I contend that in assessing judges' competence, an actor-based approach that adequately describes the way in which judges relate to and handle expertise is required to properly understand and explain how judges evaluate expertise. The choice of approach is especially important if the resulting understanding of judges' competence is subsequently used as a basis for making normative and prescriptive claims with potential consequences for trial outcomes.

Управленческое проектирование коммуникационной политики органов государственной власти субъектов Российской Федерации в условиях утверждения информационного общества

The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical model of the communication policy of public authorities of the Russian Federation under the conditions of the information society development and justification of the critical conditions of its implementation. The methodological background of the study is a problem analysis of existing communication practices of public authorities to identify the key integrative problems that hinder the achievement of the goal of effective communication policy for the development of the information society. These include: consideration of the technological factor as a key element and the conditions for the formation of the information society; a significant emphasis on national security, understood in a restrictive, isolationist sense; the construction of state communication policy on the basis of a unified, unidirectional communication process; the communication gap from other stakeholders of the information society; identification of communication with information. These problems were decomposed and transformed into governance challenges, and the communication process of public authorities in Russia was designed taking into account the goals of the information society development and selected governance challenges. The results of the analysis justify the need to shift the emphasis of the formation and development of communication policy from the technological to the social one, namely, the formation of stakeholders of the information society, which includes public servants. Continuous training for the development of relevant knowledge and skills becomes an integral element of communication policy. The study also concluded that it is necessary to replace the restrictive, isolationist connotation of state security with a broader and more flexible interpretation of security as sustainable development. Using sustainable development as a metaphor (message) for stakeholder engagement, a clear communication policy model should be developed that takes into account the principles that follow from the theory of the information society and the communication theory of power.

Assessing inter-individual differences with task-related functional neuroimaging

Explaining and predicting individual behavioural differences induced by clinical and social factors constitutes one of the most promising applications of neuroimaging. In this Perspective, we discuss the theoretical and statistical foundations of the analyses of inter-individual differences in task-related functional neuroimaging. Leveraging a five-year literature review (July 2013-2018), we show that researchers often assess how activations elicited by a variable of interest differ between individuals. We argue that the rationale for such analyses, typically grounded in resource theory, offers an over-large analytical and interpretational flexibility that undermines their validity. We also recall how, in the established framework of the general linear model, inter-individual differences in behaviour can act as hidden moderators and spuriously induce differences in activations. We conclude with a set of recommendations and directions, which we hope will contribute to improving the statistical validity and the neurobiological interpretability of inter-individual difference analyses in task-related functional neuroimaging.