Role Of Public Interest Research Articles

Disrupting the Neoliberal Capitalist Media Agenda in South Africa:

Neoliberalism has been described as the most successful ideology in world history (Anders-son 2000). This has, in turn, impacted the modern media by dumbing down its public interest role, through cultivating concentrated media ownership patterns, which has produced hyper-commercial and elitist-driven content. This paper has the broad aim of provoking discussions and debates both for the Global South and Global North geospatial locations grappling with these neoliberal consequences, by considering what systemic alternative(s) to capitalist me-dia can be considered. It specifically explores the return of the anti-capitalist alternative media to South Africa’s print media terrain to function in a developmental role. With the aim to dilute the neoliberal capitalist nature of its media that has effectively perpetuated the dominance of the elite class at the expense of citizen-oriented and public interest imperatives (Govenden 2022). It furthers this argument by also comparatively drawing on two BRICS country case studies from Asia i.e. China and India.

Protecting Street Art and Graffiti as Artistic Works Under Indian Copyright Law: An Analysis

ABSTRACT Street art, known for its temporary nature and presence in public spaces, faces challenges in copyright protection. Despite these hurdles, street art is increasingly recognized as a legitimate artistic expression warranting copyright safeguards. This abstract explores how street art can be protected under copyright law, beginning with its definition and qualification as an artistic work under copyright statutes. It addresses practical and legal issues such as authorship, ownership, and the impact of public location. This study illustrates different approaches to protecting street art through circumstances and some legal precedents. It also examines the role of moral rights and public interest in balancing artists' rights with property rights and urban aesthetics. The abstract proposes legal reforms or policy interventions to enhance copyright protection for street art while maintaining its cultural integrity, contributing to the discourse on the intersection of copyright law and urban art.

Socioeconomic and territorial dynamics of bullfighting in contemporary Spain

This paper explores the territorial, economic, and social factors that affect the evolution of bullfighting festivities in Spain. Using data from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, we employ panel data regression models to analyze bullfighting celebrations from 2011 to 2019 before the COVID pandemic. The main findings include the significant role of public interest and attendance in bullfights, the heterogeneity of regions responses to the decline in festivities, and the influence of rural depopulation on this decline. Additionally, political factors, particularly support for animal welfare parties, negatively affect bullfighting celebrations, while economic indicators show no significant impact during the study period.

Public Service Innovation in Barru District, Indonesia: A Qualitative Investigation

Public policy as an instrument that seeks to synergize the role of government and public interest can be said to be currently not running optimally. The existence of policies that are canceled or revised by the government is an indication of overlapping policies and the low ability to innovate and willingness to innovate of public officials even though innovation. This study aims to analyze public service innovation in the Barru district. The type of research to be used is qualitative descriptive. The selection of this type is based on the aim of obtaining a complete and realistic description of service innovation. Research Findings that the innovation of improving administrative services has largely not met the expectations of the community. There are still various obstacles that need to be fixed so that the innovations carried out are truly of high quality and provide new hopes that can satisfy the public. It can be concluded that the innovation of improving administrative services has largely not met the expectations of the community. There are still various obstacles that need to be fixed so that the innovations carried out are truly of high quality and provide new hopes that can satisfy the public. Recommendations The era of digitalization that is growing rapidly in the field of Technology, Information, and Communication in the world today has an impact on the implementation of internet-based government or e-government at the central level to the local government level.

Regulatory space in local government audit: An international comparative study of 20 countries

IMPACT Auditing fulfils a public interest role for public spending, which is important to underpin the state and democracy. However, public sector auditing is under increasing public scrutiny and political pressure, especially following crises that challenge public finances including at state and local level. This article provides a comparative analysis of the development of auditing practices in governments internationally at both local and state level. To do so it analyses themes of ‘organization and fragmentation’, ‘independence and competition’, ‘audit scope’, and ‘inspection/performance assessment’. This will help inform academics, policy-makers and practitioners of contemporary practice to improve their own regulatory space.

Role of public interest in Trademark Law

AbstractTrademark Laws should be understood in light of public interest in protecting the public from falling into the trap of confusion, and not as rights that are excluded from scrutiny. It aims to protect trade symbols to avoid the likelihood of confusion among consumers. It is to be seen whether the broad protection is giving any benefit to consumers or it is serving badly the public interest by shielding firms from healthy competition. Broad legal protection to the trade symbols can sometimes disserve the competition and harms the consumer and larger public as well. The paper questions and analyses the objectives of Trademark Law. Are these trademarks untouchable? Can perpetual monopoly be ever touched on public interest grounds? Can public interest grounds supersede economic interests of individual trademark owners? It can be believed that trademarks can definitely be touched and can be objected on the grounds based on public interests. Also, it must be remembered that intellectual property is not a positive right to use the mark but a negative right to stop others from exploiting it. Thus, the ban on controversial brands can very well be held if found obscene or scandalous in nature or if hitting public interest.

Public interest in administrative law

Today the concept of “public interest” plays a significant role in public law. It would then be important to define the concept for better understanding and application in administrative law. The paper is devoted to the analysis of the definition of «public interest». The uncertainty of the concept in the legislation is noted. The questions of genesis of concept of «interest» in law; division of right into private and public; division of interest into private and public interest. Considered views on the definition of interest in law. The exercise of public interest by organs of public administration by issuing administrative acts is specified. The meaning of public interest has been defined. The role of public interest in the activities of public administration bodies has been established. The importance of balancing individual and collective interests was emphasized. The types of public interest are defined, and the concept of public interest in administrative law is enshrined in domestic legislation. The ambiguity of the legal acts defining the types of public interest that are laid down in the legislation is indicated. Special features of public interest have been formed. It is further stated that the public interest is the content of the legal relationship between citizens and the public administration. The importance of State guarantees for the possibility of realizing a public interest has been established. With the help of the powers of the local State administrations, signs of public interest were examined. It has been established that it is possible for public authorities to define the concept of public interest. The use of types of public interest in legal proceedings, the safeguarding and realization of public interest by administrative law and the importance of a legislative definition of public interest have been proved. The opinion defines the concept of public interest in administrative law as a set of private interests in administrative legal relations which (aggregate) It is provided by appropriate legal means and is implemented through executive administrative acts. In addition, the report indicates the main features of public interest.

Acting in the public interest: accounting for the vulnerable

This article seeks to initiate research around the potential roles of the accounting profession for tackling the challenges of the vulnerable. Its backdrop is the current consideration of the profession’s public interest role. The importance of dialogue around the public interest role is evidenced by the increasing levels of vulnerability, even within developed countries. Accounting underpinned by broader values has potential to provide knowledge of issues relating to the vulnerable. However, the accounting profession has only engaged with such potential to a limited degree. The article overviews existing knowledge and areas within which more research is required. In order to illustrate the potential for such research, initial findings from two case studies of homelessness (an example of the vulnerable) provide evidence as to the importance, and challenges, of accounting for the vulnerable. This article highlights the need to: take a principles-based approach in defining the vulnerable, undertake an accounting that reflects the lives they value, acknowledge that there are different ways for addressing these issues, recognise that an absence of perfect numbers should not become a barrier to action, and that accounting for the vulnerable is one way that the accounting profession may discharge their public interest roles.

Interes publiczny w systemie gospodarki przestrzennej

<p>Celem artykułu było określenie roli interesu publicznego w systemie gospodarki przestrzennej. Do jego zrealizowania wykorzystano perspektywę dwóch dyscyplin: prawa i polityki publicznej. Wskazano, że interes publiczny w systemie gospodarki przestrzennej musi być nieodłącznie powiązany z ładem przestrzennym. Ta perspektywa nie jest obecnie wystarczająco uwzględniana przy wykładni przepisów związanych z planowaniem i zagospodarowaniem przestrzennym. W artykule wskazano przepisy wymagające szczególnego podkreślenia w kontekście realizacji polityki przestrzennej powiązanej z dbałością o ochronę interesu publicznego.</p>

Regulators Nurturing FinTech Innovation: Global Evolution of the Regulatory Sandbox as Opportunity Based Regulation

The regulatory sandbox is a real world alternative to regulatory lag. Its emergence as a novel regulatory development responds to challenges faced by FinTech innovators in navigating an unwieldy regulatory landscape not designed with FinTech in mind. Regulatory sandboxes are in operation in developed countries including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within the EU they are seen in Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands. The concept has also gained traction with regulators in developing countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius and Thailand. Not only is the regulatory sandbox an experimental space for firms testing innovative FinTech products and services, it is also a novel regulatory experiment for regulators. This article advances the available literature through focusing on the contradictions inherent in the role of the regulator in administering a regulatory sandbox. It characterises the regulatory sandbox as a form of agile, opportunity-based regulation, distinguished by a regulatory approach that is concerned with actively supporting innovators in nurturing cutting-edge innovation to benefit innovators, consumers, investors, and the wider economy. This is path-breaking regulatory territory. In its provision and design a regulatory sandbox phenomenon performs a crucial positioning function in relation to a given financial system’s receptivity to FinTech business. An economic, pro-innovation agenda is at work. Distinct policy questions are therefore raised regarding the legitimate role of public gatekeeper financial services regulators operating regulatory sandboxes. The role of a regulatory sandbox in nurturing and expanding competition suggests a public interest role in the interests of consumer choice, price and efficiency rather than simply on risk minimisation. However, pressure on regulators to produce sandbox successes and to compete with other sandboxes may influence the exercise of regulatory discretion and produce regulatory distortions that affect competition in FinTech markets.

Liberty or Licentiousness: Disinsenting Disparaging and Scandalous Marks Post-Tam and Brunetti

Recently, the US. Supreme Court struck down two provisions of section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. The provisions prohibiting the registration of disparaging marks and the prohibition on registering immoral or trademarks. In both cases, the court found that the regulation was not viewpoint neutral as required by the First Amendment. Of the challenged provisions, only the term scandalous is susceptible to a narrowing interpretation. Petty vulgar or offensive terms are on par without societal norms. This article contends that the worst of these terms should not receive trademark incentives to encourage their registration. As the dissents note in Burnetti, scandalous, if narrowly limited to the indecent or vulgar could be subject to some regulation of the manner of the speech and not the content. This article suggests that Congress change the law and bring the most offensive of epithets such as the N-word, C-word, etc. in as terms rather disparaging terms. It is unlikely that Congress will do so. Therefore, this article reviews the basic principles of trademark law and concludes that these terms will rarely serve a trademark function in the marketplace, and therefore, profane marks should not be protected under trademark law. Finally, for the rare marks that survive this scrutiny, equity may provide a solution. The article concludes by reviewing the history of morality in intellectual property and its role in equity. The doctrine of a public interest role in fashioning an equitable remedy is sufficiently broad to allow a court to consider the effects of the mark on society in determining whether to grant an injunction and the scope of the order.

"Regulators Nurturing Fintech Innovation: Global Evolution of the Regulatory Sandbox as Opportunity-Based Regulation"

"The regulatory sandbox is a real-world alternative to regulatory lag. Its emergence as a novel regulatory development responds to challenges faced by FinTech innovators in navigating an unwieldy regulatory landscape not designed with FinTech in mind. Regulatory sandboxes are in operation in developed countries including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within the European Union they are seen in Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands. The concept has also gained traction with regulators in developing countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius and Thailand. Not only is the regulatory sandbox an experimental space for firms testing innovative FinTech products and services, it is also a novel regulatory experiment for regulators. This article advances the available literature through focusing on the contradictions inherent in the role of the regulator in administering a regulatory sandbox. It characterises the regulatory sandbox as a form of agile, opportunity-based regulation, distinguished by a regulatory approach that is concerned with actively supporting innovators in nurturing cutting-edge innovation to benefit innovators, consumers, investors, and the wider economy. This is path-breaking regulatory territory. In its provision and design, a regulatory sandbox performs a crucial signalling function in relation to a given financial system’s receptivity to FinTech business. An economic, pro-innovation agenda is at work. Distinct policy questions are therefore raised regarding the legitimate role of public gatekeeper financial services regulators operating regulatory sandboxes. The role of a regulatory sandbox in nurturing and expanding competition suggests a public interest role in the interests of consumer choice, price and efficiency rather than simply on risk minimisation. However, pressure on regulators to produce sandbox successes and to compete with other sandboxes may influence the exercise of regulatory discretion and produce regulatory distortions that affect competition in FinTech markets."

Is social media intelligence private? Privacy in public and the nature of social media intelligence

ABSTRACTSOCMINT (SOCial Media INTelligence) is increasingly considered relevant and cost efficient information, and the exploitation of social media information in the name of security and public safety is generally regarded as unproblematic. We will critically scrutinize this claim and argue that the exploitation of such information by Intelligence and Security Services raises new ethical concerns. Drawing on recent moral discussions about privacy, we will argue that individuals have an interest in privacy in public spaces, including online spaces. We will discuss the role of such public privacy interests and argue that the systematic surveillance of social media platforms by security authorities potentially entail a negative chilling effect.

The safeguard of a rural landscape and of its use. Study on the western-south of Lazio (Italy).

The paper analyses the policy of the preservation and enhancement (from the economic point of view) of the rural landscape in the western-south of Lazio, and especially in the territory of Agro Pontino. The final act of the reclaimed land, during the Fascism, was realized with the development of the main preservation laws on what, nowadays, is defined as “cultural heritage” but, at that time, was described as “things of historical and artistic interests” and “natural beauties”. The development of the policy of the Italian preservation went in parallel with a deep interesting on the rural world, representing the base of the national economy. The paper starts from the Italian liberal policy of the first decade of the 20th century, considering the maturing attention on the Italian territory between the needs of the economic emergencies (and the rural settlement planning) and the necessary attention of the land management. The investigation on the interaction of the economic interests with the cultural (and political) necessity of the safeguard of the national territorymust underline the role of public and private interests, and their influence, on the use of the territories and on the realization of the marshes of the Agro Pontino, a new reclaimed geographical area, very close the beautiful land of the ancient Vulcan of Lazio (nowadays “Parco dei Castelli Romani”).

Management of Risk in Microbusiness

Good risk management is all about making the right decisions on how much risk should be taken, and how to handle the remaining risk. Done right, risk linked to given services is limited. It can be assessed using quantitative methods in order to identify the factors that influence it. Risk management is important in creating new growth opportunities and alleviating of poverty by way of job creation. Microfinance is even more important in this regard as it usually serves segments of population that are otherwise excluded from these services. It is a hard line to toe as serving a public interest role generally runs counter to the point of a business, namely generating profits. Every business has to at least be able to generate enough income to remain viable. In the microfinance world, that means that attention to detail has to be even more focused. Natural disasters or armed conflicts can`t always be foreseen, however preparations on handling the outcomes of these events can be made well in advance. Careful and repeated screening and monitoring is needed to provide successful operations. Good risk calculation is based on solid information on new market opportunities as well as existing operations. Periodic evaluations and improvements can ensure a healthy financial situation and solid growth. Promoting a culture that encourages good risk management is proving to be quite a challenge. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p185

Professionalism and Performance Incentives in Accounting Firms

SYNOPSIS This study investigates the structure of profit-sharing schemes and performance incentives within accounting firms. Accounting firms have a strong historical tradition of professionalism but they are also commercial entities. In particular, the audit function within accounting firms serves an important public interest role. Profit-sharing schemes and performance incentives play a valuable role in managing the tension between commercialism and professionalism. Interviews with partners from all Big 4 firms and four mid-tier firms were conducted to gain insights into details of the firms' profit-sharing schemes and performance incentives. We found that the Big 4 firms have established sophisticated commercial performance measurement systems in an attempt to accurately measure the contributions of individual partners, and a number of these metrics are nonfinancial in nature. The range of partner salaries within firms has increased significantly in recent years, providing a further reason for a greater focus on measuring performance. From our sample of mid-tier firms we found a trend toward similar profit-sharing and performance incentives as currently exist within the Big 4, suggesting mid-tier firms are also moving toward a more commercial business model.

“Tabloidization” or Dual-Convergence

This article engages with recent debates on “tabloidization,” applying a corpus linguistic approach to examine diachronic shifts in the language and values of quoted speech in tabloid and “quality” newspapers. While “tabloidization” is often portrayed as a spreading of tabloid news values to “quality” publications, empirical data depict a process of dual-convergence whereby the quoted speech of each publication type adopts the language and values initially characteristic of the other. The significance of “tabloidization”—which has been identified as a key and emblematic component of recent debates on the changing nature of mass media—draws largely from the public-interest role of newspapers whereby the press have been viewed as agents with the power to inform and represent members of the shifting public sphere(s).

Investigating the Need for Transparent Disclosures of Political Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures by U.S. Private Prison Corporations

ABSTRACTTransparency is a fundamental principle of good corporate governance. A disclosure is an important mechanism that enhances corporate governance through increased transparency and better informed stakeholders. When a government operation contractually assigns prison services to a nongovernment for-profit entity, then that entity is fulfilling a public interest role of incarceration and should be accountable to the citizen taxpayers (i.e., the stakeholders). Accountability is important. But what happens to accountability when the mission statements and business strategies of the nongovernment for-profit entities diverge from the original government operation? The private prison industry, annually, spends thousands and sometimes millions of dollars toward political campaigns and lobbyists to influence and educate legislatures as a part of their corporate political strategy to ensure a steady stream of growing revenues. Consequently, various laws have been implemented resulting from successful lobbying efforts that affect the public interest. These nontrivial amounts are not disclosed in their annual reports or proxy statements. However, this information is reported in a disaggregated way in various non-SEC filings. This study shows that tracking federal and state lobbying expenditures and political campaign contributions is a complicated task for a trained staff of researchers, and would be quite difficult for most stakeholders; thus, current reporting obscures transparency. I thus argue for greater transparency by requiring mandatory disclosures of political contributions and lobbying expenditures in the financial statements of publicly held private prison corporations. Benefits of audited annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission would enhance the reliability of management assertions about expenditures related to political contributions and lobbying costs reported by private prison corporations and the detailed information would be presented in a single, complete disclosure. This new disclosure requirement would improve corporate governance, increase accountability, decrease information asymmetry that exists between the private prison corporations and stakeholders, and allow external stakeholders to make informed judgments about whether those in the business of incarceration are fulfilling their public interest role.

The Role of Public Interest in Plant-Related Patents: A European Perspective

This paper discusses the influence of public interest in European patent legislation on plant-related issues. It briefly explains the implications of patentability of biological material for plant breeding and describes the interests of all the stakeholders involved in the matter. It argues that a balance between stakeholders' concerns is needed in order to promote public interest in plant-related patents. For clarity, the vague concept of "public interest" is explained in light of economic theory and it is further elaborated as a guidance for legislators. To this purpose, the importance of international legal acts (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol) as well as the European Citizens' Initiative introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is indicated.

Moral will, accounting and the phronemos

Abstract This commentary examines the work of Everett and Tremblay (2014) and their contribution to critical accounting. They examine three key ethical dilemmas that confront modern accounting practice. They examine a set of in-depth interviews, the autobiography of the former Vice President of Internal Audit of WorldCom, Cynthia Cooper, and the documents of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) to shed light on accounting and audit ethics. The dilemmas confronting the accounting profession are complex and multi-faceted, which they place in their socio-economic context using ideas from Pierre Bourdieu. I add ideas from Lovibond (2004) , MacIntyre (1984) and McDowell (1993) as well as audit work by Jere Francis. My solution involves accountants acting like the phronemos. The phronemos is Aristotle's term for a wise and ethical person who has the capacity to judge and act appropriately. This ideal of the phronemos is used to examine the ethical ambiguities in accounting that involve analyzing the critical role that accounting curricula, education and pedagogy play in making better judgments. This critical accounting focus was also a focus in Chabrak and Craig's work on accounting education. They examined professional credentialing and professional education. Like Everett and Tremblay, they also point us toward the public interest role of accounting and our societal need for better and informed judgments. The comment concludes with the observation that Aristotle's notion of the phronemos is an ideal type that promotes virtue ethics to address the drift in accounting away from ethics and its public interest role.