Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: June 2, 2013

UN Special Report on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue. United National General Assembly, Human Rights Council, April 17, 2013.
  1. “The present report analyses the implications of States’ surveillance of communications for the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression. While considering the impact of significant technological advances in communications, the report underlines the urgent need to further study new modalities of surveillance and to revise national laws regulating these practices in line with human rights standards.
  2. Innovations in technology have increased the possibilities for communication and protections of free expression and opinion, enabling anonymity, rapid information-sharing and cross-cultural dialogues. Technological changes have concurrently increased opportunities for State surveillance and interventions into individuals’ private communications.
  3. Concerns about national security and criminal activity may justify the exceptional use of communications surveillance technologies. However, national laws regulating what would constitute the necessary, legitimate and proportional State involvement in communications surveillance are often inadequate or non-existent. Inadequate national legal frameworks create a fertile ground for arbitrary and unlawful infringements of the right to privacy in communications and, consequently, also threaten the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.”

BIS – Asset encumbrance, financial reform and the demand for collateral assets

Asset encumbrance, financial reform and the demand for collateral assets, CGFS Publications, No 49, May 2013: “The demand for high-quality assets that can be used as collateral will increase due to a number of key regulatory reforms. This comes on top of greater demand for collateral assets through increased reliance by banks on collateralised funding,… Continue Reading

BIS Quarterly Review June 2013 – International banking and financial market developments

June 2013 Quarterly Review: Markets under the spell of monetary easing,  June 3, 2013 “Further monetary easing boosted asset prices despite negative macroeconomic news. Cross-border claims of BIS reporting banks fell in the fourth quarter of 2012 as a sharp reduction in cross-border interbank lending more than offset higher cross-border credit to non-banks. Paul Melaschenko… Continue Reading

International Journal of Central Banking, June 2013

“The International Journal of Central Banking (IJCB) is an initiative of the central banking community. Published quarterly, the journal features articles on central bank theory and practice, with a special emphasis on research relating to monetary and financial stability. The main objectives of the International Journal of Central Banking are: to disseminate widely the best… Continue Reading

Tax Policy Center – Making the World Safe for Philanthropy

Making the World Safe for Philanthropy: The Wartime Origins and Peacetime Development of the Tax Deduction for Charitable Giving by Joseph J. Thorndike, April 30, 2013: “Since the charitable deduction first appeared in 1917, its fate has been bound up with arguments over the nature and size of government, as well as the relationship between… Continue Reading

St. Louis Fed – The Financial Crisis and the Impact on Households

St. Louis Fed, Annual Report, May 2013 , Chapter 2: “The Financial Crisis and the Impact on Households: “Household balance sheets were severely affected during the financial crisis and ensuing recession. According to the Federal Reserve’s triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)—the most comprehensive examination of household balance sheets—average household wealth declined 15 percent between… Continue Reading

UK Report – The State of Nature, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

The State of Nature: “For the first time ever, the UK’s wildlife organisations have joined forces to undertake a health check of nature in the UK and its Overseas Territories. This report presents our findings.” “This important document provides a stark warning: far more species are declining than increasing in the UK, including many of… Continue Reading

UK Guardian – 5 largest internet companies challenge tracking legislation

Alan Travis, home affairs editor, The Guardian:  “The five biggest internet companies in the world, including Google and Facebook, have privately delivered a thinly veiled warning to the home secretary, Theresa May, that they will not voluntarily co-operate with the “snooper’s charter”. In a leaked letter to the home secretary that is also signed by… Continue Reading