How the Drinking Bird Science Toy Works

How the Drinking Bird Science Toy Works The drinking bird or sippy bird is a popular science toy that features a glass bird that repeatedly dips its beak into ​the water. Heres the explanation for how this science toy works. What Is a Drinking Bird? Depending on where you live, you may see this toy called a drinking bird, sipping bird, sippy bird, dippy bird or insatiable birdie. The earliest version of the device appears to have produced in China circa 1910-1930. All versions of the toy are based on a heat engine in order to function. Evaporation of a liquid from the birds beak lowers the temperature of the head of the toy. The change in temperature creates a pressure differential inside the body of the bird, which causes it to perform mechanical work (dip its head). A bird that dips its head into water will keep dipping or bobbing as long as water is present. In fact, the bird works as long as its beak is damp, so the toy continues to function for a span of time even if it is removed from the water. Is the drinking bird a perpetual motion machine? Sometimes the drinking bird is called a perpetual motion machine, but there is no such thing as perpetual motion, which would violate the laws of thermodynamics. The bird only works as long as water is evaporating from its beak, producing an energy change in the system. What Is Inside a Drinking Bird? The bird consists of two glass bulbs (head and body) that are connected by a glass tube (neck). The tube extends into the bottom bulb almost to its base, but the tube does not extend into the top bulb. The fluid in the bird usually is colored dichloromethane (methylene chloride), although older versions of the device may contain trichloromonofluoromethane (not used in modern birds because it is a CFC). When the drinking bird is manufactured the air inside the bulb is removed so that the body will fill with fluid vapor. The head bulb has a beak that is covered with felt or a similar material. The felt is important for the functioning of the device. Decorative items, such as eyes, feathers or a hat may be added to the bird. The bird is set to pivot on an adjustable crosspiece fixed to the neck tube. Educational Value The drinking bird is used to illustrate many principles in chemistry and physics: boiling and condensation [dichloromethane has a low boiling point of 39.6 Â °C (103.28 Â °F)]combined gas law (​the proportional relationship between the pressure and temperature of a gas in a constant volume)ideal gas law (​the proportional relationship between the number of particles of a gas and the pressure in a constant volume)torquethe center of masscapillary action (wicking of water into the felt)wet-bulb temperature (temperature difference between head and body bulbs depends on the relative humidity of the air)the Maxwell-Boltzmann distributionheat of vaporization/heat of condensationfunctioning of a heat engine Safety The sealed drinking bird is perfectly safe, but the fluid inside the toy is not non-toxic. Older birds were filled with a flammable fluid. The dichloromethane in the modern version is not flammable, but if the bird breaks, it is best to avoid the liquid. Contact with dichloromethane can cause skin irritation. Inhalation or ingestion should be avoided because the chemical is a mutagen, teratogen and possibly a carcinogen. The vapor quickly evaporates and disperses, so the best way to deal with a broken toy is to ventilate the area and allow the fluid to disperse.

Deforestation in Asia

Deforestation in Asia We tend to think that deforestation is a recent phenomenon, and in certain parts of the world, that is true.   However, deforestation in Asia and elsewhere has been a problem for centuries.   The recent trend, actually, has been the transfer of deforestation from the temperate zone to tropical regions. What is deforestation? Simply put, deforestation is the clearing of a forest or stands of trees to make way for agricultural use or development.   It can also result from the cutting of trees by local people for building materials or for fuelwood if they dont replant new trees to replace the ones they use.   In addition to the loss of forests as scenic or recreational sites, deforestation causes a number of harmful side effects.   Loss of tree cover can lead to soil erosion and degradation.   Streams and rivers near deforested sites becoming warmer and hold less oxygen, driving out fish and other organisms.   Waterways also can become dirty and silted due to soil eroding into the water.   Deforested land loses its ability to take up and store carbon dioxide, a key function of living trees, thus contributing to climate change.   In addition, clearing forests destroy habitat for innumerable species of plants and animals, leaving many of them critically endangered. Deforestation in China and Japan:   Over the past 4,000 years, Chinas forest cover has shrunk dramatically.   The Loess Plateau region of north-central China, for example, has gone from 53% to 8% forested in that period.   Much of the loss in the first half of that time span was due to a gradual shift to a drier climate, a change unrelated to human activity.   Over the past two thousand years, and particularly since the 1300s CE, however, humans have consumed ever-increasing amounts of Chinas trees.

Super Size me written assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Super Size me written assignment - Essay Example It tackles the issue of fast food in general. The movie is starred by Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs Lisa Ganjhu and a host of other characters. The storyline is the current hot international topic, as hot as some of the dishes served at the MacDonald’s. They are served with lots of public relations gimmicks and good wishes, but are they really good dishes? The number of suits pending against them may well worth subject matter of another menu card, and must be handed over to each customer, before they push the entry door of the restaurant. The movie sets the tone for a perfect legal drama. The issue: Morgan Spurlock has to prove that the food is unhealthy. His would be the test case and if proved correct, plaintiff would have a claim from the MacDonald’s. Morgan Spurlock conducts the experiment on him, by becoming the guinea pig, as they would say in popular parlance. The story has all the ingredients needed for a tight legal case. A general practitioner, a cardiologist and a gastroenterologist are there to seal the fate of MacDonald’s, if everything goes well to make Morgan Spurlock unwell. The guidelines set for the Morgan Spurlock experiment, may as well set (to an extent it has already set) the tone for a national/international debate on the issue of accepting fast food as a way of life.

Project Management Theory & Practice Assignment - 1

Project Management Theory & Practice - Assignment Example Seeing that when customers turn out to be more stylish, well knowledgeable and their desires and expectations develop, the simply approach a corporation can endure and flourish is by providing assurance to quality (BSiGroup, 2010). In this scenario, ISO9000 is a globally acknowledged standard of quality, which offers rules and regulations for achieving the ISO9000 quality standard. In addition, the corporations can be audited to receive ISO9000 certification (Management Help, 2010). Moreover, a quality management system (QMS)  for instance ISO 9001 offers a management support  that provides the organizations the required facilities to deal with threats and examine and determine quality of your products. Furthermore, it can also help the organizations to improve their representation and status and allow them to search for enhancements through inside and outside communications (BSiGroup, 2010). This stage of the Marriott International Hotels business project will be based upon the superior quality which guarantees the entire stages of the project and major analysis of the new and innovative deployments. In this regard key jobs will be about the evaluation of the quality concerning the latest bedding and their setup standards. This will definitely assure an improved and superior quality management plus useful project completion. No doubt, Quality is vital to each and every project and particularly for business activities and functions. For an enhanced business support and successful project completion we must have to ensure project quality. Here I will present the project quality management plan for the Marriott International Hotels business project. Here we will use the quality assurance tools planned for the Marriott International hotel bedding and renovation scheme. These quality declaration tools will make sure that the entire needs and requirements have been fully satisfied as they were mentioned at the commence of the project. Here we will establish a plan

Film and Countless Alien Eggs Essay Example for Free

Film and Countless Alien Eggs Essay I was in the middle school. I still remembered the feeling when I first watched this film. It was so scary that I couldn’t even breathe, and I once dreaded that these aliens would come to our planet and destroy our humanity. There is no doubt that this film is a masterpiece in the Sci-Fi/horror film history. The director Ridley Scott made an amazing film. The story mainly tells about a commercial towing spaceship, which carries seven crew members, and receives a beacon form a planet, so they decide to check it out. Three of crew member Dallas, Kane and Lambert discover a derelict spaceship which contains countless alien eggs; one of these attacks Kane and makes him unconscious. After Kane is brought to the ship, the strange thing happens. An alien bursts from Kane’s’ chest and kills all the crew members except Ridley. By her intelligence and braveness, she finally kills the alien and escape from the spaceship. Films about UFO and spaceships are extremely popular in the film industry especially in America, but in other countries it’s not popular at all. I think it is because schools in United States focus more on educating students’ imagination and creativity. People love to see films about future world and extraterrestrial life. As we know, our universe is extremely large; a lot of people believe that aliens do exist somewhere. Some rumor says they visited us and government knew it, but for some reason they didn’t want people to know. The more government wants to conceal the existence of alien, the more people want to know the truth. That’s why Sci-Fi movies can succeed in the box office so well. The Alien is one of the most successful Sci-Fi movies in the history. Some people think it also can be categorized as a horror movie too. There are so many scary moments in this film; some are really gross and disgusting. The effect of chest bursting of Kane is still amazing; even it was a movie that filmed 30 years ago. Director created a very scary creature, the alien. They have no gender, or you can say they are hermaphrodite. They have no womb and reproduce really fast, and their blood is made by strong acid, which can penetrate several floors of the giant spaceship. It makes them hard to kill, and the scariest thing is they use human body to reproduce. Once the baby alien ready to go from its host, they will burst out from their father/mother’s chest and instantly kill him/her. The alien grabs all the audience’s attention. Its giant body and gross drooling mouth creates the scary atmosphere, which make audience dread and anxiety. The success of Alien was quite closely linked to the background of America at that time. The Alien was born in the era of the Cold War. People were living under the tremendous pressure from the other countries. The feeling of the panic to the uncertainty just like an alien was hiding in the darkness, which was going to kill someone. By watching this film, audiences can release the pressure and forget the pain of real life. The Alien is an amazing film, which blends elements of Sci-Fi and horror to create a very horror and fantastic film. I would love to watch this movie again and recommend to all the people who like Sci-Fi and horror movies.

Will HIV and AIDS as the Black Death of the Twenty-First Century :: Papers

Will HIV and AIDS as the Black Death of the Twenty-First Century According to an article on BBC World Service, published on 25th October, 2001, the Black Death claimed 25 million lives in Europe and Asia between the 13th and 17th century. Now nearly 400 years later the British Medical Journal reports an estimated 65 million deaths from AIDS by the end of the decade. Obviously these figures are rough estimates, however they illustrate the severity of the Bubonic Plague and the impending severity of an AIDS epidemic. These figures themselves lead me to believe that in fact AIDS is already the modern day Black Death and whether anyone will be here in another 400 years to compare AIDS to the Black Death is yet to be seen. The Bubonic Plague or 'Black Death' as it is more commonly known swept through Europe and Asia mainly in the 14th century. The Bubonic Plague is caused by the bacterium Yerina Pestis and is transmitted to humans by infected fleas on rats. In most common cases victims suffer from fevers, chills, fatigue and painfully swollen lymph nodes. Another symptom were haemorrhages, which turned black, this is why it became known as the Black Death. Even though in the time of the Black Death there was no medical shield to protect against the plague, with today's medical advances there is. This is where the Black Death and AIDS differ. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a clinical syndrome, resulting from damage to the immune system caused by infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In HIV individuals, there is a gradual loss of immune cells and immune function. It generally takes six to ten years from the point of infection to develop AIDS. Even though large drug companies have developed drugs that slow down the progression from HIV to AIDS, none have yet to market any kind of vaccine or cure. There may be more success in finding a cure, so that AIDS will not be looked back upon in years to come as the Black Death of its time if,

Love, Fear, Sexuality and Society Essay

The dawn of the 16th century, brought with it the evolution of great knowledge, an era of enlightenment, with not only the new growing social lifestyle of people but also the evolution in their thinking. The idea of love and fear therefore was the one established and molded into a new sculpture by the revolutionist and philosophers; and how we know the right and wrong today is what was established through the writings of these intellectuals’ years ago. Founder of political sciences of the 15th century, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, was an Italian born writer, philosopher, and politician; who through the strength of his pen and intellect was able to give the world a new perspective of the never dieing entity, love and hope. As a man of Renaissance, while holding a high political position, his writings are also a combination of his deep political thought and insight. He is most famous for his short novel, The Prince, which is his realistic approach towards the political discourse of that time period, exhibiting the advance towards power. â€Å"The Prince,† originally written in 1513 (however got published in 1532), is known as a political treatise, for its formal exposition of the ideology of political affairs. It is usually alluded to being called as a piece of act which represents the word â€Å"Machiavellian,† which refers to the playing politics in a ruthless way in order to retain power and position; moreover many critics have also states the story to be satire. The novel is a form of guide for a ruling or an expected prince, of how he can attain his throne, and then make sure that he remains in power and control. The idea of attaining the power is placed as crucial and primary to all, even where principality comes secondary to its approach, which he does so by dictating old examples of rulers, and making his own generalizations and hypothesizes upon them. According to Machiavelli, the first moral of ruling is to have an economically and politically stable country, and then it is upon the ruler as to how he would protect it even if the ways used by him were cruel, they remained justifiable as long as they kept her power sustained. The main purpose of the book was to explain Machiavelli’s ability and knowledge in politics, not promoting love and prosperity between powers, but rather working by conquering people’s fear and force. There are various themes discussed by the author in the book such as military and defense, which are the prerequisites of a firm state, having a fortified and well protected area, with no help being taken from allies as that would be a burden of favor, and stand brave in the battlefield. The book quite rigidity states that attributes such as mercy, religiousness, and principality, are good virtues too possess, but are not for a prince to adapt, as he at times has to work against them in order to defend his land. Also that a prince is better at being known as a miser than as a generous ruler, as it would weaken his economic status as well as bring grief upon people with larger taxes, thus having a bad reputation would be better than rather ending up with nothing. In answering to the idea of love and fear Machiavelli states that â€Å"it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. † (Machiavelli, Chapter 17, pp 60) He believes that commitments made under fear, are always kept firm; while a prince should also be careful that he is not feared to the point of hatred. Creating fear within the commandment of an army is necessary in order to gain their respect, and it should be brought upon the garrison even if the prince has to turn towards cruelty. Through the book the author emphasizes the fact that the only power which kept a prince from winning over his land and also his people is actually his ability to rule, rather than his fortune. He dictates the examples of Hannibal and Scipio Africanus; Hannibal who maintained a strong fear throughout his army, which consisted of soldiers of various races, and it was this fear of his which kept the army sturdy and united through out his reign; while Scipio, no matter had great abilities but is famous for the mutinies and trouble he had to face from the side of his own army. Virtue for Machiavelli did not carry a moral tone but it was rather based upon skill, courage, physical and mental capacity. However, in chapter of 8 of his book, the author mentions that no matter cruelty is important for governance but it should be properly utilized to attain a goal, but if it is made repetitive and arouses constant fear amongst the citizens then the prince does not contain any ability. It is not necessary for him to be loved, but he should be close enough to his people that he is not even hated, and thus requires both wisdom and courage; and above that the peripheral point should be established by which the prince is feared but not hated. And who could understand the complexities and the queries of life in a more powerful than the searcher of the nature, Plato, one of the greatest Greek philosophers. Born in 427 BC in Athens, Plato was the student of Socrates, and had his theories as an explanation and an elaboration of those presented by his master. Most of his writings are found in the form of a dialogue between him and Socrates, discussing numerous fascinating topics. Gorgias, is one of the most famous dialogues written by Plato, in which he defines a man’s virtuously right and proper nature. (Plato, 1994) It is believed to be a transitional dialogue, in which Plato represents Socrates teachings towards him in an indirect manner. This dialogue is seen to be carried out between Socrates, Gorgias and Callicles who are both rhetoricians, Pollus and Chaerephon who are both philosophy students; and the dialogue begins from Socrates side to prove the rhetoricians for being only people of sheer words. This dialogue is famous for the themes which it carries such as that of morality, philosophy and spirituality; forms into a debate between truth and falsehood. Socrates in his dialogue proving refutation explains that it is worse to inflict evil upon somebody rather than being an innocent victim of it and the most, unhappy man of the world would be the one who doesn’t meet his just punishment. While the best cure for an evil man would be when he meets his justice; paying for his sins. He believes that a wrong doer should be left on his own, his body to rot in the pain of his own guilt; and only with time when he realizes his guilt would his sins be forgiven and he move towards becoming a better and stronger person; no matter the rhetoricians disagree with his thought, as they believe that such treatment would be doing more evil than benefiting for good. Socrates ends the dialogue by explaining that on the Day of Judgment, man would be scrutinized and judged naked so that there are no hindrances for what he truly is. He believes that the evil doer’s body would be brandished by their sins, and they would be identifiable. According to Socrates, in the dialogue a man’s virtue should be his ultimate goal, which should be based upon principles, and truth; while those who tend to love their own self alone and indulge in self pampering, are the selfish ones, as their self gratification would never cease but would only continue to get bigger with hunger of power and indulgence. Creating fear and causing pain to others is the greatest evil, as identified by Plato; and becomes the most significant theme of most of Plato’s writings because of the unjust and evil death of his teacher Socrates; which destroyed his vision of the truth and its enhancement in nature. The dialogue however, concludes by declaring virtue as the â€Å"good life,† which can only be attained via the compliance of principles and correct behavioral methods. Both the books â€Å"Prince† and â€Å"Gorgias,† believe in the achievement of power, not only to gain a greater control but also to satisfy and pamper one’s own self; and agree to the fact that once in power. An individual might stray from principality and truth for long term benefits seen at a larger scale; but should refrain from evil as it would create hatred as well as lead to god’s in the life of Hereafter. However when Machiavelli describes the attainment of power as man’s vital goal, Plato believes into its attainment but to a certain level alone could one sacrifice his principles to achieve it; after which he would be nothing but an evil dweller, increasing his part of sins. Both the writings show the difference between the thought of a politician, who take s the world in more of a materialistic manner, and that of a philosopher who takes a deeper look into things and does not talk about an individual alone or his unitary life; but talks about all the third parties affected by his actions and his spiritual life which would also be affected by his balance of truth and falsehood. Compare and describe the relationship between sexuality and society in the authors read so far. Writers since centuries have talked about how sexuality and society work together, complimenting each other, which evolve gradually with the society giving more leverage and promotion at an open arena to sexuality, as it grows wider and is able to compensate more liberal point of views openly. â€Å"Don Juan,† is a classic story which has been told and retold since centuries; its legendary tale being changed and evolved with the evolution of time, it has seen changes according to the prevailing circumstances and the notions of the writers who dwelled with its story line. Don Juan, as announced by the Spanish or Don Giovanni as told by the Italians, is the tale of a social libertine, an individual who has given of all the norms and rights of the society, such a person who does not believe into the limits of religion or morality. The legend of Don Juan talks about such a person who indulges himself into the pleasure of seducing women and enjoys winning over them. One day, Don Juan meets the dead spirit of the father of a girl he has seduced; casually and not knowing it he invites him to his house for dinner. In return to this compliment, the father invites Don Juan to his graveyard for dinner, when he accepts the invitation and extends his hand to the spirit, pulls him into the grave and takes him into the bottomless pit of hell, where he is to burn in the redemption for his unforgivable sins. The oldest version of Don Juan to be placed in writing is believed to be written by Tirso de Molina, by the name El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra. Later a revised edition was written by Moliere, in 1665; who was also made to make continous ammendments by the critics, who took as a largely shameful act; and was not until 1185, that the orignal play was allowed to be acted without censorships. However, the society at that time failed to accept the play, as they found it too liberal and outspoken, which broke the barriers of religion and offended the prestiege of the king. Thus it laid down as least cost effective, and as the protagonist himself is portrayed as a catholic, thsu it further offends the teaches of the church by portraying them as hypocrates and evil doers. On the other hand, the representation of Don Juan in that era represents how sexulaity was missed used even in those times, but hardly any writteen record is seen because of the fact that the rulers didn’t want any such tales to be spoken of openly; theey were then brought under the case of adultery. Don Juan, also is the symbol of evil, a womanizer who cannot attain his forgiveness, he has sined so much in his life that even his good deeds are shadowed by his hypocrite nature. Every action of his holds insincerity and cannot be forgiven, and when eventually it is symbolised that he has been taken into the hell, it shows that the world did not contain any less painful avenge for him; and his death brought peace to all the woman who had suffered because of his flimsy character. Therefore by the story of Don Juan, conceived in the early 17th century, it can be seen that sexuality was miss used even in that time period but the society perferred to keeep it hidden and secretive, burrying such evil facts and tales which spoke against the religious and moral norms of the ruling powers. Evil of the society was thus only a hushed talk in those times. â€Å"The Prince,† a guide for the rulers of the world written by a government official of Florence, Italy, Niccolo Machiavelli, in the 16th Century; helps us know today of how gravely was the impact of politics and the attainment of power and prestige in the lives of people of that era. As the book states different tips and ways in which a prince could govern his kingdom in thee most efficient way winning both his commandment upon army and his position. Machiavelli also believed that gaining love from his people was not the most important part of ruling; a prince could never be too generous and lenient with his folk; however it was of vital importance that he managed his fear upon them so that he would respect him and treats him with the power and gratitude that he deserves. A ruler was not always successful through his inheritance or his economic strength; but he was turned into a symbol of esteem through his ability; which not only shined in his character but also was represented by the society which he ruled. Thus the prince held great responsibility for his own self and the lives of all those, whose protection was sworn onto him. To take even a deeper analysis into the lives of the people of the 16th century, we might take a look into the analysis of the book â€Å"Leviathan,† written by Thomas Hobbes in 1660. After looking through the time via the perspectives of a story teller, and then a politician, we take into the account of the era through the notions formed by a political philosopher; this book did not only establish a political thought in the minds of thee people but was also significant enough in influencing and establishing the entire Western political philosophy and laying down the perspective for the social contract theory. The book was first written by Hobbes at the time of the English Civil War, where he saw chaos and trouble through out the society. In such times Hobbes believed that the only thing which could keep the community together would be a strong unified governing system which would act as a central body in decision making, keeping away the evils of chaos and civil misbehavior. The theory represented by Hobbes believes that if man is left without a government to live in a free market, operated by no restrictions, then he lives the life of nature, whereby everything is free for anybody, which in the long run would lead to war, poverty, frustration and hatred. To prevent this, a social contract needs to be established which would establish a civil society, and distribute the scarce resources in a much more efficient way. This is a form of a commonwealth, which would help establish a protected civil society. The book can be divided into four parts, whereas the one which represents the society and its relation to sexuality is book one, â€Å"of Man. † Chapter 6 of this book discusses the theme of the involuntary emotions which arise inside a human being, over which he holds no control, known as passions. He describes these motions of man as animal instincts, categorizing them as â€Å"vital,† and â€Å"voluntary. † Vital being those which formulate the metabolism and are innate, while the later are those which man learns with the course of his life. He by this formulates the idea that human nature is actually a by product of his metabolism. His innate motions form desires known as endeavors, which raise love and hatred in man, which then form an aversion in a human being. While some of these desires are born with man, while some re learnt so with time and experience, and it is then from these appetites and aversions that passions arise which are known to be specific to human nature, of which those which qualify to be his appetite are those things that he likes, while those which fall into his aversions formulate his hatred and are evil. Then Chapter 11 and 13 of the book describe how manners differ in human beings and how he would respond to his conditions of misery. Hobbes further here describes how power in man could be self created and that which is instrumental attained from his society. However a man may differ from another due to his different manners which come from his ability to negotiate between power and fear; and it is through this knowledge that the society can in the end attain peace; when fear originates from ignorance and a person’s lack of foreseeing the future. Hobbes then concludes this part of his book with the thesis that when a human being lives in a society without any social contract, at that time he is living in a â€Å"state of nature,† and when a society is bent into such a living then it is nothing more than just a flake of imagination having no true existence. As Thomas Hobbes states: â€Å"In such condition, there is no place for industry . . . no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation . . . no commodious Building; no instruments of moving . . . no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. † (Chapter 13) References Fort, A. ,B. and Kates, H. , S. 1935 Don Juan or The Stone Death. Minute History of the Drama. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. p. 47. Retrieved on Nov 27, 2007 from. http://www. theatrehistory. com/french/donjuan001. html Hobbes, T. (1651) The Leviathan. London: Andrew Crooke. Chapter 13 Machiavelli, N. (1908). The Prince, (1513). ed. W. K. Marriott. London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Pp 60. Plato. (1994) Collected Dialogues. eds. Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

European Convention on Human Rights Essay

A.INTRODUCTION We live in the Digital Age and in a fully globalized world in which intellectual property rights (IP rights) are no longer configured in the same way they did before. That is why the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was designed in order to respond to new technological and human challenges. But when ACTA was revealed to the public opinion an intense debate emerged from the first moment and almost immediately civil and Internet organizations totally opposed to the content of ACTA alleging that the agreement was a serious violation of fundamental rights. On the other side, the signatory states, the right holders of those IP rights and the European Union, defended Intellectual Property as an engine of economic growth, job creation and encouragement of innovation and artistic and technological creation. The purpose of this seminar paper is to explain which provisions of ACTA hinder fundamental rights as enshrined in the different European catalogues of human rights, namely the German Basic Law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. But the scope of ACTA is much wider, it covers topics such as generics medicines, innovation and competition, which are not objective of this paper and therefore they will not be analyzed. In order to understand which violations are perpetrated by ACTA, this paper is divided in four parts. In the first one I will explain what is the Agreement and how was negotiated. We will see that is a matter of great topicality since the final vote at the European Parliament is about to take place, specifically in a month. Second, I will explain how those catalogues of fundamental rights relate to each other. In other words, how a multilevel of protection of fundamental rights affect the guarantees protected by those rights. Third, I will analyse which provisions of ACTA do not respect European fundamental rights. Finally, I will draft some conclusions. B.THE ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT I.WHAT IS ACTA The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a multilateral agreement  which its main objective is to establish a harmonized standard for the enforcement of intellectual property rights in order to combat the violation of protected rights all around the world. In order to fulfill this task, the agreement contains provisions on international cooperation between States and the coordination of law enforcement, especially the introduction of civil and criminal sanctions for intellectual property infringements , such as counterfeit goods, generic medicaments and copyright infringements on the internet. The countries involved in the Agreement are the United States, Japan, Canada, the European Union (with its 27 Member States), Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore, making a total of 11 contracting parties. Since ACTA is an international agreement that bounds only the contracting parties, it is a method of creation of a new international law. According to the EU Commission â€Å"ACTA will help countries work together to tackle more effectively Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) infringements† . So the interest of the EU to sign this agreement resides in the concern of remaining at a relevant position in the global economy and by this way being able to protect the jobs related to intellectual property all around the European Union. The Agreement is divided in Chapter I for Initial provisions and general definitions; Chapter II for the Legal framework of enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (and subdivided in Section 1: General Obligations with Respect to Enforcement, Section 2: Civil Enforcement, Section 3: Border Measures, Section 4: Criminal Enforcement and Section 5: Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Environment); Chapter III for Enforcement practices; Chapter IV for International cooperation; Chapter V for Institutional arrangements and Chapter VI for Final Provisions. II. HOW IS ACTA BEEN NEGOTIATED During the whole process of negotiation of ACTA, much criticism has arisen due to the lack of transparency and the possible violation of fundamental rights. The potential infringements of fundamental rights will be discussed at a further moment and now we will see how the whole agreement was decided. On 23 October 2007 the office of the Unites States Trade Representatives released an announcement about a new initiative called ACTA . The objective of this agreement was to address a â€Å"new international agreement focused on  cooperation, best practices, and a strong legal framework for Intellectual property rights enforcement†. Since then, eleven negotiation rounds took place between June 2008 and October 2010. But what it was unusual is the fact that this new agreement on intellectual property rights was never negotiated under the scope of the WIPO or the WTO. The Member States of the European Union were represented by the European Commission and the Presidency of the Coun cil. The first consolidated text of ACTA was drafted at the eighth negotiation round in Wellington (New Zealand) in April 2010. On June 2011, the European Commission asked a proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of ACTA , and in December 2011 the final version of the Agreement was adopted unanimously by the Council and signed by the European Commission and 22 Member States on 26 January 2012 (Germany, Cyprus, Estonia, the Netherlands and Slovakia have not signed it yet). In order to be part of EU law the Agreement must be ratified by the EU, which means approval by the European Parliament under the procedure for international commercial agreements described in Article 218(6) TFEU and ratification by Member States under their national procedures. Knowing that there is a need of a vote at the European Parliament, the society has expressed its concerns about ACTA by mobilizations all over Europe thanks to the effort of some NGOs and Internet movements, and even declarations of some MEPs . This made Commissioner Karel De Gucht, under the procedure foreseen at Art. 218(11) TFEU, to decide to refer the Agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union . So on 4 April 2012 the question decided unanimously by the College of Commissioners that was sent to the ECJ was: â€Å"Is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) compatible with the European Treaties, in particular with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?†. It is known that rulings from the ECJ take time, but until the opinion is made, the European Parliament decided to uphold its vote until the ECJ had made any conclusion . However, it decided that it will continue to supervise the Agreement. The next logical step would had been to make another referral to the ECJ by the European Parliament, but on 28 March, this Institution decided to reject a referral to the Court of Justice because there was â€Å"no need to do so, because the file will anyway go to the court – according to intentions announced by the European Commission†. It was surprising how the EU Digital Agenda Commissioner  Neelie Kroes suggested at a conference on internet freedom in Berlin on 4 May 2012 that ACTA was probably not going to be ratified since she stated that â€Å"We are now likely to be in a world without SOPA and without ACTA. Now we need to find solutions to make the Internet a place of freedom, openness, and innovation fit for all citizens, not just for the techno avant-garde†. This does not mean that the Agreement will be immediately rejected, there is a need to hold a vote at the European Parliament in order to do so. The final vote on ACTA has been scheduled for the 3-5 July 2012 , but before ACTA goes to vote before the European Parliament, several EP committees will be giving their opinions on the 31 May 2012, namely the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI), the Industry Committee (ITRE) and the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE). Once these committees have drafted an opinion, the main committee in charge on ACTA, the International Trade Committee (INTA), will decide on the 21 June 2012 and it will elaborate a final report that will be used by the European Parliament for its final vote on ACTA. As we have seen, the whole negotiation of ACTA has been of major relevance not only to the public opinion, but also for the MEPs and some other Organs of the European Union, like the European Data Protection Supervisor. Remains to be seen what the final decision of the European Parliament would be and this will undoubtedly have consequences in both ways: If ACTA is ratified by the Parliament, the Agreement will come into force, but if not, it will be pretty much dead if it does not have the support of the European Union. So we still need to wait until the 3-5 July 2012 to see how it will all end and the next weeks are going to be of extremely importance because the ratification process is not over yet, meaning that the issue is really topical. C.THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN EUROPE In this section I will explain the relationship between the different catalogs of fundamental rights that concern this seminar paper, namely the German Basic Law, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights or ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter). It is obvious that this classification can raise questions to EU citizens when they seek  the protection of their fundamental rights, since they exist up to four catalogues: the national constitutions, the ECHR, the case law of the ECJ and the Charter . I.THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS THROUGH THE ECJ AND THE ECtHR At one first moment the ECJ declared it had no jurisdiction to ensure compliance with national law, which did include a catalog of fundamental rights within the national Constitutions. This first stage was changed after the Stauder decision of 12 November 1969 that said that fundamental rights are part of the general principles of Community Law , and the CJEU has the task to protect them, but it didn’t say which rights were those: â€Å"Interpreted in this way the provision at issue contains nothing capable of prejudicing the Fundamental Human Rights enshrined in the general principles of Community Law and protected by the Court†. The next step on the case law of the ECJ was the Internationale Handelsgesellschaft judgment of 17 December 1970. Here the Court confirms the existence of general principles for the protection of fundamental rights within the Community Law inspired by the constitutional traditions common to the Member States : â€Å"[†¦] in fact, respect for fundamental rights forms an integral part of the general principles of law protected by the Court of Justice. The protection of such rights, whilst inspired by the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, must be ensured within the framework of the structure and objectives of the Community†. But the ECJ stated that Community law could not be judged against national law, even constitutions: â€Å"[†¦] the validity of a Community instrument or its effect within a Member State cannot be affected by allegations that it strikes at either the fundamental rights as formulated in that States’ constitution or the principles of a national constitutional structure.† By this way, the Court had to analyze the situation under the national law of the Member States when it was faced with a situation with no legal or insufficient response. Four years later, the Nold judgment of 14 May 1974 made a reference to international treaties as elements of inspiration for the definition of a scope of fundamental rights, but also the ECJ stated that it cannot go in a different dir ection to the one established in the constitutional laws of the Member States. By doing  so, the rights recognized in the different legal orders where the limit to the action of the ECJ: â€Å"In safeguarding these rights, the Court is bound to draw inspiration from constitutional traditions common to the Member States, and it cannot therefore uphold measures which are incompatible with fundamental rights recognized and protected by the Constitutions of those States. Similarly, International Treaties for the protection of human rights on which the Member States have collaborated or of which they are signatories, can supply guidelines which should be followed within the framework of Community Law†. As the judgment states, the ECJ refers namely to the Convention for the Protection on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 (ECHR), becoming this latter treaty the maximum standard for the protection of fundamental rights. Nevertheless it must be said that the constitutional traditions of the Member States as source of inspiration does not mean that t he rights within can be invoked in ECJ. The final step was made in the Hauer judgment of 13 December 1979, when the ECJ stated that: â€Å"[†¦] that fundamental rights form an integral part of the general principles of the law, the observance of which it ensures; that in safeguarding those rights, the Court is bound to draw inspiration from constitutional traditions common to the Member States, so that measures which are incompatible with the fundamental rights recognized by the constitutions of those States are unacceptable in the Community; and that, similarly; international treaties for the protection of human rights on which the Member States have collaborated or of which they are signatories, can supply guidelines which should be followed within the framework of Community Law†. By holding that fundamental rights are an integral part of the general principles of law the observance of which the Court ensures, the ECJ has accomplished two things: To incorporate a central feature of modern constitutions into t he corpus of EC law and to help strengthen the authority of EC law against potential challenges before national courts in the name of domestic constitutional rights . The next step in cooperation between Community law and the ECHR was given in the cases of Matthews and Bosphorus . In Matthews was decided that Member States can be held responsible if EC primary law violated the ECHR, because those Member States are still responsible for infringements although they have transferred some of their competences to the European Communities. In Bosphorus the problem at issue  was whether an EU Member State could be responsible under the ECHR for an execution of a Community Regulation. As stated in Matthews, Member States are responsible for acts and omissions of its organs regardless whether the competencies are national or at supranational level, but the difference was that in this case, the Member State was obliged by a Regulation, which gives no discretion when implementing it. In order to solve this situation, the ECtHR gave a status of â€Å"equivalent protection† to the ECJ, meaning that â€Å"State action taken in compliance with such leg al obligations is justified as long as the relevant organization is considered to protect fundamental rights, as regards both the substantive guarantees offered and the mechanisms controlling their observance, in a manner which can be considered at least equivalent to that for which the Convention provides† . The Court continues: â€Å"If such equivalent protection is considered to be provided by the organization, the presumption will be that a State has not departed from the requirements of the Convention when it does no more than implement legal obligations flowing from its membership of the organization† . Since that level of protection was indeed guaranteed by former judgments of the ECJ, the ECtHR decided not to interpret Community law and from now on, the ECJ has an equivalent protection of fundamental rights as the one within the ECHR. When the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Charter) came into force with the Treaty of Lisbon , the ECJ could now rely its fundamental rights jurisdiction on a single catalog of European law . But what is the relationship between the rights in the Charter and the ones in the ECHR? Article 52(3) of the Charter explains it: â€Å"Insofar as this Charter contains rights which correspond to rights guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the meaning and scope of those rights shall be the same as those laid down by the said Convention. This provision shall not prevent Union law providing more extensive protection†. The reason for such provision is to avoid a lower standard of protection than the one of the ECHR. Therefore, a restriction of a fundamental right can only be acceptable under the terms of the ECHR and it prevents possible confusion of the Member States when being subjected to two different catalogs of rights . Moreover, as the Charter reiterates and complements the ECHR, there is no dual system of fundamental rights. In fact, it reaffirms the same common list of fundamental rights . II.THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GERMAN FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES / THE EUROPEAN UNION The main problem at stake was that two different levels of protection were created. One circle was the one created by the case law of the ECJ and the other circle was the list of rights protected by the national constitutions . How did the German Federal Constitutional Court solve this problem? In the Solange I -decision, the German court stated that in case of conflict between the Community law and fundamental rights protected in the German Basic Law, the latter would prevail as long as the European Communities did not have a catalogue of fundamental rights which is equivalent to the catalogue of fundamental rights guaranteed by the German Constitution. But after how the ECJ ruled, namely after Nold and Hauer, the German Constitutional Court changed its opinion and stated in the Solange II -decision that as long as the European Communities ensured a protection of fundamental rights which is to be regarded as substantially similar to the protection of fundamental rights by the German Constitution, and safeguards the essential content of fundamental rights, it is not an obligation for the Constitutional Court to examine the compliance of Community law with the German law. But in 1993, the German Constitutional Court seemed to go back to the previous doctrine of the Solange I-judgment in its famous Maastricht decision , where it stated that from that moment it wanted to apply its jurisdiction regarding to the protection of fundamental rights in a cooperation relationship with the ECJ. The Constitutional Court had the strong opinion that it is the only one capable of protecting the fundamental rights enshrined in the Basic Law, so for this purpose it extends the meaning of public power and declares that no matter what kind of power (German Government or the European Communities) violates fundamental rights enshrined in the Basic Law because it will always have the jurisdiction. By doing so, the former Communities were supervised by the German Federal Court every time their activity fell under the scope of application of the Basic Law. Seven years later, in June 2000, the Court changed its mind again at the Bananenmarketordnung judgment. It explained tha t the previous doctrine was a â€Å"misunderstanding†. The German Constitutional Court will review  possible violations of fundamental rights only if the European Communities fail to do so. But this cannot be justified by a single case, but by a serious deficiency at european level . This means that while the ECJ continues to effectively protect fundamental rights, there will be no German control of those rights over the European law. We can conclude that over the ruling of the German court, this has been a reluctance to recognize the supremacy of Community law concerning the protection of human rights, but this supremacy has finally been recognized as a prerequisite for Germany to participate in the European Integration Process . III.THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GERMAN FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) contains a catalogue of fundamental rights which the Federal Republic of Germany is bound to guarantee as well, since it ratified the convention on 3 September 1953. The basic principle of International law pacta sunt servanda obliges to do it . It was never a problem, since the fundamental rights protected in the German Basic Law followed a parallel interpretation to the ones guaranteed in the ECHR. In fact, Articles 1 to 9 from the Basic Law bear resemblance to the ones in the ECHR . In addition, the Constitutional Court elaborated the concept of Và ¶lkerrechtsfreundlichkeit of the Basic Law , which means that Germany’s fundamental rights should be interpreted in the same way as the ones enshrined in the ECHR in order to fill the possible gaps in the reading of both catalogues . So when interpreting the Basic Law, the development of the ECHR needs to be taken into account without, of course, restricting the protection provided in the Basic Law. It seems that this doctrine would not lead to a confrontation between the German Federal Constitutional Court and the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR), but this was not the case in the Gà ¶rgà ¼là ¼ judgments. It is peculiar how the German Court does not confirm that a judgment of the Strasbourg Court should be simply executed, but instead says that â€Å"the authorities and courts of the Federal Republic of Germany are obliged, under certain condition, to take account of the European Convention on Human Rights as interpreted by the ECtHR in making their decisions.† . By saying â€Å"taking account† and not, for example, â€Å"comply  with† the Court declares that under some circumstances it can decide not to execute a judgment of the ECtHR. The only requisite is that the competent court under the German legislation needs to give reasons why this doctrine can be applied . In fact, the German judgment states : â€Å"If [†¦] the ECtHR establishes that there has been a violation of the Convention, and if this is a continuing violation, the decision of the ECtHR must be taken into account in the domestic sphere, that is the responsible authorities or courts must di scernibly consider the decision and, if necessary, justify understandably why they nevertheless do not follow the international-law interpretation of the law.† The main reason for this was that it could be eventually possible that under the view of the ECtHR a situation could be interpreted widely and under the German law it should be more carefully viewed. But still, after the ECtHR has made its decision, national authorities cannot challenge it, except when, in opinion of the German Court, through a constitutional complaint . The Federal Constitutional Court thinks of itself as the Guardian of the due to respect of ECtHR’s decisions . Although this new doctrine means a significant change in the case law of the German Court it does not affect the content of the fundamental rights within both catalogues. It is true that now the German Court could be a kind of appeal organ in some cases for the judgments of the ECtHR, but as already said, both catalogues interpret their rights in the same way, so it is not a question of which rights prevail, but a question of sovereignty that does not affect the interpretation of those rights. IV.IS THERE A TRUE MULTI-LEVEL OF PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN EUROPE? It is true that within every State exist three different catalogues of protection of fundamental rights, namely the national Constitutions (the Basic Law), the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (plus the case law of the ECJ), but as we have seen each of these lists are interrelated to each other: -ECJ draws inspiration of national constitutional traditions and the ECHR; -The Charter has its minimum standard of protection in the ECHR; -The fundamental rights in the German Basic Law must be interpreted as in the ECHR. Therefore, when an agreement like ACTA infringes fundamental rights it  does it indeed at a multi-level, but that does not mean that such rights have a different protection or a different interpretation within the distinct catalogues. D.ACTA AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS ACTA have undeniable effects on fundamental rights as protected in the German Basic Law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Namely, these rights are: -The right to freedom of expression and information (Art. 5(1) BL; Art. 10(1) ECHR; Art. 11(1) Charter); -The right to privacy and data protection (Art. 10(1) BL; Art. 8(1) ECHR; Art. 7 and 8(1) Charter); -The right to a fair trial (Art. 103(1) BL; Art. 6 ECHR; Art. 47 Charter); We will also discuss about the â€Å"fundamental principles† that ACTA seems to guarantee. I.THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND INFORMATION Art. 10(1) ECHR guarantees the right to freedom of expression and information, but also the right to freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference of public authorities . The German Basic Law must consider the ECHR as source of interpretation when applying its Art. 5(1) BL. Moreover, ECJ has considered the right to freedom of expression and information as one of the general principles of European law which is enshrined now in Art. 11(1) Charter. It is impossible to deny the importance that today has the Internet when talking about freedom of expression and information: online newspapers, video channels, bloggers, webmasters, tweeters, etc. The ECtHR has many times stated that freedom of expression is the foundation of a democratic society: â€Å"The Court’s supervisory functions oblige it to pay the utmost attention to the principles characterising a â€Å"democratic society†. Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of such a society, one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every man† . Moreover, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has declared that access to the Internet and the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas over the Internet is an inherent part of the freedom  of expression . In a democratic society people must feel free to express their ideas and must be able to receive information with no censorship. Any action that goes in a different direction would hinder the fundamental rights within the different European catalogues. Art. 23 ACTA refers to criminal offences: 23(1): Each Party shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied at least in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale [Fn]. For the purposes of this Section, acts carried out on a commercial scale include at least those carried out as commercial activities for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage. Article 23(1) ACTA implies the criminalisation of certain acts carried out in the digital environment, but it does not define in a clear way what kinds of acts could be considered as criminal offences. We should ask whether private file sharing match the nature of those acts. In opinion of the EDPS , the article makes no reference to criminal offences recognised in the law of the contracting parties, so he deduces that the provision refers to a new category of offences which Art. 23(1) ACTA fails to provide with a clear definition to meet the legal certainty required. Another worrying provision from Art. 23(1) ACTA are the notions of â€Å"commercial scale† and â€Å"direct or indirect economic or commercial advantages† which are also not defined at all. The EDPS thinks that the interpretation of those words can be very broad and include acts carried out by individual in the Internet that could be innocent and/or trivial . Since there is no list again of what acts could be done at a â€Å"commercial scale† this is not sufficient to see whether that notion would fit under the definition that the European Union gives to â€Å"commercial scale†, which excludes those acts â€Å"carried out by private users for personal and not-for profit purposes† . All these measures are real interferences to the right to freedom of expression and information because such a legal uncertainty could criminalise innocent and trivial Internet data exchange, which its main purpose is not to violate IP rights, but the possibility to expre ss, be informed, hold opinions and to receive and impart information which are essential for a democratic society. One of the reasons of why ACTA was so much criticized in the beginning was due to the so unpopular ISP liability  and the â€Å"three strikes† rule. This was originally intended by the drafters of the Agreement which did not please the public opinion when a provisional version of the agreement was leaked . As the European Parliament study on ACTA on July 2011 reveals, there were extensive provisions relating â€Å"liability of online service providers, including restricted safe harbours; takedown or removal of material at the request of rightholders; and third party secondary, and contributory liability. In prior proposals put forward by other parties, provisions for the cutting-off of internet service of infringers (so-called three strikes provisions) were also put forward, although these did not appear in later texts†. In the actual consolidated version such measures were eliminated from the Agreement. However, residues of liability can be seen in Art. 27 ACTA: Art. 27(1): Each Party shall ensure that enforcement procedures, to the extent set forth in Sections 2 (Civil Enforcement) and 4 (Criminal Enforcement), are available under its law so as to permit effective action against an act of infringement of intellectual property rights which takes place in the digital environment, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringement and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringements. Art. 27(2): Further to paragraph 1, each Party’s enforcement procedures shall apply to infringement of copyright or related rights over digital networks, which may include the unlawful use of means of widespread distribution for infringing purposes. These procedures shall be implemented in a manner that avoids the creation of barriers to legitimate activity, including electronic commerce, and, consistent with that Party’s law, preserves fundamental principles such as freedom of expression, fair process, and privacy. [fn] Footnote: For instance, without prejudice to a Party’s law, adopting or maintaining a regime providing for limitations on the liability of, or on the remedies available against, online service providers while preserving the legitimate interests of right holder. There is the opinion that the initial idea of the drafters of ACTA still remains in their minds. The footnote suggests that liability on ISPs will always exist, but now, the only requisite is to have a limit to this liability, but it does not say under what terms it must be done. What it says is that interests of rightholders are the first ones to take account. According to this opinion , this would still allow ISPs to disconnect users of alleged IP rights violations and therefore deprive them  of their right to freedom of expression and information. II.THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION Art. 8(1) ECHR guarantees also the confidentiality of individual communications, that is why private life and correspondence are protected under the same article. Since telephone communications fall within the scope of the article, Internet communications too. Art. 10(1) BL goes beyond and also protects from prohibitions, interruptions or delays of communications . Both rights are considered basic principles of European law and now they are enshrined in Arts. 7 and 8(1) Charter. The provisions of ACTA that violate these specific rights are Art. 11 and Art. 27(4): Art. 11: Without prejudice to its law governing privilege, the protection of confidentiality of information sources, or the processing of personal data, each Party shall provide that, in civil judicial proceedings concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights, its judicial authorities, at least for the purpose of collecting evidence, relevant information as provided for in its applicable laws and regulations tha t the infringer or alleged infringer possesses or controls. Such information may include information regarding any person involved in any aspect of the infringement or alleged infringement and regarding the means of production or the channels of distribution of the infringing or allegedly infringing goods or services, including the identification of third persons alleged to be involved in the production and distribution of such goods or services and of their channels of distribution. Art. 27(4): A Party may provide, in accordance with its laws and regulations, its competent authorities with the authority to order an online service provider to disclose expeditiously to a right holder information sufficient to identify a subscriber whose account was allegedly used for infringement, where that right holder has filed a legally sufficient claim of trademark or copyright or related rights infringement, and where such information is being sought for the purpose of protecting or enforcing those rights. These procedures shall be implemented in a manner that avoids the creation of barriers to legitimate activity, including electronic commerce, and, consistent with that Party’s law, preserves fundamental principles such as freedom of expression, fair process, and  privacy. Under Art. 11 extensive disclosure orders are allowed . This covers â€Å"infringers†, â€Å"alleged infringers† and â€Å"any person involved in any aspect of the infringements or alleged infringement†, they also include â€Å"the identification of third persons alleged to be involved†. In addition, Art. 27(4) allow data disclosures for the purpose â€Å"to identify a subscriber whose account was allegedly used for infringement†. But are IP addresses personal data? In order to know that, we need to read the definition of personal data provided in Art. 2 Directive 95/46/EC : â€Å"any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (â€Å"data subject†); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number†. It is obvious that such IP addresses constitute personal data since individuals can be identified by those numbers. Although the purpose of those articles is the detection and prevention of possible IP rights infringements, the wording makes it clear that Internet users will not be warned while they are being monitorised, even if they are not suspicious for having infringed some sort of IP rights. Moreover, this monitoring would be done by ISPs if right holders ask them to do so. In opinion of the EDPS a generalised monitoring is an act that invades individuals’ private sphere. So, for these acts to be justified, they must be necessary and proportionate, but when ACTA does not apply any limit to the monitor process it is obvious that it would count as infringements all those acts that are carried out for no profit. If there is no proportionality and rightholders can access to private data with no restrictions, even if individuals are not violating IP rights, it is a clear example of an infringement to the right to privacy and data protection. III.THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL The right to a fair trial is a general principle of law of the European Union common to the Member States and which the Federal Republic of Germany is bound by it , which is now embodied in Art. 47(2) Charter. Also Art. 6 EMRK protects the right of a fair trial and since the Và ¶lkerrechtsfreundlichkeit doctrine Art. 103(1) BL gives meaning to it. Art. 12 ACTA contains the provisional measures which are part of the legal answers that right holders can rely on in civil law. But Art. 12(2) fails to provide guarantees for a  fair trial: Each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities have the authority to adopt provisional measures inaudita altera parte where appropriate, in particular where any delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the right holder, or where there is a demonstrable risk of evidence being destroyed. In proceedings conducted inaudita altera parte, each Party shall provide its judicial authorities with the authority to act expeditiously on requests for pr ovisional measures and to make a decision without undue delay. It is true that provisional measures, even in inaudita altera parta procedures, are allowed, but only because they are the exception. This is against the principle of â€Å"equality of arms† defined by the ECtHR (and followed by the German Federal Court and the ECJ) that means that in judicial procedures a defendant may not be placed at a substantial disadvantage against his counter-party . When such a possibility is accepted by a legal system it also provides safeguards to ensure that the defendant can restore his â€Å"equality of arms†. But ACTA do not seem to provide this. It does not stress that provisional measures and proceeding inaudita altera parta should be the exception and this could lead to two possible consequences. First, when protecting IP rights it is justified to use those extraordinary measures as normal and second, that there is no need to provide guarantees . Regarding the provisional measures of Art. 27(4) it is not clear to which â€Å"competent authorities† the article refers to. In opinion of the EDPS the ambiguous concept does not provide with the sufficient legal cert ainty of whether the disclosure of information would be taken place by judicial authorities. He believes that such concept could also include administrative bodies that are not embodied with the sufficient â€Å"guarantees of independence, impartiality and respect of the rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial†. It must be also considered that ACTA enable to private parties to adopt functions that belong to judicial authorities and it seems as if there is a â€Å"privatisation† of IP rights law . Art. 27(3) enable the â€Å"business community† to address IP infringements: Each Party shall endeavour to promote cooperative efforts within the business community to effectively address trademark and copyright or related rights infringement while preserving legitimate competition and, consistent with that Party’s law, preserving fundamental principles such as freedom of expression, fair process, and privacy. Right holders cannot judge  whether a particular action violates IP rights, in fact, when certain type of data must be processed in relation to suspected offences or criminal convictions, Art. 8(5) Directive 95/46/EC states that those acts †may be carried out only under control of official authority, or if suitable specific safeguards are provided under national law†. Moreover, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has stated that â€Å"Lack of transparency in the intermediaries’ decision making process also often obscures discriminatory practices or political pressure affecting the companies’ decisions† and â€Å"To avoid infringing the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy of Internet users, the Special Rapporteur recommends intermediaries to: only implement restrictions to these rights after judicial intervention† . If ACTA does not make any effort to offer any guarantee to the right to a fair trial and even aims to provide the â€Å"business community† with the powers of the judicial authorities it is evident that departs from the fundamental rights enshrines in the Basic Law, the ECHR and the Charter. IV.THE â€Å"FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES† The digital chapter, namely Arts. 27(2), 27(3) and 27(4) refers to the need to preserve â€Å"fundamental principles such as freedom of expression, fair process and privacy†. The EDPS states that by only referring to those principles and no giving real safeguards is not enough. He asks himself whether the drafters of the Agreement did not choose o include â€Å"fundamental rights† instead of â€Å"fundamental principles†, since freedom of expression and privacy are not â€Å"principles†, but fundamental rights. Also, the negotiators chose to avoid referring to the right to a â€Å"fair trial† or to the right to â€Å"due process†, instead they referred to the term: â€Å"fair process†, which, as confirmed by the European Commission , that is not a fundamental principle of international law. To make a comparison, the EDPS gives an example of the necessary safeguards that must be always included and must always be â€Å"in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights and general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection, due process, the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy†. It seems that such terms are not intended to properly ensure  fundamental rights in the way they do the different European catalogues. D.CONCLUSIONS It is true that IP rights must be protected and since we live in a digital era, that task has become more difficult due to a more globalized world. But the protection of IP rights must not be given precedence over fundamental rights. ACTA have failed to respect the fundamental rights within the Basic Law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Much of it is due to a very vague, ambiguous and unclear wording of its provisions, making it impossible to foresee what kind of actions, both civil and criminal, infringe intellectual property rights. Moreover, there are no explicit de minimis rules that could make the provisions of ACTA proportionate so they do not hinder fundamental rights. IP rights are not above fundamental rights. This is something that the ECJ stated twice in the Telefà ³nica/Promusicae and Scarlet/Sabam cases. Namely, in the latter said that a â€Å"a fair balance be struck between the right to intellectual property, on the one hand, and the freedom to conduct business, the right to protection of personal data and the freedom to receive or impart information, on the other†. ACTA will be voted next month at the European Parliament and it seems that MEPs will vote against it (although it is not sure yet). Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice will decide whether the Agreement is compatible with the rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and, as we have seen, there are grounds for the incompatibility of ACTA with this catalogue of rights. If we want to enforce the legitimate IP rights that rightholders have we need to stop criminalising trivial and private use of data in the Internet, we need to stop thinking in mechanisms to deny access to information and we need to ensure that judicial authorities continue to be the ones capable to enforce those rights.

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buy custom History of Haiti essay Before the Arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish explorer, in 1492 during his first voyage, Haiti was inhabited by the Taino and Arakwan tribes who referred their country as Ayiti or Hayti meaning land of mountains (Coupeau). Christopher declared the island a Spanish colony and named it Hispaniola. He went ahead and established a temporary settlement on the Northern coast of the island which he named Christmas or Navidad. At first the tribes were friendly to the settled Spaniards but after discovery of their abuse and intolerance they became very violent against them. On his second return in 1493, Columbus discovered that the settlement at Christmas has been destroyed and the settlers disappeared presumably slain. He was bent on establishing this island as a Spanish colony and therefore made another settlement on the Eastern coast, which became known as Isabella (Girard). Spain established the island as its colonial administration headquarters after the disappointment of lack of gold as expected. The conquest and colonization of the other islands was to be conducted from here as Coupeau says. The Spanish system of repartimiento was tested here whereby the Spain born people were given land and the right to force the Indian inhabitants to work for them. Columbus and his brother who were in charge of the colony fell out with the settlers and consequently with the crown because they failed to maintain order. A new governor, Nicolas De Avando took over and under him the system of encomienda was enforced. This meant that all the land was the property of the crown and the Spaniards were stewards of huge tracks of land and could employ the inhabitants labor which in practice was slavery. Under the colonial rule the Taino Indians were almost eliminated from hundreds of thousands according to accounts to about 150 by 1550 (Coupeau). This was attributed to diseases, forced labor and the emergency of Mulatos or Mestizo and saw the near elimination of the Taino people and their culture. Interest on the colony however, was lost to the Spanish crown after the discovery of gold in the Mexico and South American colonies. Agriculture became the backbone of the economy but did not thrive as much as it experienced under the French rule. The Spanish neglect of the Island gave other colonizers a chance to invade the island. The French established their first permanent settlement in Tortuga, an island off the West coast of Hispaniola, in 1659 under King Louis XIV. Another group of French colonizers were already settled in the north coast of Hispaniola. Skirmishes with the English and French forces had weakened the Spanish in Hispaniola and therefore the invasion of the French into the island was easier. They established the French West India Company to give direction to commerce in the colony. In 1670 the first major community was established at Cap Francois now named Cap Haitien and in 1697 the Treaty of Ryswick was signed where the Spain relinquished sovereignty of the Island to the French and was renamed Saint Domingue (Girard). Under the French rule the colony became prosperous and the richest colony in the Western hemisphere. By the mid eighteenth century produced about the 60 percent of worlds coffee and 40percent of sugar imported to French and Britain. It also accounted for two thirds of the French commercial interests abroad and brought luxury to plantation owners and jobs to the mother country, but its major flaw was slavery (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The slave labor for the sugar and coffee plantations were brought from West Africa which were greatly abused and remained impoverished. Men mainly provided labor and few lived long enough to reproduce while women were made slave masters concubines. The slavery system produced a mixture of races and consequently classes of people. At the top were the white colonialists or the blancs, then the mulattoes or the people of color who were also free and then the masses of black slaves. This is what is what has shaped the modern Haiti society(Morss). This slavery system and the discriminative legislations brought a lot of resentment and conflict. The people of color were not permitted take certain professions and other detailed restrictions but they could purchase land and rend money to the planters and some accumulated substantial wealth. The black slaves on the other hand, runaway and waged guerilla warfare against the settlers and the inhabitants too the most common one being led by a man named Francois Macandal between 1751 and 1757 (Coupeau). This eventually culminated to the 1791 slave rebellion, which evolved to Haitian revolution. The French with the help of the people of color was able to repel the attacks of the maroons but the maroons wanted more than what they had, they wanted equality with the settlers. This delicate balance of the slavery system crumbled down don during the 1789 French Revolution. The French national assembly required that the colonial assembly give suffrage to the landed and tax paying people of co lor which it ignored. This led to a revolt from the people of color, which failed. The colonial authority was faced with massive slave rebellion in 1791 which was supported by some people of color. This saw a lot of damage wrecked on the plantations and factories and killing of the white people. Soon this spread to Cap Francais and people of color staged attacks, which led to widespread revolution throughout the island, which attracted Spanish and English intervention (Books LLC). Then, came the leadership of Toussaint Louverture to the rebellion with the help of the French authority. Louverture together with his allies, successfully fought for the independence of the slaves in Haiti after the French abolished slavery in 1794. In 1802, French under Napoleon Bonaparte tried to take back Haiti to slavery where he sought help from America and Thomas Jefferson who at first supported him but later remained neutral after realization Napoleon wanted to colonize his land. Louvarture was arrested in 1803 bu his colleagues continued with the resistant eventually attaining in dependence in 1804 and in 1805 the island nation drafted it first constitution. Soon after independence the French imposed a trade embargo against Haiti and demanded a compensation for the loss of slaves which was an astronomical figure of 125 million francs which the country finished paying in 1947. This left the country on a struggling economy for those years (Borgy and Chojnicki). This was further worsened by the attack and invasion from the US marines in 1915 as fear of German occupation heightened from the small population of German people integrating and owning property in the island. The French and US took control of Haitis economy and the central bank, amid resistant, to make sure their debts were paid ward off any resistant from the Haitians with brutal force. This lasted until 1947 when their debts were cleared and was marked by imposed dictatorship, death squads, torture and enslavement, which resulted to a revolt in 1986.(Buss and Gardner) In 1990, Haiti voted for Jean Bertrand Aristide who tried to put an end to corruption and improve the lives of the countrys poor but did not last long before he was ousted by the Catholic Church with the help of the CIA. Eventually Aristide was put back to power by the Clinton administration at the cost of the countrys economy, which, saw it open up to the trade from the US reducing the country further into poverty. However, Aristides government made a few milestones in the provision of education and health care to the poor in the country and had promised to double the minimum wages (Morss). These policies put into motion a lot of political resistance from mainly the wealthy landowners with the support of many interested parties including foreign governments. Aristide was eventually forced to step down and since then the country has been plugged into one coup after another and deteriorating conditions of living for the poor. There have also been claims of killings, rape and torture f rom the powers being to the rebellious people in the countrys poor slums. Since 2006, after elections hoped to return the country into sanity, Haiti has experienced political turmoil one after another. In this elections allegations of election fraud were raised after Rene Preval, a former prime minister and Aristides friend was declared the winner. In 2008, the current prime minister, Jacques-Edourd Alexis was ousted by the senate for poor performance of the countrys economy. Another prime minister was appointed by the president and rejected by the lower house and finally Michele Pierre was approved as the prime minister. In 2009, the senate was at it again when they ousted Michele Pirre who the international community thought was competent to bring change to the country and replaced her with Jean-Max Bellerive (Books LLC). Last November, poll also presented the same debacle as allegations of massive election fraud were raised in the first round. A former first lady was declared the winner by the electoral commission and was to face Jude Celestin in the se cond round. This brought protests in the country. Eventually Jude Celestin was put under pressure apparently by the United States to withdraw leaving Manigat to face Martely who worn by a landslide (Kelly). There is some hope that the countrys unstable politics would end and bring the much-needed investment into the country. The Haiti economy The country has been described as the poorest in the western hemisphere and its capacity to attract investment is very low (Sletten and Egset). By the time the country gained independence in 1804, it was the richest and most productive colony in the world, however, years of political instability and international isolation in diplomatic engagement in earlier years coupled with a huge debt to both US and French has left the country reeling. During the period between 1996 and 2001, the country tried to implement some reforms in order to attain economic stability. These included cutting government expenditure, down sizing the civil service and modernization of state owned entities among others. Structural adjustments were also implemented as required by financial institutions funding the reforms such as World Bank, IMF and inter American Development bank. Modernization of the state corporations was a major policy issues during this time however only two have been privatized as the issue has turned into a political one. External aid has been and continues to be of great importance in the economic development of the country(Books LLC). The major sectors supporting the economy of the country are agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining. Most of the Haitians rely on substance farming although an export agriculture sector exists. The agricultural, fishing and forestry sector contributed to 28% of the GDP in 2004 and employed 66% of the force (Borgy and Chojnicki). The major cash crops in the country are coffee, cocoa and mangoes. The mining industry is small with total earning of around $13 million per year dominated mainly by Bauxite, calcium carbonate, copper, gold and marble. The manufacturing sector is consisted mainly of beverages, butter, cement, detergents, flours sugar and textiles among others. Growth in this sector has been undermined by lack of investment. This sector accounted for 20% of GDP employing less than 10% of the labor force. The sector has been declining since the 1994 UN embargo on trade that saw as many as 80,000 workers put of work. The years following the military rule since 1991 contributed to the decline in the sector. The service sector in the country has the sustained little growth in unstable years of 1990s. It employed 25% of the labor force in 2004 and contributed to 52% of the GDP. The impediment to economic growth in the country has been the lack of reliable banking and financial sector as banks collapse with regularity and mmost of the banks are in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The country boasted of no stock exchange by 2009 labor (Buss and Gardner). Tourism was an important sector of the economy in the 1970s and 1980s however political instability in 1990s and early 2000s discouraged any growth in the industry. Lack of infrastructure and up to date hospitality industry has also been a turn off for visitors. One can not conclude a discussion of the economy of Haiti without mention of the labor force. In 1995 the USAID estimated the labor force to be about 3.6 million but with minimal skilled labor. Statistics on employment are sparse due to lack of pub lication of such data and the only available ones are from foreign organizations such as USAID which gave a figure of 50% unemployment in 2003 (Kelly). Geography of Haiti The Republic of Haiti is in the Western hemisphere and occupies one third of the Western of the island of the Hispaniola west of the Dominican Republic and between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). It has an area of 27,750 square kilometers and a coastline of 1, 1771 km of coastline. Haiti has a land area of 27,560 square kilometers and 190 square kilometer of water. The land is comprised of three fourths mountainous country marked by great fertile valleys, extensive plateaus and small plains. The climate is mainly tropical but the eastern side is semi desert as mountains block the trade winds. Rainfall varies in the country and averages between 1,370 mm with two rainy seasons between April and June and October and November (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The country is geographically situated in the hurricane region and therefore prone to strong storms between June and October, flooding is another phenomenon characterizing the country with earthquakes and floods also being common. Demographics The population of Haiti is estimated to be 9,648,924 by 2010 and is estimated to reach 9,719,932 by July 2011 according to the US Bureau of the Census (Eurostat). This averages about 250 people per square kilometer and concentrated mainly in urban areas, valleys and coastal plains. The population is largely composed of Haitians of West African ancestry, mulattos and small number of Asians, Arabs and white communities. There are also Hispanic people mainly from Cuba and Dominican Republic(Eurostat). The CIA fact book reports that the age structure of 0-14 years comprise 38% of the total [population and 15-65 years making up 58.5% and those above 65 years to be 3.4% of the population. The population growth rate is low at 0.787 % per annum according to this report. Social problems in Haiti Poverty Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. A look at the capital city Port-au-prince gives a grim picture of the poverty in the country (Kelly). Most of the population lives in slums which are overcrowded and prone to diseases. In this city most of the population of people who work earn less than two US dollars a day this is hardly enough to cater for the basic necessities like food and health care. The Pan-American Health Organization (Eurostat) reports that child mortality, communicable diseases are very prevalent mainly due to poverty. This situation has been aggravated by the biggest natural disaster in its 200 years history, the January 2010 earthquake that shook the country capital to its core and caused hundreds of thousand of lost life. The president of the country is quoted saying that the parliament had collapsed, tax office, Schools and hospitals and the destruction of the capital as unimaginable. This was followed by a hurricane, which saw an outbreak of cholera that claimed even more life (Kelly). Unequal distribution of wealth In this country, a small elite group mainly of elites and ruling class composed of several thousand families are extremely wealthy while 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. There exist a small middle class group consisting of civil servants and other government employees but the gap between the majority black and the minority lighter skinned people is very wide (Kelly). This has existed since colonization. The minority wealthy live in cooler mountainsides where education and medical services are exclusively private. Their children attend schools abroad either in Paris or United States with most of the families holding bank accounts in United States. In comparison the rural folks live in small remote villages or settlements where they have no access to clean water, electricity, education and other social services. In comparison to the wealthy children, the rural kids have access to elementary education provided by either the churches or charitable organizat ions. The rural children travel long distances to school, cannot afford the books and uniform and have to work at an early age. This only increases illiteracy levels among the poor with estimation that half the adult population is illiterate. Health services are another thing they cannot afford and some areas depend entirely on relief food from aid agencies. Racial divisions Racial divisions in the country are another problem although 95% of the population is composed of black people (Kelly). The divisions occur between the largely black people of the African decent and the mulattoes who act as the ruling class. The mulattoes are wealthy and identify with wealthy classes in other countries and have little to do with the Haitian poor. The country has an underdeveloped social, economic and political institutions and mostly education system which do not allow for upward social mobility making the difference even wider. This is further aggravated by isolation of rural populations from the urban ones with reports indicating that 79% of Haitians have no or little contact with Port-au-Prince or other major towns, which are centers of change. Buy custom History of Haiti essay

How to Stay Organized With Your Marketing [PODCAST]

How to Stay Organized With Your Marketing [PODCAST] Do you have too much on your plate? Are you spread too thin? Are you constantly putting out fires? All of these are symptoms of a bigger problem, and oftentimes, that problem is a lack of prioritizing and planning ahead. If you see yourself in any of this, you will not want to miss today’s episode. We are talking to Jana Barrett, the senior content marketing manager at GetFeedback. In her position, she needs to balance prioritizing with getting all of her projects done. Today we’re going to talk about setting priorities for your projects, coming up with great ideas, and getting it all organized so you don’t fall behind. Information about GetFeedback and what Jana does there as the head of content marketing. How Jana finds a balance between strategic work and executing projects, particularly on the importance of seeing the forest for the trees and not getting caught up in minutiae. Jana’s system for time management: How she uses calendars and spreadsheets. Why it’s important for a marketing team to get feedback from a sales team and how this strategy helps the marketing team get closer to the customer. Where Jana’s first marketing ideas came from during her earliest projects. What the typical workflow looks like at GetFeedback, how they do their scheduling, and how far out they plan their content. Jana’s best advice for someone trying to get more organized and set better work priorities. Links: GetFeedbackIf you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Jana: â€Å"We were really focused on the big picture instead of tossing hours and minutes down the drain by getting caught up with data and charts.† â€Å"When you get feedback from the people that are having direct conversations with the humans on the other side of the phone or the computer or the table, you are able to connect to them.† â€Å"Being able to say no to things, to yourself, and to other people is really important in a content creation position.†

Identifying the elements of interpersonal communication Essay

Identifying the elements of interpersonal communication - Essay Example On the contrary, a child who grows up in a poor environment can be timid, defensive and therefore inhibited in his actions. In some cultures, a person is respected by the way he speaks as in the case of Asian people. They have words that indicate politeness and courtesy which is important when talking to elderly people. Filipinos use â€Å"po† and â€Å"opo† to indicate that they are talking to someone with a higher position or someone older than them. Not observing such practice could be translated as being rude. The westerns setting does not have such words but â€Å"please†, â€Å"excuse me† and â€Å"I’m sorry† indicates good manners. As for the second statement, people who communicate more often can also be rude and tactless, quality of communication matters since people love to hear from sensible people. This is primarily why Oprah’s talk show and Dr. Phil is successful, they make people feel good and give hope. They also bring a wealth of ideas , advice and opinion to all the listeners which makes them interesting. There are also some sarcastic images in media such as â€Å" Dr House† which makes him earn the ire of people around him. NO matter how truthful and valid his advice maybe, people still value on how one expresses a certain viewpoint. Tone of voice is important since the receiver of the message may decode the meaning of the message differently. Another important thing about personal communication is that it depends upon the circumstance or situation; therefore, one must be sensitive about the context of a conversation or even an argument. This is also important especially when communica ting with people from different cultures. More often than not, conflicts in the workplace happen because of difference in cultural background. Since language is a necessity in interpersonal communication, certain meanings are attached to words or symbols of a certain language that can be a source of

Judge Sotomayor and the Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Judge Sotomayor and the Constitution - Essay Example Sotomayor is no stranger to delivering such ill conceived decisions. As such, several of her judgments have been reversed by the Supreme Court. For instance, the ruling in the Riverkeepers case depicted the extreme views that she subscribes to. Her decidedly defective decision was set aside by the Supreme Court. According to Jeffrey Rosen, Judge Sotomayor is neither a capable judge, nor is she sufficiently intelligent to function as a judge (The Judicial Confirmation Network, 2009). According to Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court by President Obama is in accordance with the latter’s predilections regarding Justices of the Supreme Court. This nomination is consistent with his perception that any ruling should be based on personal feelings and political agenda; rather than the rule of law (The Judicial Confirmation Network, 2009). President Obama has dispensed with all pretence of being a post – partisan president, with the nomination of Sotomayor. She is notorious for her innumerable failures and the patent absence of judicial restraint in her decisions. Judicial activism is essential for dispensing justice, in instances wherein the extant legislation fails to provide justice. However, it has to be borne in mind that judicial activism, per se, pays scant regard for the Constitution (The Washington Times, 2009). The principal drawback with judicial activism is that it emasculates the Constitution and supplants democratic decision making with a judge’s personal penchant. Thus an unelected judge, who is not accountable to anyone, can emerge as a dangerous and powerful despot. This extremely adverse scenario is exemplified by Sotomayor and her ilk. Judge Sotomayor opines that racial and sexual disparities are not genetic anomalies, and that these differences render some people superior to others (The Washington Times,