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Journal of Law, Information and Science

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Stokes, Michael; Clark, Eugene --- "Editorial" [1997] JlLawInfoSci 1; (1997) 8(1) Journal of Law, Information and Science 5

EDITORIAL

In this issue, the editors are pleased to announce some changes in editorial policy. In future, the Journal will not only publish learned articles based on original research and scholarship, notes and reviews but also papers giving information about major research projects and new technologies and applications of interest to lawyers and legal academics. The aim of these changes is to make the journal of interest to a wider readership and to meet more of the needs of our readers. We have decided to publish information about major research projects in the area of law and information technology to help researchers find out who else is working in the field of their interest and to give them information about what other researchers are doing. Hopefully, this will encourage more collaboration in the area and provide a forum for the dissemination of information about new research projects.

We have decided to publish papers describing new technologies and applications for somewhat different reasons. The area is developing so quickly that it is difficult for lawyers and researchers to keep up to date with what is available. The purpose of this section of the journal is to meet the need of legal professionals for accurate information by publishing accurate descriptions of new electronic resources and services, especially those which are free and are hence unable to afford expensive advertising.

These changes require some changes to the refereeing policy of the Journal. All scholarly and research articles will be refereed as at present. Papers giving information about major research projects will not be refereed as they will normally be written by the researchers themselves and are intended to inform the reader of research which is being undertaken or is proposed and of the aims of the researchers, not to evaluate or criticise the projects. Papers describing new technologies and applications will only be refereed if the editors consider it is necessary to ensure that the information which they contain is accurate and up to date. This will clearly be unnecessary where the providers of the service or resource are the source of the article and may be unnecessary in other cases as well. Of course we will continue to accept papers dealing with the research which was undertaken in developing new technologies and applications and papers analysing or criticising new technologies and applications as scholarly or research articles and referee them accordingly.

The first article in this issue, by Professor Wendy J Gordon, examines the economic justification for copyright law, arguing that it is justified in economic terms if the market costs involved in having copyright are less than those which would arise in the absence of such law. The article argues that the basic justification for copyright is that it creates a market for intellectual works which would not otherwise exist and in this respect compares copyright with the law of restitution which can be justified on similar grounds. It also compares those areas of the law of copyright which have been dealt with by settled rules creating property rights with those in which a case by case approach has been adopted, suggesting reasons for the differing approaches.

The second article, by, ‘Some legal Issues relating to Digital Cash on the Information Highway’ by Associate Professor Greg Tucker, examines some of the legal issues surrounding forms of ‘digital cash’, such as smart cards and Digicash systems which are one way of buying on the internet. The article examines the nature of digital cash, comparing it with legal tender, cheques and promissory notes and bank books, before considering some of the policy issues, such as who should provide and regulate digital cash systems, privacy protection and the need to control money laundering, to which the use of digital cash leads.

The third paper, ‘Geographic Information Systems: Mapping the Contours of the Law’ by Associate Professor George Cho and Professor Eugene Clark, reflects the change in editorial policy in that it gives information about the scope of a major research project into the legal regulation of Geographic Information Systems currently being conducted by a research team at the University of Canberra. The paper also provides some background information to two articles produced by members of this research team, ‘Geographical Information Systems and Legal Liability’ by Ms. Kerrin Stewart, Associate Professor Cho and Professor Clark, which explores the liability of providers and users of geographical information systems to each other and to third parties in contract, torts and under statutes and ‘Intellectual Property Issues in the Development, Use and Commercialisation of Geographic Information Systems: an Australian Perspective’ by Mr Arthur Hoyle, Professor Clark and Associate Professor Cho, which looks at the intellectual property issues involved in the protection of the information and other aspects involved in the development and use of geographic information systems.

The issue finishes with a note by Ms Maree Sainsbury on the Full Court of the Federal Court decision in Powerflex Services Pty Ltd v Data Access Corporation, which dealt with the scope of copyright protection for computer software, and book reviews.

Michael Stokes and Gene Clark


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