The Conundrum of Intellectual Property Rights: Domestic Interests,International Commitments and the Australian Music Industry

The creation and exploitation of intellectual property is of central importance to Australia's economic security and cultural identity. However, the protection of intellectual property rights can have undesirable consequences including the protection of anti-competitive business environments; the privileging of private over public interest; and the erosion of the state's policy autonomy. In a case study of the recent conflict over the import of compact discs into Australia, this article demonstrates how the Commonwealth Government's attempt to curb the oligopolistic behaviour of the major foreign-owned record companies has been undermined by its desire to demonstrate its commitment to intellectual property rights, especially in the context of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations and the new agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property TRIPS.     

(Re)assessing Parliamentary Policy Impact: The Case of the Australian Senate

A recent article in this Journal suggested that assumptions about the legislative influence of the Australian Senate may overstate its de facto power. Stanley Bach indicated that compromise with the Senate was relatively rare, and pointed out that most successful Senate amendments were government amendments. This paper provides an alternative view. We suggest that legislative influence is more subtle than Bach acknowledged, and that it is necessary to dig deeper in the data to fully understand the Senate's role. We therefore supplement his analysis in two ways: (1) through tracking the ultimate outcome of government defeats in the Senate; and (2) through analysis of two case study bills. We find that in confrontations with government the Senate ‘wins’ the great majority of the time. This shapes government behaviour in the chamber, such that many government amendments actually respond to non-government concerns. The most important element of Senate influence is therefore ‘soft power’– exercised through negotiation – backed up only in extremis by the ‘hard power’ of government defeat. This holds important lessons for the study of legislative influence more broadly, as well as demonstrating the true power of the Australian Senate.     

The Terracotta Industry: its Distribution,Manufacturing Processes and Products

Abstract

This article considers the industrial aspects of the revival of terracotta and faience as architectural materials during the last two hundred years. It demonstrates how the distribution and development of the industry, and the nature of the terracotta produced, relates closely to clay geology. The transition from using younger clays found in the south-west of England through to exploiting clays from the Coal Measures explains the emergence of new firms able to mass-produce large, brightly coloured blocks on an extensive scale. In examining the technology of manufacture it is apparent that the basic processes changed little during the course of the revival, but that skills in making models and moulds in plaster and in applying glazes were fundamental to the decorative qualities of terracotta and faience architecture.     

The Political Importance of Provincial Newspapers, 1903-1945: The Rowntrees and the Liberal Press

This article argues that the political importance of provincialnewspapers run by the Rowntree family in the Liberal cause declinedbetween 1903 and 1945. This decline is identified in changingattitudes to the funding of newspapers, and in the reasons forthose changes. Before the Second World War the Rowntrees consideredsubsidies to provincial newspapers vital, to keep the pressat the forefront of partisan campaigning, until at last it beganto pay its way. Yet such newspapers' eventually strong financescontrasted with their political weakness, as they appeared helplessto prevent the Liberal Party's electoral decline. After 1945the Rowntrees, in contrast to their earlier strategy, no longerconsidered the funding of newspapers a priority. Instead, theytargeted money directly at the strengthening of the LiberalParty, both in Parliament and in the party organization, insteadof at the press. This switch of strategy was the earliest exampleof a wider Liberal emphasis, from the 1940s, on improving parliamentaryrecruitment and party organization. The fading political importanceof the Rowntrees' newspapers and of the wider Liberal presswould lead to loss-making Liberal papers closing, while survivingones ceased to support the Liberal Party. Instead, the Liberalscame to depend on television and community politics.     

近代朝鲜华侨制造业研究——以铸造业为中心

以朝鲜殖民地时期华侨制造业中最具代表性的铸造业作为研究对象,对华侨铸造工厂诞生的背景、同乡网络及其生产体制进行了阐述;分析了华侨制造业在朝鲜烧锅制造领域里取得垄断性地位的原因,一是华侨铸造工厂里中国劳动者较低的工资及技术开发的进行;二是全国的华侨铸造工厂形成了以河北省交河县为中心的同乡网络并进行协力合作。中日战争爆发后,日本政府谋求战时经济的强化,朝鲜总督府也加强了战时统治经济,生铁原料的配给发生困难,华侨铸造工厂因而纷纷倒闭,走向衰退。     

Preserving Knowledge, not Objects: A Somali Perspective for Heritage Management and Archaeological Research

This article argues that the Somali people have a distinctive view on heritage and a different approach to its preservation relevant to their society. It suggests that a locally appropriate theoretical framework for heritage management and archaeological research can only be achieved if this local approach is taken into consideration and integrated into archaeological and heritage methodologies. The lack of qualified Somalis and indigenous perspectives in the archaeological research and heritage management policies characterizes Somali cultural heritage and archaeological research history. This research shows that previous approaches that have been pursued lacked dialogue and incorporation of local views of heritage practice. This lack of dialogue has been of paramount importance for the failure of the preservation of Somali cultural heritage, evident both in the previous neglect of its preservation and in the current looting and destruction of archaeological sites in Somaliland, Puntland and south-central Somalia. It is demonstrated how Somali indigenous perspectives are concurring and contributing to world heritage management and archaeological research methods. I suggest that any heritage work must integrate local approaches and trained local groups should lead archaeological research and heritage management in order to achieve sustainable development and self-representation.     

18世纪末—20世纪初中国制瓷业的衰落:一个全球的视角

欧洲的扩张一方面促成了全球规模的产品市场,对中国制瓷业形成了需求冲击,进而成就了中国制瓷业近300年的黄金时代;另一方面,欧洲国家还施行了武装贸易和重商主义,这给欧洲制瓷业的发展提供了市场、技术和政策支持,促使欧洲制瓷业迅速发展。也正是藉此欧洲制瓷业在与中国制瓷业的竞争中逐渐取得优势。最终华瓷市场的丧失导致中国制瓷业利润微薄,瓷商相继破产,曾经为中国带来无数利润和荣耀的制瓷业就此衰落。     

Fashion,Commerce and Technology in the Nineteenth Century: The Shawl Trade

Abstract

The way that the identifiable print sources used as patterns for the total of 170 emblems in the borders of the Four Seasons tapestries at Hatfield House are handled can tell us something not only about the meaning of the emblems in their new medium and setting but also about their weaving process. Changes to the Latin mottoes and to pictorial detail are shown to be purely pragmatic in some cases but clearly motivated in others, whilst both are influenced not only by the received iconology but also by the art of rhetoric as taught in the Elizabethan schoolroom. These changes are highly likely to have been decided on by the patron who commissioned them, Sir John Tracy.     

西汉前期工商业政策的演变及其影响再认识——兼论史学研究的价值取向

西汉前期财政经济政策的一个重要举措是实行重农抑商政策。在封建自然经济条件下,重农是必然的选择;政策的变数主要在于工商业,对社会经济发展的影响亦在于工商业,争议同样源于工商业。因而,考察重农抑商其重点在于分析工商业政策的特点及其演变。对此,学术界已作了不少研究,但是,仍有一些领域有待开拓,对主要问题的认识也需要深。     

生物多样性保护问题与国际社会的回应政策(1972-1992)

生物多样性是实现人类可持续发展的物质基础,人类活动已经对生物多样性造成了严重的损害。从20世纪70年代初到90年代初的20年中,国际生物多样性保护已从单纯的物种保护转到全面系统的保护;从区域性保护转向到全球性保护。生物多样性保护不仅是纯粹的生态问题,而是关系到全球可持续发展的前景问题,也关系到国家利益的分配问题,特别是南北关系问题。     

从广交会看两岸的经贸关系(1957-1991年)

广交会是大陆开展对台经贸工作的平台之一。创办之初,广交会主要通过在香港的台湾办庄和台商开展工作。20世纪60年代末70年代初,通过海外侨商开展对台经贸工作。改革开放后,大陆积极发展对台贸易,台商间接参与广交会。1987年,台湾开放民众到大陆探亲,为台商直接参与广交会创造了条件。总结广交会台商工作的政策沿革和实践发展的历史经验,对当前推进两岸经贸交流、完成祖国统一大业有借鉴意义。     

A Five-phase Entrepreneurial Oriented Innovation and Technology Policy Profile: The Israeli Experience

This paper presents a five-phase innovation and technology policy (ITP) profile based on the Israeli experience of the last four decades. This paper adds two additional phases to a previous paper. This ITP profile refers only to one specific start-up-oriented plan of action out of a multi-pronged strategy for innovation-based economic development. The goal of the ITP profile is promotion of a significant segment of start-ups within the high-tech cluster and to create a sub-segment of fast growing start-ups that eventually will became large companies with very high impact on the economic growth and development. A significant part of the ITP profile is triggering a venture capital (VC) industry, which has been recognized as a vehicle for latching into the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution. We suggest that the Israeli phase ITP profile presented here is a systematic and attractive approach to ITP design in general.     

冲突与合作:霸权转移视野下的现代英美关系考察(1914-1947)

20世纪前半期英美两国总体保持了合作关系,但在霸权争持矛盾的作用下,两国在世界秩序塑造、海上权势分配、战时战略规划、殖民地与势力范围归属以及经贸竞争等一系列问题上发生过激烈冲突。然而,实力上的巨大差距、国际体系的变迁、战争的冲击以及美国渐进并相对克制的崛起方式等因素迫使英国且战且退,于二战后不久完成了向美国转移世界霸权的进程。