The phenomenon of unfair terms in mass-market contracts is widely acknowledged, as is the fictional nature of “assent” or “consent” to all but a few obvious terms, such as price and key product features. Although some still argue for facilitating choice through better disclosure and...

The conventional wisdom in Egypt examines the issue of intellectual property solely as a question of policing and enforcement. The high levels of protection indicated by the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights are unquestioningly assumed to be desirable. Policy...

While the concepts of lean production are frequently applied in service organizations there is little work that rigorously has examined implementing lean production in contexts other than manufacturing as well as lean production's impact on performance in these settings. In this paper we set out...

Public "Beta" launches have become a preferred route of entry into the markets for new software products and web site based services. While beta testing of novel products is nothing new, typically such tests were done by experts within firm boundaries. What makes public beta testing so...

This article analyzes the legal regulations applicable to contracts for the development of software and licensing software in terms of its characteristics and practices of recruitment, as well as their problems with regard to the formation of the consent, the validity of its provisions as...

India has the third largest pool of technical persons. Indian graduates have been acclaimed as good programmers and systems analysts by most of the advanced countries. Software development is one of the high growth sectors of economy. It is noticed that India's contribution in 1991-92 has been...

The problems with software patents are old and well-known. However it’s not for a lack of trying that they have persisted. Software and tech companies have been pushing Congress to fix things for years. Each time they do, however, industries that rely crucially on the patent system, like...

The possession of power does not assure its exercise. The Constitution makes clear that should Congress choose to grant patents Congress does not have to, but should they so choose, Congress is limited to implementations that 1) “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” 2) are “for...

Software users can get a better deal on some software by organizing into a large buying group. Creating a consumer cooperative is a promising way to do this. Large group purchases can help solve problems in the software business, including monopoly power, the costs of intellectual "property"...

Global alliances have been promoted as interorganizational relationships that will permit organizations to deal with the increasingly turbulent global markets. Whatever the specific nature of the alliance, trust is seen as an essential constituent of successful relationships. However, most...