Welcome to Tech Policy
Thank you for visiting www.techpolicy.com.ng. This website will discuss topical tech policy and regulatory issues in Nigeria, and generally on the African continent. The discussion could take the form of academic researches and articles, opinion-pieces in newspapers, organised workshops and media events. To enrich this discussion, comments are always welcome.
Visitors to this website are to note that information and posts contained here do not constitute legal advice neither does it create an attorney-client relationship.
Publications
2010 |
Izuogu, Chukwuyere Ebere Social Science and Research Network, (7), 2010. @article{Izuogu2010c, title = {Data Protection Issues and the Legal Implications in Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Directive on SIM Card Registration (April 29, 2010). Available at Social Science and Research Network}, author = {Chukwuyere Ebere Izuogu}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1597665}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-05-02}, journal = {Social Science and Research Network}, number = {7}, abstract = {Towards the ending of year 2009, the Nigerian Communications Regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in exercising the powers granted it under the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 issued a directive that all new Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards must be registered before activation, to be followed by the subsequent registration of the SIM cards of existing SIM card holders at a later date. This directive coming from the NCC was borne out of the need to have a credible database of SIM card holders in Nigeria that will be used to identify (for possible prosecution) criminal actors who perpetrate criminal activities through the use of mobile phones by exploiting the anonymity of an unregistered SIM Card. This article seeks to identify and address the data protection and other issues that will arise in implementing the SIM card registration process.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Towards the ending of year 2009, the Nigerian Communications Regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in exercising the powers granted it under the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 issued a directive that all new Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards must be registered before activation, to be followed by the subsequent registration of the SIM cards of existing SIM card holders at a later date. This directive coming from the NCC was borne out of the need to have a credible database of SIM card holders in Nigeria that will be used to identify (for possible prosecution) criminal actors who perpetrate criminal activities through the use of mobile phones by exploiting the anonymity of an unregistered SIM Card. This article seeks to identify and address the data protection and other issues that will arise in implementing the SIM card registration process. |
Izuogu, Chukwuyere Ebere Social Science and Research Network, pp. 119, 2010. @article{Izuogu2010d, title = {Exhaustion of Rights and the Resale of Used Software Licenses: The State of Play in Germany and the United Kingdom (September 30, 2009). Available at Social Science and Research Network}, author = {Chukwuyere Ebere Izuogu}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1597637}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-05-02}, journal = {Social Science and Research Network}, pages = {119}, abstract = {With the invention of the computer, subsequently came the software that enabled tasks to be performed on the computer system. According to Desmond (2008) software 500 survey indicated that the total worldwide revenues for companies in the software 500 list increased from $394 billion in 2006 to $451.8 billion in 2007. With the current growth rate at 14.7% and the commercial value of the software industry, it has become imperative that software should be regarded as an intellectual property asset which must be protected in order to maximize its commercial benefits. In recent times there have emerged new business models that carry on business as a sellers of used or unwanted software licenses (known as shelfware), the legality of this act is still very much uncertain as there exist legal confusion as to whether used or unwanted software licenses can be validly resold without infringing the rights of the original licensor. The main thrust of this research paper considers whether the right of the software owner is exhausted upon the first sale of the software. This research paper examines the relevant provisions of the Information Society/Copyright Directive and the Computer Programs Directive vis-a-vis the End User License Agreement (EULA) for both Microsoft’s and Oracle’s software package as interpreted by the courts in Germany and the United Kingdom in order to ascertain the validity of a software license resale in both jurisdictions. Both statutory and judicial authorities indicate that the distribution rights of software owners will be exhausted once the original software is distributed in a tangible media while the right of communication and making available to the public works against the exhaustion of rights doctrine once the original software package is distributed in an intangible form or deployed as a service. The implication here will be the migration of software owners and vendors to online business models in order to circumvent the exhaustion of rights doctrine, here reliance will be placed on Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions, enabling end-users to access the software and this technology is associated with its own legal issues. As a final conclusion, the effects of these DRM solutions on the end-users and its possible resolution will be considered.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } With the invention of the computer, subsequently came the software that enabled tasks to be performed on the computer system. According to Desmond (2008) software 500 survey indicated that the total worldwide revenues for companies in the software 500 list increased from $394 billion in 2006 to $451.8 billion in 2007. With the current growth rate at 14.7% and the commercial value of the software industry, it has become imperative that software should be regarded as an intellectual property asset which must be protected in order to maximize its commercial benefits. In recent times there have emerged new business models that carry on business as a sellers of used or unwanted software licenses (known as shelfware), the legality of this act is still very much uncertain as there exist legal confusion as to whether used or unwanted software licenses can be validly resold without infringing the rights of the original licensor. The main thrust of this research paper considers whether the right of the software owner is exhausted upon the first sale of the software. This research paper examines the relevant provisions of the Information Society/Copyright Directive and the Computer Programs Directive vis-a-vis the End User License Agreement (EULA) for both Microsoft’s and Oracle’s software package as interpreted by the courts in Germany and the United Kingdom in order to ascertain the validity of a software license resale in both jurisdictions. Both statutory and judicial authorities indicate that the distribution rights of software owners will be exhausted once the original software is distributed in a tangible media while the right of communication and making available to the public works against the exhaustion of rights doctrine once the original software package is distributed in an intangible form or deployed as a service. The implication here will be the migration of software owners and vendors to online business models in order to circumvent the exhaustion of rights doctrine, here reliance will be placed on Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions, enabling end-users to access the software and this technology is associated with its own legal issues. As a final conclusion, the effects of these DRM solutions on the end-users and its possible resolution will be considered. |
2009 |
Izuogu, Chukwuyere Ebere Social Science and Research Network, pp. 16, 2009. @article{Izuogu2009, title = {The Interim Digital Britain Report, File Sharing and the Emerging Role of Internet Service Providers (May 30, 2009). Available at Social Science and Research Network}, author = {Chukwuyere Ebere Izuogu}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1601787}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-05-30}, journal = {Social Science and Research Network}, pages = {16}, abstract = {According to Lessig, “The fear is that cyberspace will become a place where copyright can be defeated.” The internet has witnessed an exponential growth in recent times and has generated new business models. The internet also made it possible to digitally disseminate copyright works and this has become one of the greatest challenges currently facing the copyright industry. Enter the peer-to-peer (p2p) “killer application”, the Napster judgment and the recent Pirate Bay decision from Sweden remains instructive on their use. All around Europe measures are been proposed to give Internet Service Providers (ISPs) a role in the enforcement of copyright laws in a networked environment, for instance, the controversial 3-strikes law recently adopted by the French parliament and in the United Kingdom, Action plan 13 of the Digital Britain Report seeks to enact legislation requiring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to notify alleged copyright infringers that their conduct is unlawful, this legislation also seeks to create a process whereby ISPs are required to make available to the rights holders retained anonymised information of repeat offenders. At first glance these proposed measures seem to be heading for a direct conflict with the general obligations not to monitor created under the Article 15 of the Electronic Commerce Directive (e-CD). This paper examines three issues; the compatibility of the proposed measures with the obligation not to monitor under the e-CD, the determination of the extent of the protection afforded the copyright holder under the Information Society Directive and the possibility of these legislative solutions in achieving the desired results.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } According to Lessig, “The fear is that cyberspace will become a place where copyright can be defeated.” The internet has witnessed an exponential growth in recent times and has generated new business models. The internet also made it possible to digitally disseminate copyright works and this has become one of the greatest challenges currently facing the copyright industry. Enter the peer-to-peer (p2p) “killer application”, the Napster judgment and the recent Pirate Bay decision from Sweden remains instructive on their use. All around Europe measures are been proposed to give Internet Service Providers (ISPs) a role in the enforcement of copyright laws in a networked environment, for instance, the controversial 3-strikes law recently adopted by the French parliament and in the United Kingdom, Action plan 13 of the Digital Britain Report seeks to enact legislation requiring Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to notify alleged copyright infringers that their conduct is unlawful, this legislation also seeks to create a process whereby ISPs are required to make available to the rights holders retained anonymised information of repeat offenders. At first glance these proposed measures seem to be heading for a direct conflict with the general obligations not to monitor created under the Article 15 of the Electronic Commerce Directive (e-CD). This paper examines three issues; the compatibility of the proposed measures with the obligation not to monitor under the e-CD, the determination of the extent of the protection afforded the copyright holder under the Information Society Directive and the possibility of these legislative solutions in achieving the desired results. |