News, blogs, profession, law reports update - a large one. Now up on Insite Law Blawg Review #208 For those of you new to Green Patent Blog, welcome. We operate at the intersection of IP law and all things green, clean, or renewable. We’re especially pleased you could join us during Earth Week , which of course, includes Earth Day . So as we cover the law blogs today, we’ll put a special emphasis on the green and earthy.
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20th April: Major update to Insite Law….
As denials go… Ed Balls with his ‘completely fabricated and malevolent nonsense’ isn’t in quite the same league as Mayor Boris who, when accused of some extra-curricular activity some years ago, said… “I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle. It is all completely untrue and ludicrous conjecture. I am amazed people can write this drivel.” So… the email smear investigation produced out of a hat by Guido Fawkes last week not only earned him a rather absurd piece of smear journalism in return ( which he fielded rather well ) but it would appear that Mr Balls is now revealed as the Ernst Stavro Blofeld Bond villain of the piece… skulking in the background, directing his polbots. Ed Balls denies this. The Sunday Times reports… “ED BALLS, the schools secretary, used Damian McBride, the disgraced spin doctor, to smear ministerial rivals and advance his own ambitions, a Downing Street whistleblower has claimed. In an explosive new twist to the e-mail affair, a No 10 insider has revealed that Balls was the mastermind behind a “dark arts” operation by McBride to undermine colleagues. He claims the education secretary is running a destabilising “shadow operation” inside Downing Street to clear his path for the party leadership if Labour loses the next election. The insider said: “There is now an operation within an operation at No 10 and it answers to Ed Balls.” The News of The World has what they call an exclusive along roughly the same lines…but with a different slant… Damning proof that vicious dirty tricks website did involve highest levels of party Meanwhile… as at 10.30 am Sunday morning, a nation waits for further revelations from Guido . In the meantime… it is time for me to cook some breakfast. I think I shall have bacon and eggs with a few beans and toss in some brown toast to give me the illusion that I am being healthy. I may even have a glass of wine…. Rioja on Sundays, I have found, may be enjoyed at any hour of the day.. a piu tarde. 12.30: Well breakfast concluded… fortunately after seeing this Gerald Scarfe cartoon picked up by Red Rag ( A full version here )…and Guido is orf for a picnic to keep the ravening horde waiting for his latest revelations…. As Labour plummets in the polls faster than bank shareson the stock exchange did some months ago, John Prescott is using Twitter, facebook and Blackberry tecdhnology to get the message accross. I’m not entirely sure whether even Moses himself would have any effect on the British public now in terms of their faith in Gordon Brown and Nu-Labour… but at least the old bruiser is still in the game and doing it with some style. I enjoy listening to Prescott… and he does keep the gags coming… or should that be shags. The Times has the full story. More later, I suspect. I may even manage to write a bit about the law… anything is possible.
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Completely fabricated and malevolent nonsense…
Today I am talking to Carl Gardner, barrister, a former government lawyer and author of the Head of Legal blog. We’re discussing the extraordinary case of the arrest of Damien Green MP in the light of the DPP’s decision yesterday not to prosecute him or the home office official who was also arrested. The newspapers state that Green was told by police at the time of his arrest that he could be facing life imprisonment if convicted. Is Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, on the ropes? *** Links to Carl’s blog posts, the DPP statement and the Home Affairs Committee report may be found on Insite Law magazine under the ‘Listen to podcast’ link below. Listen to the podcast *** podcast version for iTunes
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Lawcast 128:Damian Green MP - the decision of the DPP not to prosecute and the position of The Home Secretary
John Flood, academic, law prof and blogger has done the business with his new persona - stand up comedian. In my book, anyone who can do stand-up in front of any audience, let alone pissed people in a pub - deserves praise for courage and idiocy/madness in the face of reason! The title to this piece comes from one of many very amusing quips in John’s latest stand up routine …. It made me laugh… but I would have laughed even if I wasn’t half in the bag. Watch the John Flood movie *** ( also does pretty good podcasts and knows a thing or two about law! )
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Hawking didn’t write Brief History of Time - the wheelchair did…
J acqui Smith in the firing line over security and secrecy Times: Jacqui Smith faced renewed pressure last night after the secrets case against Damian Green was thrown out and the leaks with which he was involved were deemed not to have involved national security. Quite apart from the furore over her expenses, the Home Secretary has demonstrated that she is not a safe pair of hands with this latest episode over the arrest of Damien Green MP, who was told by police at the time of his arrest that he could be facing life imprisonment if convicted. Mr Green won’t be convicted, nor will the Home Office whistleblower, because DPP, Keir Starmer, has refused to prosecute and said ‘his decision was based on the fact that the leaked documents “were not in many respects highly confidential”.’ Guardian While Ms Smith did not press for the arrest of Damien Green MP, she did “back a Cabinet Office decision to call in the police following 20 destabilising leaks from the Home Office in the past two years.” It now appears that the leaks were not substantial state secrets, affect national security or put lives at risk as was being ’suggested’ at the time of Green’s arrest. Starmer, not surprisingly, covers his position by saying - as reported in The Guardian - “the unauthorised leaking of restricted and or confidential information is not beyond the reach of the criminal law and can amount to an offence of misconduct in public office”. David Davis MP, former shadow home secretary, commented: “…the police were increasingly trying to use “misconduct in public office” to target officials who leak, undermining a key reform to the Official Secrets Act introduced to allow the disclosure of information. Green said the episode “whipped away the veil over this government and the way it exercises power”. He said: “They make serious mistakes on immigration policy and rather than correcting [them] they try to cover them up and when the cover up is exposed they lash out and, in this case … they exaggerated the security implications.” Carl Gardner, a former senior government lawyer and author of the Head of Legal Blog has written three good posts on this issue, the most recent, this morning: Damien Green - Jacqui on the rack Gardner writes: “The way I’d put it is this: Jacqui Smith is under suspicion of having used the police as a political tool; of having allowed her own anger and frustration at the embarrassment the leaks caused her to cloud her judgment, so that she authorised the involvement of police for a wholly wrong purpose - to stop that embarrassment. I can’t imagine a more serious charge against a Home Secretary. I don’t like suggestions we live in a “police state”: I think that kind of claim is always over the top . But vigilance must be eternal, and, if it means anything, it means making sure ministers do not use the police for their own political interests. So Jacqui Smith is now on the rack. The onus is on her to acquit herself of these suspicions - which I don’t think it will be easy for her to do.” Carl Gardner then says that she needs to answer a number of questions and suggest the questions she needs to answer. Read Carl’s piece for further information… For my part, if she is not able to allay suspicion that she may have misused her office - then quite apart from the expenses furore, she should resign. She may not have to worry about taking the honourable way - there are rumours that she will be part of a Brown re-shuffle fairly soon anyway. *** The news and updates to profession are now up on Insite Law
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17th April: Jacqui Smith in the firing line over security and secrecy
Obvious and Tangible Cheating… The Oxbridge Training Contracts saga continues with Oxbridge Training Contracts demanding that Simon Myerson QC pay attention to their demands… I quote from Mr Foster (representing OTC) … “ The following comments refer to the blog ‘Integrity and a Suitable Place for It’ posted on your website on March 31st, 2009.The blog is both highly deceptive and defamatory and we demand its immediate removal, the deletion of associated comments and that you print a retraction making very clear the deceptive nature of the comments printed there hitherto.” ( See: Integrity - The Man speaks ) Myerson, clearly unruffled by Mr Foster’s demands, refused to comply and responded: Integrity - the deadline passes and Moving on . In his his latest “Moving on” blog post, Simon Myerson makes a number of particularly important points in relation to cheating - first, in relation to paying organisations like OTC to write puillage application forms for you and, secondly, in relation to the even more serious issue (in my view) of paying porganisations to provide answers to tailored essay questions. The fiction, of course, is that OTC and similar organisations (which they make clear in their terms and conditions) are simply providing students with these answers for their private research. They go further and say that it is a breach of their terms and conditions for students to use these answers for any other purpose than private research and include submission of such answers as their own work for university or law school course work. Given that these tailored, bespoke, answers cost £200 or even more per answer depending on whether the answer is 2.1 or First class stabndard, or delivered seven days or seven hours later, it does not take a genius to work out that students are (a) using these bespoke answers and passing them off as their own work or (b) may be tempted to use the material as a substitute for their own research (c) are using the work as research and then ‘modelling’ their own answers on the answers provided. In all three cases the student is cheating. there is really no other term for it. Many, if not most institutions make it clear to students that they may not have any third party assistance with assessed coursework. Myerson, rightly, makes this observation: ” I extend this to the writing of essays - whether by way of ‘model’ answer or otherwise. The test is simple: if the teaching isn’t good enough at your institution then you should be able to recover the cost of your payment to OTC by way of legal action for breach of contract. If you wouldn’t sue then you shouldn’t use what you’ve bought. Try working harder.” Simon Myerson QC is a member of The Bar Council and is actively involved in the matter of Bar education. His blog posts on this issue are worth reading - as are the comments written by prospective barristers. Myerson’s Pupillage and How to Get It blog is a first class resource for any prospective barrister. I have no hesitation in recommending it. [I gave Mr Foster the opportunity to talk about Oxbridge Training Contracts in a podcast. If you wish to listen to it - click here ] *** The news is up on Insite Law. No new law reports - Easter vacation. OI shall do an update of UK blogs either later today or tomorrow.
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Obvious and Tangible Cheating…
Lawcast 127: Simon Fodden on Slaw, Canada Slaw is a Canadian co-operative weblog about any and all things legal. During the four years they have been publishing, their audience has steadily grown to include hundreds of practicing lawyers, legal librarians, legal academics and students I quote from their ABOUT section…. “Slaw operates with a core of regular contributors and a penumbra of occasional contributors , as well as a roster of regular columnists . It is open to anyone who is knowlegeable and interested to apply to join Slaw in any of these capacities. Because information technology dissolves boundaries, you don’t have to be a Canadian to join and talk about legal matters.” Today, I’m talking to Simon Fodden, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University Toronto, about Slaw, the Canadian legal system generally and his views on the internationality of the blawgosphere… Listen to the podcast | Podcast version for itunes
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Lawcast 127: Simon Fodden on Slaw, Canada
The Archbishop of Canterbury is encouraging us to take advantage of the credit-crunch and consider a monastic life. As it happens, I am living a fairly monastic, reclusive life. As with monks, I drink wine - although I tend to buy, rather than make , my own wine,… not having cracked the water into wine stunt. From the pulpit of Canterbury Cathedral, hardly a modest building and one steeped in history of Church acquisition and temporal power, Dr Williams encouurages us… “Accepting voluntary limitation to your acquisitiveness, your sexual appetite, your freedom of choice doesn’t look so absurd after all as a path to some sort of stability and mutual care. We should be challenging ourselves and our church to a new willingness to help this witness to flourish and develop.” ( Guardian ) Being a devout and confirmed non-believer I did a quick Google search to find out how much priests earn. The Chief Rabbi appears to be the highest paid, with salary and ‘benefits’ approaching the 100k mark. The Archbishop of Canterbury at 2002 figures (the latest I could find) is on just inder £60k but he does get a stretch limo with a driver, an apartment at Lambeth Palace, one at Canterbury Cathedral and, no doubt his kit is provided. I suspect that his pension and retirement arrangements and the one way ticket to the kingdom of heaven are also … as we say… East of London… sorted. Anyway… nothing wrong with making a living as an illusionist… David Copperfield and many others do the same thing, albeit with different props. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the high street, the Blairs have popped up again. The Independent reports: “Mr Blair began last month with an article insisting political leaders needed to “do God”. Then, last week, he directly criticised Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican for their “entrenched attitude” towards homosexuality. But while his words were applauded by gay rights campaigners, Mr Blair sparked a withering response from leading Catholics by comparing the Church with a political party that needed its own Clause 4 moment to change with the times” Mrs Blair, now possibly in need of a bit of press and other media attention, is out and about publicising her autobiography. This is unlikely to be on my reading list as my taste lies with great figures from history, politics and science - the more villainous and venal the better - so her husband’s books will be on my list. She did say that she doesn’t agree with the Pope’s stance on condoms and AID however… so something selfless as opposed to self-aggrandising . Perhaps Blair isn’t going for President of Europe after all - perhaps he is running for Pope. The Independent notes: “Mr Blair, in his interview with the gay magazine Attitude, said: “Organised religions face the same dilemma as political parties when faced with changed circumstances” The great story of the day is the resignation of McBride for planning a series of nasty smears against Tory politicans. There was even talk of George Osborne dressed up in stockings, suspenders and high heels when he was younger. Frankly, I prefer to have my politicans with a sense of humour having done amusing things in their younger days than some dessicated worthy with absolutely no sins and, therefore, no experience of real life. Guido broke the story and covers it fully - as do the main newspapers. Did Gordon Brown know what McBride, his closest political adviser, was up to? I have no idea as I haven’t got access to Brown’s emails or phonecalls - although he, or rather his government, now have access to the timing and place of mine. The Fat Bigot has a view and his blog post on the matter is worth a read. It is ironic, in a week when ISPs have to keep records of emails sent by all citizens of the United Kingdom to allow the government to poke about that the government should be hoist by emails emanating from the very heart of power. Have a look at Ian Parker-Joseph’s excellent blog post on this and his wonderful plan to thwart the government by putting a whole series of key words like bomb, Al Qaeda, terrorist, grenade, pigs, troughts, North Korea etc etc in the signature of all his emails. As Ian is the leader of The Libertarian Party UK if his emails and telephone calls weren’t being monitored before they may well be rather more closely now! On that note…. I have to get to bed early… there is a lot of rising going on tomorrow.
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Easter Sunday 2009: Blair for Pope and other matters…
Dave’s Free Press Is asking for contributing parodies based on the spoof advert below. I quote quote from Dave’s site…”The Filth currently have an incredibly stupid poster campaign going on, encouraging people to waste police time and money by phoning their “anti-terrorist hotline” about nothing at all. Of course, the real objective is to keep the sheople scared so that the state can use the excuse of TERRRRRRRRRRRR to trample even more on our civil liberties.” Here’s my remix … Have a go yourself on Dave’s site… please follow his request for a link in the comments…
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Dave’s Free Press…
I woke this morning, satiated to the gunnels after years of writing course textbooks for law students, and determined that I should publish a book… and to this end I have created Man in a Hat Press to self publish my first Charon book. The next task was to come up with a title… without even a drop of Rioja to hand I determined (this is my latest favourite use of a favoured word) that it should be called Areopagitica Redux for reasons I shall explain shortly. The next matter I determined that should be determined was the cover design for the book. All books, I thought to myself, have a cover… why should I buck the trend? So I fired up Photoshop and hey presto… a book cover. Lovers of English literature will know the original Areopagitica . Wikipedia comes, as ever, to my assistance: “ Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by John Milton against censorship . Areopagitica is among history’s most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to free expression .” As I believe in both freedom to publish and freedom to express myself - why should anyone not believe in such a thing if they are not working for the State? - it occurred to me that Areopagitica Redux would be an excellent title. As I am the publisher, author, typist, cover designer and executive editor of this work I cannot, unfortunately, blame anyone for my choice of title or, indeed, anything else - but by the same token I do not ever say No to myself when I feel that something should be done. Let the market decide. Let the market determine if £5.99 is too high a price to pay for my first book of musings drawn from my thoughts, my blog posts and other writing I have done over the past two years. Each book sold will pay for a bottle of Rioja. I have chosen the price to reflect the Rioja I can get from my good friend Mr Oddbins. The more Rioja I drink, the more I will write. Keynes would have been pleased to come up with such an elegant solution to his economic plan. If I sell 100 I shall bring out Volume II. If I don’t sell 100, I shall ‘buy’ the entire print run myself, sign them and leave them casually on the shelves in bookshops throughout the land. I don’t think I am committing any criminal offence by giving a book to a bookshop? It is quite possible that I may have to resort to this disgraceful marketing ploy… but not even I can invent 100 brothers and assorted relations to add to my Charon dramatis personae and persuade ‘them’ to phone bookshops to ask if they have, by any chance, a copy of Charon’s masterwork Areopagitica Redux . All will be revealed in time…. BUT IN THE MEANTIME…. Let me tell you about a friend who has a much more sensible idea. Ms R, a woman of Experience writes a first rate blog. She is a writer and a keen observer. Ms R has come up with a brainwave to write a book *Toxic People* and fund it, by asking readers to donate a very modest amount of money. When she reaches critical mass (She has a donate-o-meter), she will write the book and send chapters as they are written to all those who have donated. This is an excellent idea and I only wish I had thought of it myself - but as I didn’t, I am very happy to tell you that I have read the prologue and I saw that it was good. Go and read the prologue for free and if you like it… hit that button. I have a very strong feeling this book of Ms R’s will be a bodice ripper, a yarn of yarns and a pleasure to read. I enjoyed the prologue and will be giving Ms R a contribution to the fund when I see her soon. There may even be some sex in the book… who knows? I shall certainly ask her when we do a podcast… coming soon. “The bidding was already at $300,000. The prize was, well it happened to be a trip around the world in five days in pure, unadulterated luxury all the way, but who really cared? If you were sitting here, you didn’t need it or you probably already had it anyway……” You can go straight to the prologue here…
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Areopagitica redux….
