This is the first time that we have in Spain a conference on "Free and Open Source Software", or FOSS, with this national/international importance and impact. Previous conferences were held in Paris (2008), Brussels (2009) and Turin (2010).
The focus this year is on "Free Software in the Enterprise and academia." This topic raises several complex issues related to the use and development of free software in the company and the university - licenses, warranties, technology transfer, open standards - to be addressed through the intervention of lawyers and engineers across Europe and the U.S.A.
Malcolm Bain will present a paper on the legal aspects of free software in R&D projects, focusing on the issue of intellectual property management, compliance with the obligations set forth in the grants/aid as well as the impact of recent laws on Sustainable Economy and Science and Innovation.
The conference, in which the programme is available here [2], is aimed at lawyers, academics, heads of R&D, companies and individuals interested in the issue of free software. Participation in the conference is free upon registration on this page [3].
We believe it is an excellent opportunity not only to catch up on the subject of the legal aspects of free software, a highly topical issue, but also to learn about the "best practices" in the legal management of ICT projects as well as to meet European level experts in the field as well as to network in this small community of lawyers specializing in ICT law. For those already working in this area, it is an excellent opportunity to share and exchange opinions and practices and to initiate new collaborations (national and international).
The seminar is organised in five round tables, preceded by a presentation, and followed by a closing session, which will outline the conclusions of the day.
The initiative is related to the project Combined Arts (A Place for Education, Exhibition and Research) of Fundació Antoni Tàpies, which comprises the digitalization of documentation related to the publications, the Collection and the Fundació archive, with the aim of making it available to the public.
On 5 and April 7, 2011, Manuel Martínez Ribas taught classes on legal aspects of electronic evidence in the Masters in Auditing and Technological Environments, organized by the Bar Association of Barcelona.
The comments of Manuel Martinez Ribas, during the seminar that was organised by him for Professor Steven Saxby in the auditorium of the Rock & Junyent law offices in Barcelona, were published today in the Computer Law & Security Review journal by ELSEVIER, in its 27th volume, dated February 1, 2011
The article was written by the TIC analyst, Noemi Batista Maymús, of Penteo, on the basis of the interview it conducted with Malcolm Bain and Manuel Martinez Ribas, as well as from the two volumes (both in Spanish and Catalan editions) on the "Legal and Operational Aspects of Free Software" published by the UOC (prepared by Malcom and Manuel together with Judit Rius and Manuel Gallego), and also the CENATIC's "Legal Guide to Open Source Software", by Malcolm Bain and Manuel Martinez Ribas, which may be downloaded HERE.
The article can be accessed from the Home Page or also HERE.
On 30 November 2010, in the Master of Intellectual Property organized by the Barcelona Bar Association, Manuel Martínez Ribas will teach about the legal protection of software, including group discussion and the review of model clauses for software contracts.
Cloud computing and its application and services for businesses were the hightlight of Barcelona Cibernarium's Technology Dissemination Day on 18 November, with Pau-Garcia-Mila (eyeOS), Josep Mitjà (Openbravo and Wuaki), Malcolm Bain and Richard Galli (UIB) presenting the possibilities for savings and efficiency that are offered by this technology. Legal discusions focussed on security and privacy issues.
Lecture on "The interoperability framework" by Malcolm Bain, in the context of the Second Conference on Free Software and Local Government, in Sant Adria de Besos (Barcelona).
Manuel Martínez Ribas coordinated and moderated the first panel discussion of the Cybercrime Conference held at the International University of Catalunya (UIC), with Antonio Troncoso (director of the Data Protection Agency of the Community of Madrid), Reinhard Steenot (professor of law at the University of Ghent) and Jordi Bacaría (President of the Information Technology Section of ICAB). The board discussed the topic "Privacy, data protection and new technologies in the context of cybercrime."
This was one of the closing events of the LSPI-ITLC-IPLC International Conference, coordinated locally between the 2 to 5 of November 2010 in Barcelona by Manuel Martínez Ribas and Professor José R. Agustina for Professor Sylvia Kierkegaard, with the sponsorship of the Open University of Catalunya (UOC), in parallel with the Workshop on Cybercrime, Computer Crime Prevention and Surveillance Society at UIC under the organization of Professor José R. Agustina.
To mark the 150th anniversary of ELSEVIER, the publishres, and the 25th anniversary of its Computer Law and Security Review journal, Manuel Martínez Ribas organized for Professor Steve Saxby, the Editor of the magazine, the panel discussion over the "significance and the protection of identity in the virtual environment" in the auditorium of the Roca Junyent law offices. More on the panel in which Manuel Martínez Ribas started a controversial debate can be read here.
Panel members who contributed to the content of the article "The Significance and Protection of Identity in the Online World" published in ELSEVIER’s Computer Law and Security Review journal (Volume 27, dated 1 February 2011), are - in the order as published in the magazine - Richard de Mulder, Manuel Martinez Ribas, Pernille Wegener Jessen, Kevin Aquilina, Greg Mosier, Nancy King and Fred Insa.
Manuel Martinez Ribas and Malcolm Bain are coordinators of the Local Organizing Committee of the 5th International Conference on Security, Privacy and New Technologies Law to be held from 2 to November 5, 2010 in Barcelona, in which all are invited to participate.
id law partners, part of BGM&A, on behalf of Professor Sylvia Kierkegaard, president of the LPSI Organization (Conference on Legal, Security, and Privacy Issues in IT Law), have promoted the Congress this year in Barcelona under the auspices of the UOC, on the occasion of the opening of the UOC’S new offices in MediaTIC Building, in the 22@ district. Next-door, the UPF (Pompeu Fabre University) will also participate.
Manuel Martínez Ribas will also be on the panel discussion of the Congress Seminar “The significance and protection of identity in the online World”, which will led by the prestigious Prof. Bing, an expert and pioneer in data protection issues. This seminar is organised by the legal publisher ELSEVIER to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its "Computer Law and Security Review". This has been organized by id law partners-BGM&A to take place in the auditorium of the offices of Roca y Junyent law offices, in Barcelona.
In this video, Manuel Martínez Ribas comments on the legal aspects to be taken into account when moving to the cloud, in relation to the "freedoms" and what is being shared. Comments are made in particular on the legal views of Eben Moglen and Richard Stallman (with whom in June 2006, he shared a discussion on the draft GPL version 3 license - during the European round held in Barcelona: (see HERE), Larry Ellison, Tim O'Reilly and Fabrizio Capobianco.
For more about the presentation, click HERE (for Peiró Karme’s comments)
Questions made to the round table formed by Manuel Martínez Ribas (lawyer and partner of "id law partners"), Xavier Ribas (lawyer and member of "Landwell") and Ramón Miralles (Coordinator of Audit and Information Security – Catalan Data Protection Agency).
For more information about the presentation, click HERE, and for the program, click HERE.
On 7-8 July this year, the UOC is organizing the Sixth Conference on Internet, Law and Politics. Manuel Martínez will take part in the roundtable: Key legal aspects of taking business to the cloud.
In conjunction with Internet Day 2010 (May 17th), id law partners was interviewed on the limits of the Internet and its legal aspects. The circulation of these special edition was 257,019.
Malcolm Bain participates in the "European Open Source Law Event" of 2009, invited by the European Parliament. For more information see http://www.eolevent.eu/.
He gave a presentation on the concept of "distribution" or "public communication", and commented on the relationship between "cloud computing" and copyleft.
Malcolm Bain, with the collaboration of Manuel Martínez Ribas, drafted for the CENATIC "Guide to the law and open source software" which can be downloaded HERE.
