Regulating the internet business - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3802 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Case study Level High school Did you like this example? Law and Regulatory Requirements Relating to Internet business retailing Introduction We have been asked to advise Alfred with regard to three claims that have been made against his company Alfsoft Ltd, which is a software development and production business, in respect of its business activities. Two of these potential claims arise from the sale of software programs through his Internet website and the third claim relates to a issue regarding the legal usage of the businesses registered domain name. Issues relating to sale of products Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company sells software through his Internet website. This software can either be purchased online and downloaded direct from the site, or ordered online and sent out to the consumer in the form of a DVD to the buyers home address. Brian, who lives outside of the UK, but within the EU, has purchased the software using the download option and Cassy, who resides in the UK, has purchased it using the DVD despatch method. Upon installing the software to their own machines, both Brian and Cassy have experienced virus problems as a result of loading the software onto their computers and are now claiming compensation from Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company for the damage that has arisen as a result of this virus. Brianà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s claim is for business interruption amounting to  £10,000 and Cassyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s is claiming  £100 cost that she incurred in have to take her computer to be repaired. Electronic Commerce Legislation To eval uate Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s liability relating to these claims, it is necessary to understand the legislation that covers these issues. The UK has implemented the EU directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament by the enactment of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations (2002). The provisions of this act relate specifically to the performance of e-commerce and the conditions under which this should be conducted, together with the protection that is afforded to the consumer. Although this act assumes that the laws of the UK relate to a UK based e-commerce business in certain areas, it does not preclude a person from another member state from taking action according to the laws of their own state. However, in this case the person would have to request those who have jurisdiction to encourage the UK legal authorities to take action on their behalf (Office of Fair Trading 2007). In addition to this legislation, Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business activities would also be conducted under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (see Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) regulation 10), and the law of contract and the common law duties of negligence (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.437). The first point in the two cases in question relates to the disclaimer. Firstly, disclaimers have to be conspicuous and without any à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“express or implied warrantiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and should be placed in a position that they need to be read and agreed to before a consumer commences to view or download information (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.163). Secondly, it needs to make it clear that the web-site owner utilises the site and facilities at their own risk (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.556). Thirdly, the site does not necessarily need to explain the facility of downloading or printing information (Campbell and Woodley 2003, p.54), although most sites will contain this information. Regulation 6 and 7 of the Act (2002) covers this point. H owever, the e-commerce business has certain responsibilities in respect of security. This relates to a number of factors. For example, there is the security of information that is collected from the consumer, which needs to be protected by the selling business. In addition, and more relevant to the case being reviewed, is the security issue relating to the protection of the information that the site contains and threats that may occur, for which the relevant security apparatus should be in place, which should also be updated as required to ensure that the business is secure at all times (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.142 and p.177). Website security needs to be maintained at the highest level available at all times. All e-commerce business has a duty to protect its consumers and a company that outdated security, or security which is inadequate for the task required, such as the downloading of software could find themselves guilty of negligence and have a liability for any damage that m ay result from the activity of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hackerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  or from any virus that is transmitted with the download (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.437 and p.505; and Spindler 2002, p.88). For example, in the case of Pegler Ltd v Wang (UK) Ltd[1] where a computer failed, the defendants would found to be liable for damages in respect of that failure and damages were assessed, although no formal records had been kept, in respect of the interruption to the plaintiffs business. Once an incidence of negligence has occurred the consumer can claim against the business and does not have to identify a particular person for responsibility for that negligence (Carroll and Others v Fearon and Others) One of the crucial aspects for the grounds for successful negligence is there sufficient evidence to enable an action. For example, should the defendant have been aware of the potential for the damage to be caused and did they take reasonable precautions to avoid this. In the case of S wain v Puri[2] it was held that such knowledge should have been available, and that the turning of a blind eye to it was no defence. The events that took place between Alfred and the two consumers identified within this case would also fall within the Sale and Supply of Goods Act (1994). This act provides the consumer with certain rights that would not normally be available to them under the normal rules of contract law, and is intended to provide for a more rapid solution to issues that arrive. The act outlines the duties and responsibilities for both parties. One of the key aspects of this act is the implied terms and conditions and of these it is the implied conditions that are the most important. Of particular relevance to the case being studied is section 14(2), which states that the goods must conform to: (a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied, (b)appearance and finish, (c)freedom from minor defects, (d)saf ety, and (e)durability. This means that the goods must not only fit for the purpose for which they were intended, but must also be safe and free from any defects. In the case of Rogers and Another v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd and Another 1987 it was held that the goods sold, because of its defects, whilst usable were not of a satisfactory quality under the terms of the act. In section 53(a) this act also provides for the consumer to be able to claim damages that can be justifiably have arisen as a result of that breach. These implied conditions do not necessarily have to be written into the terms as they are reliant upon what the courts would determine as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“what a reasonable person would expectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  from the performance of the act of buying the goods. Breach of Duty of care In addition, under common law, both parties who enter into a contract owe a duty of care to the other. In the case of the Sale and Supply of Goods Act (1994), this means that the seller would owe a duty of care to the buyer and visa-versa. If one party claims there is a breach of that duty, for example the buyer, they have to prove such a breach has taken place, using a number of criteria. The first of these is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“proximity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  It has to be proven that the person who committed the breach is required to have reasonably thought about the consequences that an act of breach would cause, and how it would affect those who suffered from it. In particular, that person has to consider the fact that those who would be most directly and immediately affected by any breach were due a duty of care. In other words, a duty of care was owed to the person who was immediately affected by the damage. The basis for this rule was laid out in the legal case of Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) AC 562, by Lord Atkin (Hodgson and Lewthwaite, 2004, p.118). Foreseeability is another criterion upon which breach of duty of care is judged. In other words could t he breach and the damage seen have perceived to be likely to occur? In determining this issue, the courts will again evaluate the level of foreseeing the possibility on the grounds of what would have been reasonably expected. However, what is excluded when approaching this area, as was found in the case of Roe v Minister of Health (1954) 2 AER 131 (Hodgson and Lewthwaite, 2004, p.82), was any action where the determination of forseeability can only be confirmed by the benefit of hindsight. Safety and security also impacts upon duty of care. In this respect one has to consider the practicality of assessing the risk and measuring that against the precautions that have or should have been taken to reduce the risk as far as possible. The case of Daniel Wilson v Governor of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School (1997) EWCA Civ 2644[3] refers to this issue. Although this case deals with a physical personal risk, the same rules apply to risks from damaged goods. To enable succes s for a claim under the breach of duty of care rules, the person making the claim has to have suffered an actual damage. It is highly unlikely that the claim will be found in their favour if there is no actual damage. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Regulating the internet business" essay for you Create order Conclusion In the case of Brian and Cassy, a contract for the purchase of the software goods from Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company would have been formed at the moment that they both indicated, by pressing the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I acceptà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  option on the terms and conditions, and making their payments, that they wished to purchase the product at the agreed price and, in the case of Brian, commencing the download to his own system, and with Cassy, the acceptance of the DVD and transferring the information to her computer (Spindler 2002, p.319). From that instance, these contracts would have been subject to the various legislations and regulations that have been outlined in previous sections. The conclusion is that there are several issues to be addressed. Firstly, from the information relating to the case it is apparent that the software was vulnerable to the particular virus that infected the consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s computers. Therefore, under the sale and supply of goods Act (1994) there is the potential for a valid claim from both parties. The key issue here is whether Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company should have foreseen this virus infection. It would be our contention that due to the fact that both of these transactions were originally undertaken online, which is renowned for the incidences of viruses, it is reasonable to suggest that such an infection was always a possibility. However, the question of the level and appropriateness of the website security arises. If it was out of date or not sufficient for the task, then the potential for the claim is strengthened. (Rustad and Daftary 2003, p.437 and p.505; and Spindler 2002, p.88). If the website was operating an adequate security system, which was regularly updated, then in may have been reasonable to assume that the software was protected. Furthermore, despite the fact that the terms and conditions that Brian and Cassy accepted contained a disclaimer, there are implied terms that would be inc umbent upon the business. For example, it would have been reasonable for the buyers to rely upon the belief that the software would have been free from all known viruses. In the case of Cassy, who received her software package through the post on a DVD, it is concluded that this consumer has a valid claim, which she could pursue through the UK courts. The reasoning for this is that, with the constant threat of virus infection surrounding software, she could have reasonably expected that the DVD and its contents would have been screened for viruses prior to being dispatched. The fact that it was still infected when it was transferred to her computer suggests that insufficient care was taken by Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company in minimising the potential threat from this source being transmitted to Cassyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s machine. In conclusion, particularly in terms of low the amount of the claim, it would be advisable to settle this case. With regard to Brian, the two signif icant differences are that he downloaded the software direct from the Internet and that he resides in a member state of the EU outside of the UK. In the first part of this, one has to consider whether Brian himself had a duty to endeavour to reduce the risk of damage. As with Alfred, it could be argued that Brian would have been aware of the potential threat from viruses that occur on the Internet and, particularly, that these threats often materialise through the transmission of data from one machine to another. Therefore, it would have been reasonable to assume that there would have been a level of protection from threat on Brianà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s own computer that would have been capable to detecting the infection on the software, which would have rejected the download. In this case it is advised that liability, although it still exists for Alfred, may be reduced as a result of Brianà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s own lack of security. Use of domain name Alfred has incorporated his business under the name of Alfsoft Ltd., and also registered the name à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Alfsoftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  as a UK trademark for computer software. In addition, the domain name alfsoft.com has also been registered. All of these actions were undertaken in 2006. However, an international US competitor, Alpha-software LLC, had previously registered the trademark Alphasoft and the domain name alphasoft.com in 2001. This company is demanding that Alfsoft Ltd transfer the domain name of alfsoft.com to them on the grounds that it so similar to their own that it could be confused. They are threatening legal action as provided for by UDRP[4] policy introduced in 1999 by ICANN[5] unless Alfred accedes to their request. A domain name is an extension of a businesses promotional activity, particular in respect of e-commerce Rustad and Daftary (2003, p.82) and website use. In addition to enabling the business to promote to customers within their own national terr itory, for example within the UK by registering a domain name with the extension, .co.uk, a business can seek international marketing expansion by registering a domain name with the extension .com. All domain names are registered with an Internet provider, who charges a fee for maintaining the domain name on the Internet. As part of the registration, acceptances of the UDRG policy are now automatically incorporated within the agreement. Historically, there have long been problems with domain names. The majority of this arose from the fact that Internet users would, as Carl and Joynson (2002) explain: Register domain names for famous brands, such as MacDonalds.com and then charge the land-based trademark holder a significant amount to buy it from them. This is known as Cybersquatting. Register a name that is so alike to a well-known brand as provide unfair advantage to the person holding the similar brand (known as passing off), or that could lead to confusion for those searching the Internet. Register an abusive name, which was normally performed in cases where a person or persons had reason, real or imagined, to want to attack the brand holder. In was in an effort to address these issues that the ICANN was formed and the UDRP (1999) policy was were introduced. This policy provide for the resolution of disputes that arise in respect of domain names and set down prescribed methods of approach to be used in such instances (Campbell and Woodley 2003, p.128). Under the terms of these policies a certain number of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dispute resolution providersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  who have been approved by ICANN will deal with the dispute. As can be seen from table 1 below, as of 2002 there were four such providers, the World Intellectual Protection Organisation, National Arbitration Forum, eResolution and CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, although others, including the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre, which has three offices, have since joined this list. The first proceeding under this policy commenced in December 1999 and, as can be seen from the list of providers, in the two years following that date there were over f our thousand cases lodged, which are spread across the various dispute resolution providers. Table 1 Dispute resolution providers Source: https://www.udrpinfo.com/dcsn.php#data The most important section of the UDRG policy, and the one that is relevant to the case in question, is number four[6]. This outlines the incidences, which may lead to a dispute and potential claim as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“4 (a) Applicable Disputes (i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and (ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and (iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Section 4 (b) further clarifies the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“bad faithà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and it is part (iv) of this section that Alpha-Software LLC is relying upon as evidence to support their threatened claim against Alfred and his company, w hich makes the following statement: (iv) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainants mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  To ascertain the validity of Alpha-softwareà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s claim, the two key elements are a) whether the registration was intentional and b) whether confusion is likely to arise. To assist in this deliberation four decisions of cases conducted through the dispute resolution providers have been studied. Facetime à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Case No: NAF FA0092048[7] In this case both the complainant and the respondent were in the business of website software solutions. The complainant, Facetime Communications Inc., registered their domain name in1999 and were awaiting a US trademark decision on their application for facetime.com. The respondent, Live Persons Inc registered facetime.com in January 2000, with the purpose of selling it on. The finding was that the respondent must transfer the domain to the complainant, as their use contravened all three aspects of UDRG section 4 (b). Easyjet Ltd à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Case No: D 2000-0024[8] In this case easyjet already owned the domain easyjet.com. However they complained that the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s registration of easyjet.net was identical and should be transferred. Their complaint was upheld, which set a precedent that the dot extension was irrelevant when deciding a case. Camco Inc v Pawnbrokers super-store à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Case number[9] In this case the complainant had registered Asuperpawn [emailprotected] The respondent had registered superpawn.com. The complainant claimed the similarity was confusing and requested transfer. However the claim was denied. The grounds for this denial was that a) the complainant had failed to evidence that the respondent was using the name in bad faith, b) there was no evidence to support direct competition, and c) there was no evidence to attract users by confusion. Venus Swimwear Inc v The GBC à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Case Number NAF FA0094234[10] The complainant had registered the trademark Venus Swimwear and the two domains venusswimwear.com and venusswimwear.org. The respondent registered the domain venusswimwear.net. It was claimed that the respondent registered the name to sell later at a profit or to dilute the name of Venus Swimwear. However, the respondent successfully argued that they were using the domain for a specific trading purpose. The claim was denied as the complaint had not proved all aspects of UDRG clause 4 (b), particularly parts (ii) and (iii). Two points can be specifically identified from these cases. The first is that the pre-existence of a trademark does not necessarily mean that a transfer would be granted. The second is that, in order to succeed, a claim must evidence that the respondentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ default relates to all clauses in UDRG 4 (b). However, a point of caution should be noted. Of the cases identified in table 1, the majority have been found in favour of the complainant. Co nclusion In respect of the complaint threatened against Alfsoft Ltd by Alpha-Software LLC, from the evidence that has been reviewed the registration undertaken by Alfred appears to have been taken for the purpose of conducting sales of his companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s software. Whilst there may be a similarity in the pronunciation of the name, it is our conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to support a claim that Alfredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company had no legitimate interest in using the name, nor that there was any intention to use it in bad faith. Therefore, it is suggested that the likelihood is than any such claim by the complainant would fail. Bibliography Adams, Alix (2006). Law for Business Students. Pearson Education. UK. 4th Edition Hodgson, John and Lewthwaite (2004) Tort Law Textbook. Oxford University Press, UK. Rev Edition. Marsh, S.B and Soulsby, J. (2002). Business Law. Nelson Thornes Ltd, UK. 8th Edition. McKendrick, (2005) Contract Law: Text, Cases, and Materials. Oxford University Press, UK Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (1999). ICANN. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from  https://archive.icann.org/en/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre (2004). Collection of WIPO UDRP Domain Name Panel Decisions. Kluwer Law International. The Hague, Netherlands. Rustad. Michael L and Daftary, Cyrus (2003). E-Business Legal Handbook. Aspen Law and Business. New York, US. Spindler, Gerals and Borner, Fritiof (). E-commerce Law in Europe and the USA. Springer-Verlag. Berlin, Germany. Campbell, Dennis and Woodley, Susan (eds.) (2003). E-commerce: Law and Jurisdiction. Kluwer Law International. The Haque, Netherlands. Carl, Tom and Joynson, Taylor (2002). United Kindom: Trade Mark Owners: 19 Cybersquatters: 1. Managing Intellectual Property. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from https://www.managingip.com/?Page=10PUBID=34ISS=12550SID=471754TYPE=20 The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Reg ulations (2002). Retrieved 22 April 2007 from  https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2013/contents/made Office of Fair Trading (2007). E-commerce regulations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" What do they do. Retrieved 22 April 2007 from https://www.crw.gov.uk/Other+legislation/E-Commerce/E-Commerce+Regulations+-+what+do+they+do.htm Sale of Goods Act (1994). Retrieved 22 April 2007 from https://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/Ukpga_19940035_en_1.htm 1 Footnotes [1] Pegler Ltd v Wang (UK) Ltd [2000] EWHC Technology 137; 1997 TCC No. 219 [2] Swain v Puri [1996] PIQR 442 [3] Retrieved 22 December 2006 from https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1997/2644.htmlquery=Sacred+Heartmethod=all [4] Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [5] Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [6] Mandatory Administrative Proceedings. [7] https://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/92048.htm [8] https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0024.html [9] https://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/94189.htm [10] https://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/94234.htm

Forensic Psychology Essay - 2053 Words

The spouse of a military officer shot and murdered her son on the way to his soccer practice, then drove to the families chic home and shot her daughter in the head while she studied at her computer. After, police discovered the mothers motive, her children were being â€Å"mouthy† with her all the time. When stories, such as this one, pop up in the media about murders and homicides, does one wonder if the brain plays a major role in individuals’ killings? Or just how the brain works in general? How does the brain tie in with criminal law? In today’s society forensic science provides vital information to the court system, and it helps provide precise data in order to help imprison the convict. In forensic psychology this is where the brain and†¦show more content†¦In order for forensic psychology to be available to the court systems in today’s estate, individuals need to seek specialized schooling to obtain this specific job. In recent years, ther e have been some specialized forensic training programs. Forensic psychologist can be trained in clinical, social, developmental, cognitive, or any other psychology subdicipline (Shams, 2010). Also, forensic psychologists are able to work within jails and prison settings, but they can also work with a wide range of youth in contact with the court system who are not incarcerated (Shams, 2010). Forensic psychologist can also work in juvenile court clinics that are typically housed within the courthouse setting and they are able to see a range of youth at different points in the civil and criminal justice system for a variety of mental health issues including those who are an emergency risk assessment (Shams, 2010). According to the American Psychology, there are now 18 graduate programs that offer either a Ph.D. or Psy.D. with a major in forensic psychology or a joint J.D. /Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree program. In addition, numerous graduate programs in psychology now offer some course work in forensic psychology as an elective. The vast majority of forensic psychologists in practice, however, have received training as clinical or counseling psychologists and then added forensic training sometimeShow MoreRelatedCrime and Forensic Psychology1117 Words   |  5 Pagesacademic sources must be used in supporting your answers.  Please use APA format for all cited sources, including your reference page. The questions and requirements are as follows: * Explain the differences between criminologists, criminalists, and forensic psychologists and their respective areas of study. * Discuss the differences between white-collar crime and blue-collar crime. Which types of crime are measured by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the Uniform Crime Reports? WhichRead MoreCriminal Psychology, And Forensic Psychology1490 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract As there are many different areas to study in the field of psychology, however, this assignment focuses only on criminal psychology. The research provided is a description of what is required to become a criminal psychologist; the information includes an in-depth look into â€Å"what a criminal psychologist is†. Types of educational and training background are required, such as what degrees are needed. The use of different assessment and intervention methods and what types of cases a criminalRead MoreThe Psychology Of Forensic Psychology896 Words   |  4 Pagesunveil the depth of their own experiences, I am fascinated by the way in which the human psyche can shape individuals, societies and the social processes which we indulge in on a daily basis. As a child, my curiosity with psychology was founded heavily in the area of forensic psychology as I would often sit with my mother as she watched shows including Columbo and Law and Order. As I grew older and gained a greater understanding of what was occurring in these shows, I began to frame my own questions includingRead MoreForensic Criminology : Forensic Psychology And Psychologists822 Words   |  4 PagesForensic Psychology and Psychologists Forensic psychologists are helpful in many criminal investigations as well as civil investigations. These types of psychologists must have advanced knowledge in many areas such as clinical psychology, forensic science, and many legal matters. Their main job is to aid in police investigations and/or assist as an expert witness in both criminal and civil trials. Forensic psychology is a major part of psychology because it helps define who a criminal is andRead MoreForensic Psychology And The Psychology Of Crime Essay1516 Words   |  7 Pagestechnology continues to advance, the ability to get behind the mind of a criminal has greatly increased. With different crimes, that mind can look vastly different as well, depending on the psychological factors at play. The history of the study of the psychology of crime is replete with theoretical shifts—some of which have led to empirical dead ends and others to tremendous advances. Explaining the motivations of a criminal historical ly has been a difficult task for psychologists because of the wide arrayRead MoreForensic Psychology : A Forensic Psychologist3198 Words   |  13 Pageson by a forensic psychologist, and how those roles interact and affect each other and how the psychologist is about to do his/her job. It looks briefly at the history of the field. We discuss the forensic psychologist as the consultant, the therapist, the researcher, as well as the expert witness. This paper also discusses predicting dangerousness and whether or not an expert can predict dangerousness. Finally we look at conflicting roles and ethics in the field. Forensic Psychology: By definitionRead MoreForensic Psychology And The Human Mind And Its Functions1627 Words   |  7 PagesPsychology and law at first glance are not two terms that seem to correspond with each other. One might even question why they would be mentioned in the same context. Crime has become a major issue within today’s society. It seems as though the only way to prevent most of them is to enforce the repercussions of the act and punish those that partake in it. Criminals often have motives or attributes that lead them into a life of crime. Forensic psychology is the cynosure that brings the associationRead MoreA Research Study On Forensic Psychology871 Words   |  4 Pagesme to pursue a Postgraduate degree in the field of Forensic Psychology. Obtaining a PsyD in Forensic Psychology will not only provide me with more specific knowledge and research opportunities at the graduate level, but it will serve as a foundation for a career in Psychology. The reason which led me to apply for a DForPsy degree in Nottingham university rather than a Ph.D. is mostly because I’m particularly interested in practising psychology rather than exclusively conducting research and workRead MoreEssay on Forensic Psychology1611 Words   |  7 PagesForensic psychologists are extremely important aspects to both psychology and law environments. Their work can make or break a case in law environments. The work they do coincides with both law and psychology in that they release information to the court system in order to continue a trial, and part of psychology because they are responsible for determining the psychological state of their client. The brain is a very complicated organ and can inhibit forensic psychologists from performing their jobsRead MoreForensic Psychology: Limitation of Forensic Assessments4656 Words   |  19 Pagesand grossly deviant criminals or some variation of this general theme. The general public tends to relate to the job of a forensic psychologists to that of a cat chasing a mouse. Forensic psychology, however, is a far less glamorous and far more complex endeavor. It is defined loosely as the intersection between Psychology and the legal system. More specifically, forensic psychologists are required to evaluate the competency of a subject to stand trial, to examine a subjects present state of

Quality of Capital Market Accountant †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Quality of Capital Market Accountant. Answer: Introduction: During the process of audit evaluation, the auditors are responsible for making best use of the selected auditing standards. The independence of the auditor is denoted in terms of the freedom which is exercised either internally or externally from the parties who have financial interest in a company audited with fair techniques. In addition to this, the integrity and the objective approaches together signify the independence of the overall audit process. Hence, the independence of the auditors from the clients needs to be avoided from any effect on the audit opinion with formation of relationship. The auditors are further required to provide professional and impartial judgement on the financials to the stakeholders (Nasution and stermark 2013). The auditors are seen to exercise services which are outside the scope of clients domain. These services are known as non-audit services. The services are considered as those management services which are responsible for promotion of clients business and tax associated services. The rationale for providing these services has been identified in terms of making nonmonetary benefits are various types of other additional earnings. In addition to this, the aforementioned services are seen to result in the independence impairment associated to the auditors while providing of the services to the clients (Clout, Chapple and Gandhi 2013). It needs to be further understood that the quality of audit is identified as significant complexity. This is due to the criticisms which are often drawn from the stakeholders and the regulators. On the other hand, advocacy is seen to be significant threat to the auditors which is highly dependent on a specific set of scenario. Advocacy is for the scene to denote the situation they are auditory scene to provide the judgement but based on a common perception it is assumed that the quality of audit has been compromised. It has been further observed that the quality of ethics is seen to be inherent when an auditor is seen to provide advocacy services. This is further seen to cause negative influence in the independence of the auditor (Rahmina and Agoes 2014). In this particular situation, the auditors independence has been seen to be a huge threat for accepting the auditors either nonmonetary or monetary benefits apart from audit fees. The auditor may also be seen to be availing several types of other benefits which have not been mentioned during the process of audit engagement. This influences the auditors independence. With relevance to the particular case, the member of the audit firm has been seen to be offering vouchers for holiday package (Causholli, Chambers and Payne 2015). In case the offer is accepted it is seen to be leading to a situation where the audit firm may accept nonmonetary benefits thereby affecting its independence. Hence in case of availability of various steps of other benefits which are seen to be restricted are soughed, the threat of auditors independence rises at the same pace (Christina Chiang 2016). As per the aforementioned situation, the dependent, independent, spouse and the siblings are considered as close family members of the auditors. It has an further seen that the financial interests constitutes the various types of short-term as well as long-term securities, guarantees of debt and ownership which is owned on behalf of individual in relation to other individuals or through various types of other intermediaries. It is seen to be inherent when an individual is seen to involve and supervise the various types of undertakings of decisions regarding investment and controlling the intermediary. As per the given situation in the case study, the father of the accountants father is identified as a financial controller of a particular business. Henceforth, if Michael decides to be a part of the audit team by accepting the proposal shall, the auditors independence would be endangered (Fiolleau et al. 2013). Based on the given scenario, the close association is seen to be inherent among the staff, officer, director and the clients are seen to be affected by the risk to alignment with business environment of the client. Furthermore, in most of the situation there is a thread to the auditor for being over sympathetic or overly associated with the client. Hence, the close association with the client would mean a greater trust level along with data representation in an appropriate manner. It has been further observed that the auditors have the appropriate information of the client to the engagement in a previous assignment with LTH, which took place a month ago. It is the responsibility of the auditors to include the various components of tax evaluations after the entries are passed for the relevant accounting period ended 30th June 2015. Therefore, the auditing of personal work is not seen to be visible for an auditor (Dogui, Boiral and Gendron 2013). In several situations, the clients are often seen to receive restricted services on behalf of the auditors. This is seen to result in compromise with the independence in later on situations. Hence, there needs to be enforcement of some particular measures for maximisation of the independence of auditors and the implementations of these measures have been listed below as follows: The rotation of the audit partner is seen to be a significant procedure which needs to be adopted for intensifying the overall auditors independence process. This further implies that such major will result in eradication of the threat from the knowledge along with various types of self-centredness. This is due to the fact that it would encourage the independence feature with no additional substantial cost. Furthermore, the availability of institutional knowledge and historical knowledge needs to be ensured amongst the members of the team for ensuring the maintenance of effective quality of audit (Irmawan, Hudaib and Haniffa 2013). The establishment of an effective audit committee seen to be a necessary procedure for ensuring greater transparency level. This is seen to function as a superlative measure for maintaining the independence of the auditor in a most appropriate manner. The qualification of the audit team needs to be done by fetching them with the necessary resources. This would result in an easy assessment of independence and objectivity leading to future outcomes which needs to be provided with the stakeholders. It has been further observed that an independent auditor needs to maintain, regulate and contribute to the audit quality. One of the most necessary features is seen with effectual auditor oversight by consideration of independence, from political interference and audit profession. Henceforth, the transparency needs to be maintained for depiction of accurate and fair value of the financial statements along with sharing of the restricted data (Dart and Chandler 2013). An auditor is required to follow the standards of ethics which are related to ethics code and auditing standards during conduction of the audit work. In addition to this, the auditors need to follow a global set of rules for ensuring higher ethical standards and greater quality independence for minimising of the various types of issues and provide procedures for the auditing (Ratzinger-Sakel 2013). In this section, the risk of the management is described to have a significant cost it went to handle the inventory associated to spare parts. However, in most of the cases the execution of stock management is seen to be done in an immensely poor manner. Furthermore, the organisations are seen to take into consideration the factors associated to risk management, year the race has been analysed and measured for minimising the risk to highest level possible. The major risks are often seen in terms of reputational risk, commercial risk and risk associated to health and safety. The financial loss is resulted from downtime risk, here the organisations could not implement the technology which are in association with the risk management of the equipment and spare parts while conducting the audit planning. Some of the main form of risk has been considered in form of strategy and operational risks (Mostafa, Magda and Habib 20013). The various types of operational risk are seen to be a result of the operational downtime. In addition to this, this risk has been related to the significant approach based on level of execution. Hence, the business organisations need to develop an approach of strategic management in case of failure related to the effective execution. They need to further ensure enforcement of policy associated to stocking when taking decisions regarding standardisation. The organisations are seen to manage operational risk for ensuring rightful enforcement approach and inventory management is an effective way. The risk management procedure is essential for detection of feasible approach to rectify the practices (Arya and Glover 2014). Strategic risk is identified as another risk which is not related the trade approach and choosing of the organisation which decides for right or wrong products. Hence specific risk is seen to consider inventory management associated to spare parts, they are organisation manages the same in an effective fashion. The business concerns are seen to choose ad hoc facilities where there is absence of definite policies. This is done by recruiting professional managers were seen to provide regular procedural complexities and take part in active judgement. The spare parts elections should be standardised with activities related to financial management (Blay and Geiger 2013). The business organisations need to manage stock as well as level of risk to potential loss. They are seen to act were to conduct the extended downtime experience and the losses which are associated to manage the risks by purchasing large quantity of spare parts. Henceforth, implementation of ad hoc strategy is seen to be an essential component. Although it needs to be noted that the extended downtime and increase stock investments cannot be afforded and the company needs to find alternative way to mitigate possible losses appropriately (Tepalagul and Lin 2015). This section discusses the inherent risk which is seen as the associated risk. The occurrence of these risks is seen due to error in the omission owing to factor or financial statement rather than control failure. Moreover, the nature of the transaction is seen to be highly judgemental and complex for financial anticipation and the risks which are likely to occur in future. The risk associations in the balance of stock are seen to effect largely on the amount of accounts receivable. Hence, is that a situation the transaction are seen to be related to the inherent risks such as stock management. Therefore, it is seen to have a substantial impact on the accounting balance depending on the specific class of transactions (Naiker, Sharma and Sharma 2013). The risk associations are for the seen to be numerous while rejection of the operational risk. In addition to this, there is a scope that the auditor might not be able to highlight the misstated figures in the financial statement of the company. In this particular aspect, the organisation is seen to carry out the evaluation along with the procedure of substantive test for future requirements. Due to this, the risk detection is considered a something where auditor needs to infer the absence of any significant error during the time of enforcing the audit report. In this kind of risk, the auditor expects enforcing the balances of accounting and evaluation of the content. In addition to this, the influences of the balances of accounting are based on providing transactions and the amount involved in the same time. Therefore, there is a scope of majority of the accountants aligning with such risk. This risk is further associated to sales account, but his account, inventory account and revenue account (Dogui, Boiral and Heras-Saizarbitoria 2014). References: Arya, A. and Glover, J. (2014) Auditor Independence Revisited, Journal of Accounting, Auditing Finance, 29(2), pp. 188198. doi: 10.1177/0148558X13519989. Blay, A. D. and Geiger, M. a (2013) Auditor Fees and Auditor Independence: Evidence from Going Concern Reporting Decisions* Auditor Fees and Auditor Independence: Evidence from Going Concern Reporting Decisions, Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(2), pp. 579606. doi: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.2012.01166.x. Causholli, M., Chambers, D. J. and Payne, J. L. (2015) Does selling non-audit services impair auditor independence? New research says, yes, Current Issues in Auditing, 9(2), pp. P1P6. doi: 10.2308/ciia-51168. Christina Chiang (2016) Conceptualising the linkage between professional scepticism and auditor independence, Pacific Accounting Review, 28(2), pp. 180200. doi: 10.1108/PAR-08-2015-0034. Clout, V. J., Chapple, L. and Gandhi, N. (2013) The impact of auditor independence regulations on established and emerging firms, Accounting Research Journal, 26(2), pp. 88108. doi: 10.1108/ARJ-DEC-2011-0045. Dart, E. and Chandler, R. (2013) Client employment of previous auditors: shareholders views on auditor independence, ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS RESEARCH, 43(3), pp. 205224. doi: 10.1080/00014788.2012.707968. Dogui, K., Boiral, O. and Gendron, Y. (2013) ISO auditing and the construction of trust in auditor independence, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, 26(8), pp. 12791305. doi: 10.1108/AAAJ-03-2013-1264. Dogui, K., Boiral, O. and Heras-Saizarbitoria, I. (2014) Audit fees and auditor independence: The case of ISO 14001 certification, International Journal of Auditing, 18(1), pp. 1426. doi: 10.1111/ijau.12008. Fiolleau, K., Hoang, K., Jamal, K. and Sunder, S. (2013) How do regulatory reforms to enhance auditor independence work in practice?, Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(3), pp. 864890. doi: 10.1111/1911-3846.12004. Irmawan, Y., Hudaib, M. and Haniffa, R. (2013) Exploring the perceptions of auditor independence in Indonesia, Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research. doi: 10.1108/JIABR-09-2012-0061. Mostafa, D., Magda, M. and Habib, H. (20013) Auditor independence, audit quality and the mandatory auditor rotation in Egypt, Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 6(2), pp. 116144. doi: 10.1108/EBS-07-2012-0035. Naiker, V., Sharma, D. S. and Sharma, V. D. (2013) Do former audit firm partners on audit committees procure greater nonaudit services from the auditor?, Accounting Review, 88(1), pp. 297326. doi: 10.2308/accr-50271. Nasution, D. and stermark, R. (2013) Auditor fee dependence, auditor tenure, and auditor independence: The case of Finland, International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 9(3), pp. 224246. doi: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2013.055895. Rahmina, L. Y. and Agoes, S. (2014) Influence of Auditor Independence, Audit Tenure, and Audit Fee on Audit Quality of Members of Capital Market Accountant Forum in Indonesia, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 164(August), pp. 324331. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.083. Ratzinger-Sakel, N. V. S. (2013) Auditor fees and auditor independence-evidence from going concern reporting decisions in Germany, Auditing, 32(4), pp. 129168. doi: 10.2308/ajpt-50532. Tepalagul, N. and Lin, L. (2015) Auditor Independence and Audit Quality: A Literature Review, Journal of Accounting, Auditing Finance, 30(1), pp. 101121. doi: 10.1177/0148558X14544505.

Women of War Essay Example Essay Example

Women of War Essay Example Paper Women of War Essay Introduction World War 1 was a military conflict centered in Europe after the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a nationalist Serb. â€Å"The Great War,† which became known as World War 1 after World War 2 ended in 1945, began in 1914 and ended in late 1918. This conflict caused many American men to travel overseas leaving women with many unglamorous tasks. During World War 1 women contributed in nursing, factories, farming, and even spies. However not many women actually fought on the war front. World War 1 was a vital time for women to show a male-dominated society that they could achieve success as well as men had done. Before World War 1 women were not recognized but when men were fighting in a war for peace their recognition was about to change. With the men fighting overseas there was a shortage of workers in factories and other businesses where only men would work. A woman`s typical job would be to stay at home and tend to their children or domestic service. They would rely on men for their finances. Women would get jobs other than voluntary work to support their families financially. They would work jobs where men usually work including being mechanics, farmers, factory workers, and secretaries. By 1917 the London Gazette surveyed 444,000 women, this survey stated that 68% of women changed jobs since the war began, 16% were out of domestic service, 22% were unemployed and now had a job in 1914, and 23% changed from one job to another. † (http://www. sachem. edu/schools/seneca/socialstudies/guttman/per5/roleofwomen/link1. htm) Them most common job women had taken were in factories. Women who worked in factories mainly made and shipped ammunition and other supplies for the soldiers in the war. The factories in which women would work in were unhealthy and hazardous to be receiving less pay than men. Women of War Essay Body Paragraphs Protective gear did not exist putting women in an even higher risk of injury. The supplies they worked with were very dangerous and had a high risk of damage. Some women were exposed to dangerous chemicals which would harm their skin and lungs. One harmful chemical was sulphur which would cause their skin to turn yellow. Also women would work with voluminous bombs and machine guns. Unskilled women would have a high risk of the trigger being pulled or the bomb exploding. Figure [ 1 ]. http://thegreatwarrevealed. weebly. com/womens-roles-in-ww1. tml This was very dangerous because usually if one machine explodes it would trigger off many other weapons to explode also. Women would also take over farms by monitoring crops and caring for livestock. Most women would join the Women’s Land Army (WLA). The WLA was an organization created for women who took over farms. There was such a need for women to help farm that young teens by Figure [ 2 ]. jimmythejock. hubpages. com/hub/World-Wa r-1-Women-At-War the age of 16 would lie about their age to join. They would receive 18 shillings (about 1 pound) a week. However 12 shillings went to food and their home which left them with 6 shillings for clothing such as stockings. With such a need for gas for men on the war front women would use their hands for everything that could be done. Tractors were never used much so they would plant seeds and harvest crops by hand and horse. Women who chose to not work on farms or factories could help in many other ways including street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. The women who worked in offices would answer phones and file papers. Unmarried women with no children did most of the physical heavy lifting. However married women with children would do what they could do to help. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves. With all of the tasks women did at home they still found time to write letters to their fathers, bo yfriends, and husbands. Figure [ 3 ]. www. owensarchive. com/american-hospital-ward-in-blois-france-4199 Women were already known to be nurses but when World War 1 started they were needed even more. Thousands of skilled and trained U. S nurses were sent to France in 1917 to help aid sick and injured soldiers. Young girls as young as 15 would help save the lives of wounded soldiers. These nurses could never prepare themselves for the kind of nature and work they were about to face. Nurse Juliet Goodrich said, â€Å"I knew nothing about nursing and had to learn from my patients, it will be a pain full process for all who will be concerned. † (Gavin, Lettie. American Women of World War One, Pg 46. ) Nurses faced conditions including harsh weather, tight and dirty spaces, and having a shortage of water for drinking and bathing for weeks. â€Å"During a certain time period of war, nurses saw every bed, stretcher and floor space covered with blood and dying men. Over 12,000 women nurses were active in duty. † (Gavin, Lettie. American Women of World War One, Pg 45) Jane A. Delano, a nurse who was the founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, tried to improve the skill of nurses and provide professional standards. After working tirelessly, she created a group of nurses called the Army Nurse Corps. They Army Nurse Corps soon took up a majority of skilled nurses in World War 1. Many young women would join nursing groups including the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). The women who joined the VADs were unpaid nurses with basic education that could only provide comfort and little help such as small injections to the soldiers on the war front. Women could also join the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry or FANY. The nurses who joined FANY had a less glamorous time doing tasks including disinfecting rooms where soldiers were held, running baths for the troops, and cooking. Many nurses who were on the front line with the so ldiers had to bring their own wash board to keep their laundry clean. The women who joined FANY or VAD had a troubled time keeping Figure 4. ttp://www. sachem. edu/schools/seneca/socialstudies/guttman/per5/roleofwomen/link1. htm their stations clean with all of the casualties and when the influenza epidemic spread. Women nurses on the front line did not only provide medical service but also entertainment. The women would hold shows for men where they would dance and sing. They would also keep a journal about their time helping. In their journals, they would write stories and poetry which would be read to some soldiers. They even sometimes would give lectures to them about how the peace they are fighting for would help society. During World War 1, women were never taken seriously but that never stopped them from fighting. Some women would disguise themselves as men in order to fight which would make it difficult to track who had died. Both the Navy and Army wanted women to join but t he Marines were not so quick to let women be enlisted. Many difficulties had occurred when it came to women joining troops however the Navy and Army enlisted as many women as they could. â€Å"The first women in the Navy were sworn in by Lt. W. R Cushman at Los Angeles recruiting offices in 1917. † (Gavin, Lettie. American Women of World War One. Pg. 19) Thousands of women were enlisted in to both the Navy and Army. These women were given the same status as men. Even African-American women served as yeoman, a junior officer in the Navy. Unlike the Navy and Army, the Marine Corps were not so hurried to have women enlisted into their troops. However, after hearing their reasoning to join they opened there corps to women. Many reasons for women wanting to fight were having a strong desire to serve for their country. Other women kept their reasoning a secret because the only wanted to join to prove to men they are equal and can serve as well. Women who wanted to join the Navy or Army but never wanted to fight in the front line would enlist to the Auxiliary Army. Many women joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, which later became known asQueen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps. These women would protect the back of the trenches from any possible on coming enemies, so men could be in the front line. Figure 5. http://jimmythejock. hubpages. com/hub/World-War-1-Women-At-War Women weren’t only need for nursing and on the warfront, but many were sworn into the U. S. Army Signals Corps as operators. In late 1917, General Pershing put at an emergency appeal in many newspapers for bilingual telephone-switchboard operators. Pershing wanted women to be sworn into the Army as an emergency need, because, he stated, women have the patience and perseverance to do long detailed work. He found that men in the Signal Corps had difficulty operating switchboards. He thought the men would serve better in the front lines stringing wires necessary for communicat ion from the trenches to the General in command. The women operators became known as the Hello Girls. (Gavin, Lettie. American Women of World War One. Pg. 98. ) After the armistice a few women were enlisted into the army service. They were recruited as privates for 4 years. Some women opposed participation of other women in the war, Jennette Rankin, the first women in Congress, said, â€Å"I want to stand by my country, but not women in war. † (â€Å"Women in the First World War. † World Book Encyclopedia. ) â€Å"Women were the unsung heroes of the war, keeping the industrial wheels turning and the home fires burning. † (â€Å"Women in the First World War. World Book Encyclopedia. ) Even though the women received less pay for their efforts, their equality was starting to rise. By the end of the war women proved they could do the male job which eventually led to women`s suffrage and women receiving the right to vote. Once the war ended and the men returned home , women were dismissed of their service. The working women were given the nickname â€Å"canaries† not as a term of abuse but of importance. After the war women found new confidence that made them become more distinguished in a male-dominated society. We will write a custom essay sample on Women of War Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Women of War Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Women of War Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Ideal Gas vs. Non-Ideal Gas Example Problem

Ideal Gas vs. Non Problem This example problem demonstrates how to calculate the pressure of a gas system using the ideal gas law and the van der Waals equation. It also demonstrates the difference between an ideal gas and a non-ideal gas. Van der Waals EquationProblem Calculate the pressure exerted by 0.3000 mol of helium in a 0.2000 L container at -25  °C usinga. ideal gas lawb. van der Waals equationWhat is the difference between the non-ideal and ideal gases?Given:aHe 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2bHe 0.0237 L ·mol How to Solve the Problem Part 1: Ideal Gas LawThe ideal gas law is expressed by the formula:PV nRTwhereP pressureV volumen number of moles of gasR ideal gas constant 0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·KT absolute temperatureFind absolute temperatureT  °C 273.15T -25 273.15T 248.15 KFind the pressurePV nRTP nRT/VP (0.3000 mol)(0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·K)(248.15)/0.2000 LPideal 30.55 atmPart 2: Van der Waals EquationVan der Waals equation is expressed by the formulaP a(n/V)2 nRT/(V-nb)whereP pressureV volumen number of moles of gasa attraction between individual gas particlesb average volume of individual gas particlesR ideal gas constant 0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·KT absolute temperatureSolve for pressureP nRT/(V-nb) - a(n/V)2To make the math easier to follow, the equation will be broken into two parts whereP X - YwhereX nRT/(V-nb)Y a(n/V)2X P nRT/(V-nb)X (0.3000 mol)(0.08206 L ·atm/mol ·K)(248.15)/[0.2000 L - (0.3000 mol)(0.0237 L/mol)]X 6.109 L ·atm/(0.2000 L - .007 L)X 6.109 L ·atm/0.19 LX 32.152 atmY a(n/V)2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x [0.3000 mol/0.2000 L]2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x (1.5 mol/L)2Y 0.0341 atm ·L2/mol2 x 2.25 mol2/L2Y 0.077 atmRecombine to find pressureP X - YP 32.152 atm - 0.077 atmPnon-ideal 32.075 atmPart 3 - Find the difference between ideal and non-ideal conditionsPnon-ideal - Pideal 32.152 atm - 30.55 atmPnon-ideal - Pideal 1.602 atmAnswer:The pressure for the ideal gas is 30.55 atm and the pressure for van der Waals equation of the non-ideal gas was 32.152 atm. The non-ideal gas had a greater pressure by 1.602 atm. Ideal vs Non-Ideal Gases An ideal gas is one in which the molecules dont interact with each other and dont take up any space. In an ideal world, collisions between gas molecules are completely elastic. All gases in the real world have molecules with diameters and which interact with each other, so theres always a bit of error involved in using any form of the Ideal Gas Law and van der Waals equation. However, noble gases act much like ideal gases because they dont participate in chemical reactions with other gases. Helium, in particular, acts like an ideal gas because each atom is so tiny. Other gases behave much like ideal gases when they are at low pressures and temperatures. Low pressure means few interactions between gas molecules occur. Low temperature means the gas molecules have less kinetic energy, so they dont move around as much to interact with each other or their container.

Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State

Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State Free Online Research Papers Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State Engineering Research Paper Abstract This paper studies sustainable economic development through energy management with special reference to Qatar. It raises the question on the factors that have propelled growth in the region. There is a need to identify the problems facing a fast paced economy and the measures that should be taken to sustain economic development. Furthermore, natural resource-based growth has largely tied regional development to oil price and revenue fluctuations, and has stymied efforts at economic diversification. Globalization is expected to dismantle barriers in information and communication technologies, but the corresponding opportunities that these advances may bring have not yet been fully exploited, though efforts are being made now. A platform of priorities for action identifies the key challenges that must be addressed, to enhance efforts towards sustainable development in Qatar, during the coming ten or twenty years. Introduction a.Energy Scenario in the Global Perspective Energy has been playing an important role in the economic development all over the world. World population is expected to double by the middle of this century, and economic development will continue at a faster pace in the developing world than that in the developed world. The likely result is a 3-5 fold increase in the world economic output over the next 5 decades. By 2100, per capita income in most of the currently developing countries will have reached, and surpassed levels characteristic of the developed countries today, making current distinction between the two totally obsolete. Energy availability and universal access to energy will play a major part in this growth. However, resulting from this rapid economic development, it is not certain that adequate energy services will become available to every citizen in the next hundred years. Demand for energy will continue to grow. Even though focus will shift from primary energy to final energy form, it is expected that primary en ergy requirement will increase globally by 1.5 to 3 fold by the year 2050. According to a World Energy Congress (WEC) study, energy services will move towards more flexible, convenient and clean fuels reaching the consumer. High quality energy forms will become transitional fuels of choice. Thus, there will be an obvious shift towards electricity and towards higher quality fuels, such as, natural gas, oil products, Methanol and eventually hydrogen. Environmental considerations will hold the key to the future consumption patterns of energy. b.Economy of Qatar One easily notices the rapid growth of Qatars economy in all sectors. Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) was over US$ 20 bn last year and it is expected to be close to US$ 22bn by the end of the current year. Such accomplishments are the natural outcome of huge investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals. When investments in huge developmental of projects of firms such as QatarGas and RasGas start bearing fruit, the already buoyant economy is expected to get a further boost by the end of the current decade. This rapid economic growth has enabled it to rank as one of the highest per capita income countries’ in the world within a very short period. Qatar has emerged as one of the world’s wealthiest states since discovery of oil in the 1970s and much later, natural gas. Thus, Petroleum products have continued to be, the cornerstone of Qatars economy for over 30 years and accounts for more than 60% of total government revenue, more than 30% of gross domestic product , and roughly 80% of export earnings. The Qatari economy’s vulnerability to oil price movements, as well as its limited crude oil resources has led the Government, in the early nineties, to explore Qatar’s huge reserve of natural gas by making a strategic business and investment decision to commercialize natural gas reserves by developing the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) sector. This led to the establishment of two major projects, namely RasGas and QatarGas, which are now major suppliers of LNG to world markets and contribute significantly to the State’s revenue. Also, Qatar has promoted investments in petrochemicals and fertilizer industries namely, QCHEM, QAFCO, QAFAC etc. Qatar has also promoted industries in the non-oil sector of the economy including Manufacturing, Construction, Finance, Insurance, Trading, Services and more recently Tourism. With such diversification in investment opportunities, production and export of natural gas in the form of LNG, pipe lin e gas, GTL and petrochemicals and fertilizers have registered a steady growth of Qatar economy during the last few years. The world demand for energy has been increasing. Table 1 below shows that Qatar’s oil and natural gas production has been increasing to cope up with the world trend. Table 1: Comparison of Qatar’s overall GDP contributors (Source: 2003 edition of the Middle East Economic Review) Overall Percentage Contribution to GDP (%) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Oil Gas Sector 45.76 60.43 57.00 57.61 59.79 Non – Oil Sector 54.24 39.47 43.00 42.39 40.29 A study of GDP growth trend as above shows the following factors which contributed to such growth: The price of Qatar’s crude oil increased from year to year over last five years. During year 2003 the crude oil price was $27.9 p/b against corresponding price of $24.5 p/b as in 2002 registering an increase of 13.9%. The production volume of Qatar’s crude oil registered a steady growth. In 2003 the production was 714,000 bpd against 640,000 bpd in year 2002 showing a growth of 11.6%. The production of natural gas was increasing from year to year since its discovery. In 2003 the production of gas increased by 12.9% from the production of 2002. The production in 2002 registered a growth of 1.9% over the production of 2001. The export of LNG was rising. In 2003 the export of LNG stood at 14.4 million tons against 13.5 million tones in 2002 showing a growth of 6.7%. In real terms, the Non-Oil sector of the economy registered a growth, but its contribution as percentage of total GDP showed decline in growth because of rapid growth of the economy resulting from high contribution from oil and gas sector. (Note: 2004 statistics are not given as the price of crude oil and natural gas is too volatile to provide accurate statistics). It could be observed that contribution of Oil Natural Gas Sector to Qatars GDP has been growing steadily in the recent past. However, volatility of the price of crude oil and natural gas makes the Qatari economy quite vulnerable since revenues generated by energy exports becomes less insecure under such situations and also since the need for revenue is likely to be a source of competition for market share in future. 1. Objective of the Study This study analyzes the operating performances of Qatar Energy Industry under the present business environment for identification of the key result areas (KRAs) that are essential for strategic decision making. The report would cover the KRAs for improving upon business results and decision making as also how funds generated could be employed for sustainable development of socio economic condition of the Country. This is crucial for improvement of the living conditions, dignity and welfare of the people of Qatar. The project report will analyze past performance and the business environment to determine the world trend of business. After a SWOT-analysis, the report aims at preparing a holistic plan for sustainable development and growth of the energy industry in Qatar for its contribution to the society. 2. Methodology Since the growth in the non–oil sector correlates with the growth of the oil and gas sector, analysis of historical Balance Sheets and Profit Loss Accounts of the companies in the oil and gas sector would generate statistical data for determination of trend in the businesses. In modern process industries and in oil and gas production industries, capacity utilization, wastage minimization and cost reduction and cost control, besides energy conservation play a crucial role in improving productivity, quality and profitability in addition to growth. Continuous innovation in technology and management is a matter of necessity for survival in a liberalized economy. In the absence of in-house RD facilities in the areas of respective line of technology, it is essential to embark upon innovative management for identification of diversification areas matching with the line of business. Assuming the hydrocarbon in the world cannot last for very long the researchers have since embarked upon technology to develop clean energy from renewable sources. Already commercial exploitation of such technology and renewable sources has taken place. Attempts are already being made to develop eco-friendly bio-fuel to meet with ever-increasing demand for energy. A mega-research project for production of hydrogen as a fuel is already underway. All such innovation in science and technology will act as competitors to hydro-carbons. However, the results of these futuristic researches may not be applicable to the next couple of decades in this world. Accordingly, attempts must be made to make the best of the available resources in the coming decades. It is essential in the long run to slowly but steadily de-link the economy of the country purely based on exploration of hydro-carbon to a process of sustainable development in line with the movement of the world. However, it is required t o develop indices to be closely monitored so as to ensuring optimal utilization of the available resources during the coming decades. 2.1 Fund Flow and Ratio Analysis The process of determining KRAs will involve analysis of historical operating performances. This could be done initially from the audited annual reports. However, for in-depth analysis, a study may be required to be made at various levels in operating areas. For illustration purposes, the audited annual report of QAFCO (Qatar Fertiliser Company) for the year 2003 was studied against the audited balance sheet for the financial year 2002. The fund flow statement has been prepared as shown in Table 2. Table 2: Fund Flow Statement for QAFCO for the Financial Year 2003 Source of Fund Application of Fund Brief Particulars Qatari Riyal Brief Particulars Qatari Riyal Increase in Paid up Share Capital 100000000 Increase in Investment in Property, Plant and Equipment 522743745 Increase in Legal Reserves 20072377 Increase in Dues from Shareholders and Related Parties 96242101 Increase in Availability of Fund for Payment of Dividend 250000000 Increase in Accounts Receivable 29867635 Increase in Syndicated Loan 651560000 Increase in Other Receivables and Prepayments 25558104 Increase in Accrual of Employers’ Service Benefit 2461760 Increase in Cash Balance and Bank Balance 426388445 Increase in Accrual of Minority Interest 12217130 Reduction in Accounts Payable and Accruals 83100445 Increase in Dues to Share Holders and related Parties 42596559 Increase in Provision for Pension Liabilities 2548042 Reduction in Value of Inventory 22805252 Increase in Retained Earnings 79639355 Total 1183900475 Total 1183900475 An analysis of the important financial ratios worked out from the said annual report is presented in Table 3. Table 3: Financial Ratio Analysis of QAFCO for the Financial Years 2002 and 2003 Brief Particulars of the Ratio 2003 2002 Return on Investment 31.09% 13.65% Margin on Sales 45.43% 26.54% Profit/Fixed Assets 22.82% 11.22% Sales/Fixed Assets 50.24% 42.26% Sales/Current Assts 32.11% 29.33% Inventory/Sales 0.0715 0.0725 Debtors/Sales 0.0415 0.0328 Material/Sales 11.46% 13.45% Employment Cost/Sales 8.47% 12.34% Depreciation Cost/Sales 8.45% 12.34% Value Added Per Qatari Riyal Employment in Riyals 9.44 6.19 Increase in Sales 46.74% Increase in Material Cost 26.42% Increase in Employment Cost 1.85% Increase in Investment in Projects 24.82% From the study of the Tables 2 and 3 the following could be observed: Increase in turn-over in 2003 over 2002 was 46.74% with corresponding increase in material cost and employment cost at 26.42% and 1.85% respectively. The increase in investment during 2003 on productive fixed assets registered a figure of Qatari riyals 522,743,745 which is 24.83% more than that during 2002. Again employment cost which was 12.34% of sales in 2002 became 8.45% in 2003 when the sales registered a growth of 46.74%. This establishes that the employment cost was not KRA for this company. With 46.74% growth in sales, the material cost increased by 26.42%. Again material content of sales, which was 13.45% in 2002 dropped to 11.46% in 2003. This suggests that there are avenues in operations to reduce the material content of production. Ratio analysis in the table above shows that the inventory holding was for 3.77 weeks of sales which was reduced to 3.72 weeks in 2003. Therefore, not much benefit could be obtained from inventory management. This suggests that attempts should be made for price reduction of material, increase in yield of material and material wastage reduction for optimizing material content of production. It is noted that against an increase in investment in productive assets of 24.82% the growth of sales registered a figure of 46.74%. The ratio analysis shows that asset turn over ratio increased from 42.26% in 2002 to 50.24% in 2003 and the margin on sales increased from 26.54% in 2002 to 45.43% in 2003. This shows that capacity of the existing plant and machinery could not be utilized fully in 2003. As the company is highly technology intensive, cost of modernization from time to time may push up the fixed cost which might raise the break-even volume of sales at current price. This suggests a detailed analysis of the operations and also a detailed audit of the cost structure. The strategy adopted may be either low volume of production with high margin on sales if the market so permits. Alternatively, high volume of production at low price strategy could be adopted to cover more market share and ultimately become a monopolist. This practice has been adopted by the Chinese manufactur ing industry which has ultimately become the production center of all manufactured goods in the world today. The fund flow statement shows that increase in investment on property, plant and equipment amounting to Qatari riyal 522,743,745 was financed principally through increase in syndicated loan amounting to Qatari riyal 651,560,000, although there was increase in cash balance and bank balance to the tune of Qatari riyal 426,388,445 which represent 81.57% of the increased in investment. This might have reduced net profit and hence the retained earnings. Subsequently, a look at the capital structure of the company may yield results in terms of reduction in liabilities and increase in return on investment. In view of the foregoing, for identifying the key result areas it would be necessary to study the following particulars: Desk Research: (a) Annual reports of the company since its inception. (b) Annual Economic Review of the Government of Qatar for the last 5 years. (c) Audited Annual Reports of the competitors in the world since last 5 years. (d) Currency fluctuation statistics between Qatari riyals and the currency of the importing country for the last 5 years. (e) The present market segment of the company. (f) Proposed market segment of the company. (g) Statistics of gas and oil price fluctuations in Qatar for last 5 years. (h) Indication of areas of alternative investments of excess funds generated keeping in line with socio economic development goals Field Research: (a) Study of the operation of the plant. (b) Study of the technology and performance of the plant. (c) Study of cost structures and establishing of a management information system. (d) Market research on a global basis. (e) Determination of a techno-commercial model with variation in quantity of sales, price per unit, cost per unit, operation at different percentage of plant capacity utilization, foreign exchange fluctuations and oil price fluctuation in OPEC. Both the above studies must be made for all the companies in the oil and gas sector in Qatar. Above mentioned ratio analysis is an analytical tool for analyzing the performance of a firm. â€Å"While ratios are easy to compute, which in part explains their wide appeal, their interpretation is problematic, especially when two or more ratios provide conflicting signals. Indeed, ratio analysis is often criticized on the grounds of subjectivity that is the analyst must pick and choose ratios in order to assess the overall performance of a firm.† [refer Feroz E.H.et.al.] Accordingly, we apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is basically an application of repeated linear programs, on the historical data on input and output to reinforce the study based on ratio analysis. 2.2 Introduction to DEA DEA is commonly used to evaluate the efficiency of a number of producers. A typical statistical approach is characterized as a central tendency approach and it evaluates producers relative to an average producer. In contrast, DEA is an extreme point method and compares each producer with only the best producers. By the way, in the DEA literature, a producer is usually referred to as a decision making unit or DMU. Extreme point methods are not always the right tool for a problem but are appropriate in certain cases. A fundamental assumption behind an extreme point method is that if a given producer, A, is capable of producing Y (A) units of output with X (A) units of inputs, then other producers should also be able to do the same if they were to operate efficiently. Similarly, if producer B is capable of producing Y (B) units of output with X (B) inputs, then other producers should also be capable of the same production schedule. Producers A, B and others can then be combined to form a composite producer with composite inputs and composite outputs. Since this composite producer does not necessarily exist, it is sometimes called a virtual producer. The heart of the analysis lies in finding the best virtual producer for each real producer. If the virtual producer is better than the original producer by either making more output with the same input or making the same output with less input then the original producer is inefficient. Some of the subtleties of DEA are introduced in the various ways that producers A and B can be scaled up or down and combined. The procedure of finding the best virtual producer can be formulated as a linear program. Analyzing the efficiency of n producers is then a set of n linear programming problems. The following formulation is one of the standard forms for DEA. Lambda (?) is a vector describing the percentages of other producers used to construct the virtual producer. X and Y and are the input and output vectors for the analyzed producer. Therefore, ?X and ?Y describe the virtual input and output respectively. The value of theta (?) is the producers efficiency. DEA Input-Oriented Primal Formulation s.t. ? free, ? ? 0 It should be emphasized that an LP of this form must be solved for each of the DMUs. There are other ways to formulate this problem such as the ratio approach or the dual problem but this formulation is the straightforward. The first constraint forces the virtual DMU to produce at least many outputs as the studied DMU. The second constraint finds out how much less input the virtual DMU would need. Hence, it is called input-oriented. The factor used to scale back the inputs is ? and this value is the efficiency of the DMU. The data required for application of this model are the historical data on input and output of a particular company. However, if this model is used for determination of the relative efficiencies of a particular company visvis its peers/competitors, then the input and output of all the companies are required. If historical input and output data are available, then trends of the relative efficiencies of the companies could also be easily studied. The format for data to be collected for implementing this model can be described as shown in the Table 4 below. Table 4: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (QAFCO, as a whole) Year Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 2003 2002 2001 etc. For determining relative efficiency of each of the four trains of QAFCO, similar format for data collection as shown in Table 5 may be adopted. Table 5: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (for different Trains of QAFCO) (For Year 2003) Train Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 1 2 3 4 (Repeat the same for other years like 2002, 2001, etc.) For determining relative efficiency of many companies engaged in similar kind of operations, similar format for data collection as shown in Table 6 may be adopted. Table 6: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (For more than one company like QAFCO) (For Year 2003, say) Co. Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 1. 2. 3. Etc. (Repeat the same for other years like 2002, 2001, etc.) 3. Research timetable Activity Estimated Timeframe Develop or adapt research objectives 1 day Design research protocol 1 week Recruit interviewers 2 weeks Translate instruments into local language 1 week Train interviewers (include pretesting and revising 2 weeks instruments in training) Collect data 2 weeks Transcribe recordings 1 week Translate transcripts 2 -3 weeks Preliminary analysis in field 2 weeks Prepare for presentation 1 day Presentation 1 day Complete analysis 2 weeks Prepare report 1 week 4. References 1) Doing Business with Qatar – Philip Dew 2) Landmark Regional Review (Arabian Gulf) Booklet – 2003 Edition 3) Landmark Technical Review Booklet – March 2003 Edition 4) Doing Business in Qatar – Qatar National Bank, 2003 Edition 5) Qatar Economic Review – Qatar National Bank, April 2003 Edition 6) International Petroleum Encyclopedia – PennWell, 2003 Edition 7) Oil and Gas in the Middle East – 2002 Edition 8) Qatari Projects: Current and Forthcoming – Qatar National Bank, March 2004 9) Mash’al Magazine – QP in-house magazine, January to August 2004 Editions 10) Structured Corporate Finance – Qatar National Bank, 2004 Edition 11) The LNG Industry – Andy Flower 12) Landmark Corporate Website (www.lgc.com) 13) RasGas Corporate Website (www.rasgas.com.qa) 14) Qatargas Corporate Website (www.qatargas.com.qa) 15) QP Corporate Website (www.qp.com.qa) 16) Official 2005 Business Plan for Dukhan Drilling – QP 17) Official 2004/2005 Dukhan Field Drilling and Workover sequence – QP 18) Business Plan for all QP Oil and Gas Projects – QP 19) Middle East Economic Review 2003 20) RasGas Magazine No. 8, July-September 2004 21) Qatar Economic Review, April, 2004 22) Oryx, August 2004 23) Annual Report – 2003, Qatar Petroleum 24) Annual Report – 2003, Qatar Fertiliser Company 25) Annual Report – 2003, Shaping the Future 26) The Peninsula, Sunday, August 29, 2004 27) Gulf Times, Saturday, August 28, 2004 28) Feroz E.H.; Kim S.; Raab R.L.; â€Å"Financial statement analysis: A data envelopment analysis approach†; Journal of the Operational Research Society; January 2003, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 48-58 (11) 29) David Hawdon; â€Å"Efficiency, performance and regulation of the international gas industry a bootstrap DEA approach†; Department of Economics Surrey Energy Economics Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey,. GUP 7XH, UK. 5. Literature review Fetterman, D. M., Kaftarian, S. J., Wandersman, A., Eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tool for Self Assessment and Accountability, Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage, 1996 Patton, M. Q. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage, 2002 Research Papers on Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf StatePETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesDefinition of Export QuotasOpen Architechture a white paperAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeThe Project Managment Office SystemMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production Plan

EU Constitutional Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

EU Constitutional Law - Essay Example The frustration with integration theories was due to, first, the scope of the study of integration, second, the participants who were effectively engendering integration and third, the process or mechanism of integration. This approach indicated the importance of certain factors, which had been omitted in the initial assessment. Despite, rejection by the intergovernmental conference, the proposed introduction showed that the Convention's aim was to vitalize the idea of democracy. The democratic constitution of the European Communities was considered unimportant and unnecessary by many scholars who felt that an internal market endorsed individual freedom1. In spite of this, the EU's transformation from purely economic to political cooperation has necessitated such thinking. The Amsterdam Treaty2 has incorporated democracy as a fundamental value into the foundational treaties3. Article 2 of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe4 (CT) lists democracy as a central value of the Union and Articles 1- 47 buttresses this notion under the title "The Democratic Life of the Union" as representative5 and participatory6 democracy. Although, the necessity of democratic governance is universally recognized its discourse, premises and content are frequently discussed7. The holistic approach is based on society and the assumption that there exists a common good which differs from the aggregate of all individual interests. The subject of legitimacy in the individualist position refers to the individual and hence, the aim of public policy is to promote individual interests. A state-centered collectivist approach deters further integration and limits decision-making to the national parliaments8. Hence, at the European level, the Council of Ministers have to play a vital role and from an individualistic perspective and the European Parliament, which represents the European citizenry is the main organ for obtaining democratic legitimacy9. Foundation. The holistic legitimacy concept justifies the state-centered democratic vision, which states that only national peoples are subjects of legitimacy. Since, minorities accept majority decisions only if the citizenry has a certain national homogeneity, legitimacy has to be derived from national parliaments. Hence, absence of a European demos is a hurdle to further integration. The legitimacy of the state-centered, collectivist approach is dubious as no relationship exists between society and the nation state10, which is independent of a national or homogenous group11 or a cultural, religious or social consensus. Constitutional Treaty and Legitimacy. Article 2 CT lists dignity and individual liberty in the Union's fundamental values with the individualistic concept of democracy being adopted theoretically and it accords center stage to the individual in the European legal order, which is further strengthened by the guarantee of equality prescribed in Articles 2 and 45 CT. These provisions grant European citizens equal rights, rendering mediation of citizen's rights by a state or nation unnecessary. Therefore, the guarantee of liberty and equality exemplify that the European Constitution is based on an individualistic concept of democracy12. Article 1 (1) CT, lists the will of the member states to build a common future beneath