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This article analyses some of the most important political and legal challenges faced by internationally operating Internet firms today. In addition to dealing with an important, albeit rarely discussed, issue, the present article attempts to provide a fresh perspective on this topic by utilizing the concept of political risk. Using evidence from exemplary court cases on topics such as consumption tax and intellectual property rights, the discussion demonstrates that Internet firms face serious political and legal uncertainties, which differ considerably between different markets. The article reveals that, in the age of globalization, national boundaries still matter a great deal. In terms of methodology, the article portrays how legal materials can be used to understand the impact of legal and political processes on international firms. Indeed, it suggests that future business research could make greater use of factual evidence from litigation as an alternative methodology in the study of the business environment.

The purpose of this paper is to present data about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic across the UK.

Interviews were conducted with 609 adults with learning disabilities. Family carers and support staff of another 351 adults with learning disabilities completed a proxy online survey. The data were collected between December 2020 and February 2021 and concerned both worries/negatives and anything positive that had happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social isolation was the most commonly reported worry/negative for adults with learning disabilities, with other frequently reported worries/negatives including: changes to/loss of routine; loss of support/services; and decreased health/well-being/fitness. A large proportion of participants indicated that nothing positive had happened because of COVID-19, but some positives were reported, including: digital inclusion; more time spent with important people; improved health/well-being/fitness; and, a slower pace of life.

Future pandemic planning must ensure that adults with learning disabilities are supported to maintain social contact with the people who matter to them and to support their health and well-being (including maintaining access to essential services and activities). Some adults with learning disabilities may benefit from additional support to improve their digital confidence and access. This may in turn enable them to maintain contact with family, friends and support services/activities.

This is the largest study about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The authors primarily collected data directly from adults with learning disabilities and worked with partner organisations of people with learning disabilities throughout the study.

This paper aims to present data about access to and use of health and social care services by adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Data were collected in three waves between December 2020 and September 2021 and concerned the use of health and social care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected at one or more time-points directly from 694 adults with learning disabilities and through separate proxy reports by family carers and paid support staff of another 447 adults with learning disabilities.

Many people with learning disabilities who reported regularly accessing services/supports pre-pandemic were not receiving them during the timeframe of this study. There were indications of increasing access to some services and supports between Wave 2 and 3, but this was not universal.

People in Cohort 2, who were likely to have severe/profound learning disabilities, were less frequently reported to access online community activities than people in Cohort 1, which is likely to exacerbate existing social isolation for this cohort and their family carers. Service providers should seek to ensure equitable access to services and activities for all people with learning disabilities in the event of future lockdowns or pandemics.

This is the largest longitudinal study about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and social care services for adults with learning disabilities in the UK. We primarily collected data directly from adults with learning disabilities and worked with partner organisations of people with learning disabilities and family members throughout the study.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

An obituary for Laurence Marcus, On the Horizon political editor and author, 1996‐2000.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) entering into so-called state contracts in developing countries, notably in extracting industries or infrastructures, typically find themselves seeking a long-term commitment from a state whose life expectancy might be shorter than the duration of the contract. To address this uncertainty, MNCs have devised additional legal layers and brought additional parties to state contracts, causing a contractual inflation with contradictory aims. On the one hand, they have sought to blur the notion of third party, so that they could assert their contractual rights vis-à-vis more stakeholders. On the other hand, they have carefully avoided a total disqualification of this very notion to keep the civil society away from the negotiation table. Nowadays, the threat that the host states used to represent has been substantially reduced, but MNCs are now exposed outside of state contracts, for it is precisely the lack of contractual commitment on the part of the civil society that is a potential challenge to their activities. Accordingly, they are now forced to seek the endorsement of the very actor they ostensibly ignored in the past. The purpose of this paper is to describe this sinuous evolution of the state contract and to discuss the challenges it announces.

In the first part, the authors analyze the legal bubble that has prospered throughout the past decades, resulting in a dilution of the state as a party to the contract. In the second part, they describe the emergence by default of the civil society that this phenomenon has triggered. They discuss their findings and conclude in the third part.

In the past decades, state contracts have consistently progressed in the direction of an increased weakening of the state vis-à-vis its private contractors. For MNCs, this decline is far less favorable than it seems, for it enables the civil society to fill the gap and to claim a role that as disturbing as it is disproportionate, considering its uncertain legal nature.

Despite its evanescent content and contours, it is probably this civil society itself that will draw the new frontier of the state contract. What it will be is yet to be determined however.

MNCs lack the legal power to turn the civil society or some of its emanations into a legal person, let alone compel it to actually “sign” state contracts. But for their bargaining power vis-à-vis host states remains as strong as ever, they may ultimately force their sovereign interlocutors to do so.

The civil society has been extensively studied, but never as the legal person MNCs would like it to be.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.

Two speakers at Online 95 spoke on the contentious subjects of censorship and other ethical matters on the Internet. Charles Oppenheim, then of the University of Strathclyde, talked about three problem areas on the Internet that are difficult to police — pornography; copyright and moral rights infringement; and libel and slander. He also cited some examples of each. Michael Dahan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and of the Israel Democracy Institute, then talked about the censorship imposed on the Internet by the secret service in Israel — a country that is understandably more security conscious than many in the West.

Social, physical and temporal characteristics are known to influence the eating experience and the effectiveness of nutritional policies. As the school meal service features prominently in UK nutritional and health promotion policy, the paper's aim is to investigate the characteristics of the primary school dining context and their implications for eating behaviours.

A case study of one local authority in Wales was conducted involving 11 primary schools stratified into socio‐economic quartiles. Focussed observations were carried out over two to three lunchtimes per school to explore their social, physical and temporal characteristics. These were supplemented by semi‐structured interviews with catering staff and midday supervisors.

The dining halls had numerous generic attributes (e.g. accommodation, equipment, length of lunchtime, social actors). These interacted to have a direct, but not necessarily positive, bearing on food choice and consumption. Overcrowded, multi‐purpose dining halls coupled with time pressures and dynamic social situations detracted from the eating experience and the ability of staff to encourage children to eat.

Without addressing these underlying issues, school nutritional policy may only play a limited role in influencing what children eat. It is recommended that policy places a greater emphasis on factors such as the eating environment; the time available for eating; and the role of the midday supervisor.

Previous studies of dining halls have generally been part of process evaluations of nutritional interventions. This study adds value by conducting a focussed investigation into the relationship between the dining hall environment and eating behaviours.