Eye on IPBA

Eye on IPBA Issue #28, September 2016

 

 

 

Issue #28 September 2016

The IPBA Secretariat
Roppongi Hills North Tower 7F
6-2-31 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Tel +81 3-5786-6796 FAX +82-3-5786-6778
E-mail: ipba@ipba.org

Topics: IPBA Membership News • IPBA Committee News •
IPBA Mid-Year Council Meeting and Regional Conference in Brussels • 
Auckland 2017  •
IPBA Local and Regional Events • IPBA-Supported Events

Dear [[first_name]] [[last_name]] Esq.,
 
Greetings from the IPBA!
 
7,862,400 seconds. 131,040 minutes. 2,184 hours. 91 days. 3 months.
 
That's how much time is left in 2016! Make the most of every second by doing what you love, with the ones you love. We hope that includes attending IPBA events! We have two events coming up in November: one in Seoul and one in Paris. And of course, there is our Annual Meeting and Conference in Auckland in April, 2017. Read all about these events and more below!

IPBA Membership News

The IPBA now has 1,579 members!

Our membership has been gradually growing in recent years:

Year End 2014 End 2015 September 30, 2016
Number of Members 1350 1532 1579

We expect this trend to continue, as more and more local leaders organize events in their jurisdictions, attracting new members. Part of this increase in membership can also be attributed to Annual Conference delegates who sign up at the non-member registration rate and choose the option to become a member for one year. This number has also been increasing since its inception three years ago:

Conference Vancouver 2014 Hong Kong 2015 Kuala Lumpur 2016
Option Members 91 182 183

Of course, keeping our current members is as important as attracting new ones! Membership renewal season will begin at the end of October and beginning of November. We will send out notices by e-mail and a paper invoice to all members whose memberships expire at the end of this year.

IPBA Committee News

This month we have interesting updates on imports using forced labor, a new cyber court and foreign direct investment in the broadcasting sector.  We look forward to seeing many of you in Brussels next week!

International Trade, Corey Norton, Chair

New U.S. Law Bans Imports Made Using Forced Labor

The United States has substantially revised an import prohibition on products made using forced labor to expand the scope of products that are banned from the U.S. market.  The change removed an exception to the import ban that permitted the import of forced labor products if domestic supply of the products was insufficient to satisfy domestic demand. Now, U.S. Customs is required to block imports of products found to be made with forced labor regardless of whether there is an alternate domestic supply.  U.S. Customs has vowed publicly to enforce this new prohibition vigorously and has already banned a new product on average every month and a half since the law came into effect.  The most recent case was against peeled garlic imports from China.  Exporters to the United States with labor intensive supply chains are now under additional pressure to ensure they are free of labor violations and can prove they have implemented effective controls.  Failure to do so can result in being shut out of the U.S. market.

Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Barunesh Chandra, Chair

From Tong Lai Ling, Malaysia:

New Cyber Court Established

A new special court dealing specifically with cybercrimes was introduced on 1 September 2016. According to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, the Cyber Court would be in the same vein as others that already exist to deal exclusively with for example, corruption, profiteering and the environment. “The government is of the view that the time has arrived for a special Cyber Court to be created, due to the trend of worrying cyberattacks such as hacking, online fraud, botnets, web-defacement, information theft, espionage, online gambling, pornography, and more,” the Minister said in a statement. At present the Cyber Court has been set up in Kuala Lumpur and will then be introduced in phases in other states, beginning with Selangor and Johor. According to a notification from the Director of the Kuala Lumpur Courts, cases that have been registered or set for hearing at the Criminal Sessions Court 4 will now be transferred to the Cyber Court.

From Monika Singh (India):

Consultation Paper on 'Infrastructure Sharing in ‘Broadcasting TV Distribution Sector'

After the recent liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy in the broadcasting sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has published a consultation paper on the issue of 'Infrastructure Sharing in TV Broadcasting & Distribution’ in September, 2016. The value chain in the said sector consists of satellite TV channel providers, distributors and the Local Cable Operators (LCOs).  The infrastructure mainly used for broadcasting such TV channels are satellite transponder, earth station, head-end, Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network, Conditional Access System (CAS) and Subscriber Management System (SMS). TRAI by virtue of the said consultation paper has initiated discussions on the issue of Infrastructure Sharing. Such sharing arrangements would allow optimum utilization of available capacities and are likely to result in reduction in Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) & Operating Expenditure (OPEX) for distributors and may also encourage new service providers to enter the market, thus augmenting growth in the sector. As a result, the consumers will receive quality services at a lesser price leading to the growth of the Sector.

The consultation paper is available on the TRAI website and various stakeholders have been invited to provide written comments and counter comments by October 21 and November 4, 2016 respectively.

IPBA Mid-Year Council Meeting and Regional Conference in Brussels

The IPBA Council meets twice a year: once at the Annual Conference in the spring, and once in the fall. All Officers, Jurisdictional Council Members, At-Large Council Members, Regoinal Coordinators, Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs, and the Immediate Past President make up the Council. October 7-9 are devoted to meetings, and this time there is a very full agenda of business, from collaborations with other associations, to proposals for new committees.

On October 10th, a Regional Conference that is open to the public. Click on the flyer at right to see the schedule and registration form. Speakers from around the world will discuss tools and regulations governments use to regulate cross-border transactions. We hope to see you there!

The IPBA Secretariat staff will be away from the office between October 6 and October 12 to attend the Mid-Year Council Meeting and Regional Conference in Brussels. If you need to contact us during this time, please send an e-mail to us at: ipba@ibpa.org. We will do our best to reply as quickly as possible!

27th IPBA Annual Meeting and Conference in Auckland: 
Connectivity & Convergence
April 6-9, 2017

The Super Early Bird Rate ends October 2nd! Register now on the conference web site.

  • Only 187 days to go until the first day of the conference!
  • There is one month remaining to send in applications to attend Auckland 2017 on the IPBA Scholarship Program. The deadline is October 31, 2016. This program is open to young lawyers and those in developing countries to attend the annual meeting and conference each year. Download the application and read more about the program on the IPBA web site.
  • The Keynote Speaker is New Zealand Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias. Sworn in as Chief Justic in 1999, she is the first woman to hold the position.
  • The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Sunday, April 9th. All IPBA members are encouraged to join this meeting, during which the Officers will report on IPBA activities for the past year. Members will also approve the financial reports for 2016 and budget for 2017.

IPBA Local and Regional Events

IPBA East Asia Forum
November 10-11
Seoul, Korea
Compliance Seminar
November 28
Paris, France

 

Save the Date!

Seminar Themes:

  • How to build efficient Compliance programs,
  • Present the impact mplementation of such programs may have on corporations (governance, allocation of responsibilities between legal and compliance),
  • How to assist corporations to see that Compliance obligations can give a competitive advantage,
  • Sharing of a comparative law vision by addressing several anticorruption national laws and case law.

An international panel of legal counsel from Germany, England (UK), France, and Japan will discuss the various issues involved and give insights on how to deal with them.

The Seminar will be conducted in English.

More details regarding the Seminar will be coming soon.

IPBA-Supported Events

Dates Organizer Event Venue
October 18-22 ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting Tokyo, Japan
October 18 Global Competition Review

GCR Live 2nd Annual Hong Kong: Focus on China

Hong Kong
October 24-25 marcus evans Corporate Counsel Asia Summit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
November 14-15 American Conference Institute 5th Asia-Pacific Summit on Anti-corruption Singapore

Check the IPBA web site for more events! IPBA members can enjoy discounted registration rates for these events.

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