Home » Articles

Electronic Dance Music in China

electronicdancemusic1Amsterdam Dance Event Panel: “China: A New Electronic Nation?” with Rainbow Gao (The Mansion, CN), Robin Leembruggen (Mad Panda, CN), MIIIA (DJ/Producer, CN), Paul Neuteboom (Modern Sky Entertainment, CN), Spencer Tarring (DJ/founder of Pyro)

On the first day of the Amsterdam Dance Event[1] conference held all over Amsterdam last week, a panel moderated by China-based DJ Spencer Tarring discussed the huge potential of China as the rising promised land for Electronic Dance Music (EDM). This potential market is immense: with over 1 billion inhabitants China counts 200 million people between 14 and 24 years old, the primary target audience for EDM. Although electronic music is still a niche market in this huge country, the Chinese EDM scene has been rapidly growing over the past year(s). EDM festivals have been expanding with STORM (held in 6 cities this year) and MYTH as the main dance events. In 2016, four out of 20 most popular dance clubs are located in China according to djmag. Between 2011 and 2015 the electronic music event capacity in China has almost tripled.[2]

Read more

Conducting Transactions with Americans: A Few Regulatory Obstacles of Concern

stock-market-649902_1280After taking a hit through the financial crisis, the global M&A activity has been experiencing a consistent growth during the past five years. With 2015 being a record year marked with exceptionally large transactions, the market seems to be continuously confident. Activists nowadays are relying more and more on cross-border transactions as a source of value creation.[1] With merger deals such as the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its Irish pendant Allergan amounting to roughly $160 billions, the outlook on M&A activities in 2016 stays bright. Nevertheless, in order to invest into a well-established, and hence highly regulated, U.S. market, which contains the highest bidders and targets in the sector PMB[2] in 2015, foreign investors and activists should be aware of regulatory laws, which might have significant impact on a public M&A deal and therefore, some of such laws might be of particular concern.

Read more

Towards a more global Internet – The end of total American control on domain names

icann_logoSince the creation of the internet, and its global development in the ’90s, the world wide web remains, in part, under control of the U.S. Commerce Department.

The Californian non-profit company ICANN[1] (Internet Corporation for Assigned names and Numbers) is responsible for the administration of IP addresses worldwide, as well as the global responsibility for top level domains (TLDs), and it is controled by the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Read more

Data protection: The Rise of the Privacy Shield

data-protectionOn July 12th 2016, the European Commission adopted the substitute for the Safe Harbor, the data protection agreement previously signed between the Commission and the United States Department of Commerce in 2010. This new agreement is referred to as the “Privacy Shield”.

As a reminder of the present state, the European Union Court of Justice “Schrems” decision on October 6th 2015 has invalidated the Safe Harbor agreement, stating that such agreement did not provide enough data protection for European citizens. The Safe Harbor was supposed to provide a legal framework on data transfer from European Union to the United States.

The new Privacy Shield is meant to be the substitute of the Safe Harbor. It is the result of negotiations between the European Commission and the American authorities since 2014. Read more

LUMP SUM OR ACTUAL PREJUDICE COMPENSATION? BOTH, SAYS THE COURT

les_miserablesAn important goal when acting against infringements of rights is to receive compensation for your loss. But what kind of compensation does the law offer you? Directive 2004/48 of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights created two sets of compensation rules in article 13(1):

  • either the national authorities choose a compensation scheme that takes into account the negative economic consequences which you have suffered as well as the unfair profits made by the infringer and the moral prejudice[1] caused to you (article 13 (1)(a));
  • or the national authorities choose to set up a lump sum on the basis of elements such as, at least, the amount of royalties you could have been paid by the infringer in order for him to use your intellectual property right lawfully in the first place (in appropriate cases only, such as the impossibility to determine the true amount of the prejudice) (article 13(1) (b)).

Is it possible to ask for moral prejudice compensation to be added to the lump sum? This question has now been answered by the European Court of Justice [2].

Read more

Open, Alibaba… But not to Counterfeiting

alibabaThere has already been controversy surrounding the operations of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings.
Taobao, a platform under the Alibaba portfolio, has been accused of allowing vast amounts of counterfeit goods to be knowingly sold by users of the website. These allegations did not rise to a threatening level until the Chinese Government itself published a white paper last January in which it called out the practices of Alibaba for their failure to address the clear issues of counterfeit goods passing through their domains.[1]

 

Read more

The New Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Arbitration Rules in 2016: A Comparative view

blog fotoSingapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)’s new Arbitration Rules from 1 August 2016 onwards

Singapore, just like the Netherlands, is one of the most attractive arbitration forums in the world. SIAC continuously improves the arbitration rules to provide parties with the most efficient ways to solve disputes. There are several changes to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Arbitration Rules. There are two points worth noting.

Read more

Doing Business in the Digital Market: Balance between Data Protection and Competition Law

alibaba-e-dayCompanies within the internal market can build their market power by abstracting value from its client’s personal information. When entering into an unfamiliar market, a company should always bear in mind the balance between the levels of protection that it should provide to its consumers and the degree of competitiveness that it holds from controlling and processing big data in order to avoid risks and receive gains in the long run.

The first step of data analysis is to acquire data. Issuing loyalty cards is a frequently used method to acquire customer information. On the internet, companies can also set cookies[1] to collect customer data.

Read more

China’s One Belt One Road Initiative on tax and customs

China One Road One Belt In September and October 2013, the Chinese President Xi Jinping had brought up two strategic initiatives which are jointly known as the “One Belt One Road” Initiative[1] (OBOR), respectively the New Silk Road Economic Road (SREB) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). These two projects are considered a re-establishment of the historical trade route between China and Europe across the Middle East. This is a trade and investment oriented Initiative aiming at integrity and connectivity in Eurasia.

In respect with tax and taxation, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) announced a package of ten measures in April 2015 for serving the implementation of the OBOR Initiative[2]. This package is also known as the “policy paper on implementing the OBOR Initiative” through enhancing taxation services and management[3]. Thorough execution and interpretation of taxation agreements are on the top of this agenda. Eliminating mismatches between regional law enforcement and tax disputes are priorities as well.

Read more