Technology and Communications

Chair

Shanti Mogan Shearn Delamore & Co 7/F, Wisma Hamzah-Kwong Hing No. 1, Leboh Ampang 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel. 60-3-2076-2921 Fax 60-3-2034-2763 E-Mail: shanti@shearndelamore.com

Vice-Chairs

The Technology and Communications Committee brings together two thriving and relevant areas of practice; technology, the practical application of science to commerce or industry; and communication, the process of information transfer. It provides the perfect opportunity for advocates & solicitors, corporate counsel, business lawyers and industry players to interact across the global divide for purposes of networking, sharing and drawing on experiences, skills and know how.
 
The Committee organises programs for each annual meeting of the IPBA befitting the conference theme and the region in which the conference is held.

The 2008 Los Angeles session met and surpassed expectations. It was Hollywood, and the Writers Guild of America were on strike. The topic was the entertainment industry. The speakers, using entertaining digital audio and video aids, explored the collapsing boundaries between communications and entertainment and the tensions between the rights of the various entities, the consumers, the content creators and the distributors.

The session in Manila in April 2009 catered to the concerns of Asia. The fear of foreign competition and the need to keep that at bay was captured in illuminating case studies and expositions from speakers from Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The topic was the regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles faced by industry players in offering telecommunications services in the region. The perspective of the regulators was advanced by the Communications and Multimedia Commission of Malaysia. The difficulties faced by the industry players was seen in the CBN satellite cases, the NTT saga in Sri Lanka and the attempts in the Philippines to keep competition at bay by the innovative use of court proceedings and the regulatory framework.

The session is Singapore promises to be very well attended. In keeping with the theme “Climate Change”, the committee is presenting a joint session on the development and use of clean technology and the tensions between the interests of the business sector, the government, international trade and investment regimes and global needs. Legal issues surrounding   the  clean  technology  industry, such as creation, protection  and  commercialization  of  that  technology through patents or other  intellectual  property  rights, and  technology  acquisition  and  licensing will be explored in the lush surroundings of  Marina Bay Sands in the Garden City of Singapore.