I have been informed that Tariq Shafiq, who is involved in writing the new Iraqi Oil Law will be joining the event. Here's the tentative schedule for the speakers for Day Two:

Detik reported that Sony corp sent a sommation* letter to a blogger named Sony, for using sony-ak.com for his domain name. Now the blogosphere strikes back at Sony and organize a facebook group called 'Sony -- don't take away my friend's name'.


Will the wisdom of the crowd(ed) facebook beat Sony corp and its lawyers? We shall see.

Shall we name our cats Google and assign a domain name for it?

* I am not sure how to translate the term. There is 'Abmahnung' in German and 'Sommation' in French. Is Cease and Desist the equivalent common law concept?

The UN Independent Expert on the right to water and sanitation recently launches a good practice questionnaire on the right to water and sanitation. If you have been or is involved in watsan related projects or is doing a research on watsan related policies, you are invited to make a contribution.

Read this page at the IE Water website to get a more comprehensive explanation. To download the good practices questionnaire, click here.

To cover recent developments on the Right to Water and Sanitation, this blog launches "RTWS Update". The updates will contain news, issues, viewpoints and events related the right to water and sanitation. If you are not yet familiar with RTWS, please have look at the right to water web page here.

Insights into the most efficient partnerships, alliances, contracts and agreements adapted to today’s economy are why this Power Forum is a must-attend event for all exploration companies from Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, Caspian Sea and other oil-rich regions. The forum brings together the institutions, regulators, commercial and state actors, all who are directly involved in actual contracts and sharing agreements, to shed light into business-critical and contract-related issues around the various relationships, fiscal models and risk management must-haves in today’s petroleum exploration and development, including production sharing, joint operations, joint ventures, service contracts, international boundary disputes and oil & gas accounting.

The UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee will be holding a workshop with a focus on land use and water management. Following is the release I received from the organizer: 

"The University of Dundee’s UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science is takes a leap into the world of online conferencing for the celebration of World Water Day next month, on the 22^nd March.  This event will be broadcast live via the internet, both through live audio-visual and a transcript of proceedings in real time.  Global participants to this free online event will be encouraged to provide immediate feedback to the conference speakers and organizers and to share comments with one another through an online forum facility.  The focus will be on the work of the UNESCO Centre in the Tweed valley, in particular the interface between land use and water management.  Comparisons will be made with other UK river valleys, in particular the Dee and the Thames.  The conference will showcase global water issues and the multidisciplinary work of the UNESCO Centre in promoting the importance of water law and hydrological science in helping to achieve more consensual and informed water policy and practice.  World Water Day was inaugurated in 1993, since when it has been a focus globally for action on water issues, including promoting fair and equitable access to transboundary watercourse and groundwater resources of freshwater."