The complexity of linear-time temporal logic over the class of ordinals

We consider the temporal logic with since and until modalities. This temporal logic is expressively equivalent over the class of ordinals to first-order logic by Kamp's theorem. We show that it has a PSPACE-complete satisfiability problem over the class of ordinals. Among the consequences of our proof, we show that given the code of some countable ordinal alpha and a formula, we can decide in PSPACE whether the formula has a model over alpha. In order to show these results, we introduce a class of simple ordinal automata, as expressive as B\"uchi ordinal automata. The PSPACE upper bound for the satisfiability problem of the temporal logic is obtained through a reduction to the nonemptiness problem for the simple ordinal automata.Comment: Accepted for publication in LMC

Green River Ordinances : Where Does the Burden Belong?

Over the years, many communities have attempted to restrict door-to-door salespersons. Green River Ordinance is a term derived from an ordinance adopted in Green River, Wyoming, in November, 1931. The measure declared the practice of going in or upon private residences for the purpose of peddling, or soliciting orders for the sale of goods without prior consent of the owners or occupants of the residence a nuisance and subjected such activities to criminal penalties. The popularity of, and controversy over, these ordinances continue to this day

One way forward: non-traditional accounting disclosures in the 21st century

Recent empirical studies (Deegan and Rankin, 1999; Deegan et al., 2000) have indicated that although many corporations have begun to respond to perceived demand for environmental disclosures in published accounts, their perspective of organisational legitimacy is a narrow view, in which information is targeted towards specific stakeholders and not to the general public. This paper considers a range of models (variously called guidelines, standards and charters) which have been put forward by different organisations to aid the development of social and environmental disclosures. In all cases verification and attestation are part of the proposed regimen. The question which the papers attempts to answer is whether any one of the models would be capable of rapid adoption as part of an expanded GAAP, should the professional accounting bodies think that this is desirable. The outcome of our deliberations is cautious support for the use of EMAS and ISO 14000 as the basis for a modified GAAP plus the further development of the GRI 2000 guidelines into a set of standards covering both social and environmental reporting

Green River Ordinances : Where Does the Burden Belong?

Over the years, many communities have attempted to restrict door-to-door salespersons. Green River Ordinance is a term derived from an ordinance adopted in Green River, Wyoming, in November, 1931. The measure declared the practice of going in or upon private residences for the purpose of peddling, or soliciting orders for the sale of goods without prior consent of the owners or occupants of the residence a nuisance and subjected such activities to criminal penalties. The popularity of, and controversy over, these ordinances continue to this day

Network Regulation Using an Agent

This paper introduces a new regulatory concept: the independent profit-maximising regulatory agent, as a possible model for regulating network industries where complex demand interdependencies, in particular demand complementarities, make traditional methods of regulation difficult. We derive a simple theoretical network model with differentiated demands and explore alternative competitive and regulatory strategies. We show that the employment of an independent profit-maximising agent may offer a partial solution to the problem of network regulation, yielding outcomes which involve all parties pursuing their own interests yet are relatively desirable to both firms and society

The Determinants of State-Level Antitrust Enforcement

While there has been a considerable literature exploring determinants of antitrust enforcement in the United States, studies have been based either on aggregate federal enforcement data over time (exploring cyclical influences) or cross-industry studies, usually for a single year or aggregated over several years. What has never been investigated is the pattern of state-level antitrust. This is somewhat surprising, as this has been a major activity of many state Attorneys General. In this paper, we explain state antitrust enforcement across states and time (for a 15-year period), examining a number of economic and political determinants which have been proposed in the literature.antitrust enforcement

Extending Invitations, Becoming Messmates

As music educators we can model proactive advocacy among community members to prevent individuals\u27 reactive violence in response to intolerance for differences. We can offer music-learning tables as safe spaces in which community members openly and collaboratively learn to know each other as individuals with diverse identities and interests. As messmates around the table, we can identify ways that researching, questioning, and being musical together can eradicate fears and the damaging effects of homophobia

From Lord Coke to Internet Privacy: The Past, Present, and Future of Electronic Contracting

Contract law is applied countless times every day, in every manner of transaction large or small. Rarely are those transactions reflected in an agreement produced by a lawyer; quite the contrary, almost all contracts are concluded by persons with no legal training and often by persons who do not have a great deal of education. In recent years, moreover, technological advances have provided novel methods of creating contracts. Those facts present practitioners of contract law with an interesting conundrum: The law must be sensible and stable if parties are to have confidence in the security of their arrangements; but contract law also must be able to handle changing social and economic circumstances, changes that occur at an ever-increasing speed. Contract law, originally designed to handle agreements reached by persons familiar with one another, evolved over time to solve the problems posed by contract formation that was done at a distance — that is, contract law had developed to handle first paper, then telegraphic, and finally telephonic communications. It has handled those changes very well. In the 1990s, however, things began to change. The rise in computer use by individuals coupled with the advent of the World Wide Web gave rise to two parallel developments, both of which challenged the law of contract formation. Increased computer use created a demand for software programs designed for the consumer market, and those programs were commonly transferred to users by way of standard-form licenses that were packaged with the software and thus unavailable before the consumer paid for the software. Also, parties in large numbers began to use electronic means — the computer — to enter into bargained-for relationships. The turn of the millennium brought two electronic contracting statutes, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“E-Sign”) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (“UETA”), which removed any doubts that contracts entered into electronically could satisfy the Statute of Frauds. Encouraged by the certainty given by those statutes, internet businesses started offering contract terms on their websites, asking customers to consent to terms by clicking an icon, or by not seeking express assent at all by presenting terms of use by hyperlink. The ease of presenting terms comprised of thousands of words by an internet hyperlink makes it easy for a vendor in its terms of use and terms of service to ask us to give up privacy rights and intellectual property rights. Modern communications technologies therefore make it easier for parties to engage in risky transactions. Nevertheless, we believe that, with few exceptions, the common law of contracts is sufficiently malleable to address the problems arising out of that behavior and where it is not, regulation of contract terms is appropriate. This Article examines those developments