Monday, December 30, 2019

Mary Shelley s Novel And Exotic Beautiful Places Essay

Frankenstein was a novel written by author Mary Shelley in 1818. The novel tells the story of a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a grotesque creature. The novel is a mix of Gothic and romantic literature. Shelley sets her novel and exotic beautiful places, which is an example of romanticism. She also uses gothicism by focusing on the death and gruesome macabre. Throughout the novel Shelley uses both romantic and Gothic elements in the setting ,characterization ,subject matter ,and plot . Mary Shelley the author of Frankenstein was born August 30th, 1797, in London England. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley s husband was a romantic poet. When Shelley first published Frankenstein she published it anonymously. Many people believe her husband wrote the novel. Mary Shelley I have been friends with many Romantic Poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Even though her writing was not Britney in the same but tons of her colleagues Mary Shelley was a contemporar y of the Romantic Poets. Mary Shelley s novel was heavily influenced by The Romantics. â€Å"Romanticism was an attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general andShow MoreRelatedFrankenstein Romanticism Essay1610 Words   |  7 PagesRomanticism began to make a great influence on art and literature during the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. Frankenstein was first published in 1818 during that period and the novel is flooded with Mary Shelley’s feelings of extreme good and bad emotions. English literature during the romanticism period is believed to be the most expressive in style, subject, and content. The discrepancy and chaos concerning th e essential principles and competing philosophies were believed to be fascinatingRead MoreOrientalism : The Romantic Era Of British Literature And Meshes Essay2475 Words   |  10 Pagesera of British literature and meshes it with the exotic nature or the oriental fantasy of the east. The romantic period in Britain was recognized as a time of global travel and exploration, accession of colonies all over the world, and development of imperialist ideologies that rationalized the British takeover of distant territories. Many of the poets of the nineteenth century looked to orientalism for inspiration. Oriental tales featured exotic settings, supernatural happenings, extravagant eventsRead MoreThe Genre of Stokers Dracula Essay6296 Words   |  26 Pageswill examine Stokerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²s novel Dracula in order to determine whether it belongs to the Gothic genre or not. Firstly, a short history of the Gothic novel will be presented and the most important authors and works of the era will be mentioned. Furthermore, the different characteristics of the Gothic genre will be examined in order to compare them with Stokerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²s work. Aspects like nature, surroundings, atmosphere, the role of the women in the Gothic novel, the Gothic villain

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Introduction to Taxation - 1687 Words

INTRODUCTION TO TAXATION Unlike most transfers, which are voluntary, taxation is compulsory. That’s needed because of free-rider problem (no one will have injective to contribute) Modern taxes are monetized (individuals provide just money) Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods. Tariffs protect domestic producers. Taxes can be divided to: †¢ direct †¢ indirect Direct taxes are individual income tax, payroll tax (used to finance social) security, corporation income tax (tax on net profit of corporations), tax on property. Indirect taxes are custom duties on imported goods from abroad, exice taxes (telephone services, air travel, luxury commodities). VAT (Value-added tax) are taxes on the difference of†¦show more content†¦With a perfectly elastical supply curve, the prices rises by the full amount of tax, entire tax burden is on a consumer. With perfeclty inelastic demand price rises by full amount of the tax and the entire burden is on consumers. OPTIMAL TAXATION Fallacies of optimal taxation : 1. We should have a tax on wage income. Additional taxes just increase distortions and economic inneficiency. 2. Theory of the second best is the design of government policy in situations where the economy is characterized by some important distortion that can’t be removed. Optimal tax structure is a set of taxes which maximizes social welfare. If all individuals were identical and were treated for tax purposes identicly, a lump-sum tax would be the only efficent tax. The choice facing the government is to either have a uniform lump-sum tax (individual pays tax regardless of what they do or what abilites they have) or tax that depends on easily measured variables (expenditure or income) Progressive taxes are reducing deadweight loss. Elasticily optimits – distortions are low. Elasticly pessimists – Distortions are large. Flat rate taxes are taxes where the marginal tax rate (the extra tax individual pays for an extra dollar of income) is constant for both tax systems. Progressive tax – the ratio of the total tax payments to the individuals income, increases with income. MoreShow MoreRelatedChapter 1 Introduction to Federal Taxation and Understanding the Federal Tax Law1861 Words   |  8 Pages543 Chapter 1 Introduction to Federal Taxation and Understanding the Federal Tax Law TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS—CHAPTER 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. The majority of dollars collected by the U.S. government come by way of corporate taxation. Prior to the Sixteenth Amendment direct taxes were illegal. All U.S. taxes are based on an individual’s income. Customs taxes are imposed on exports toRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Tax Reform1191 Words   |  5 Pagesexcept taxes on the supply of petroleum products and alcohol†­Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ ¬.†­ †¬The basis of GST is value addition.†­ †¬It is comprehensive indirect tax levied on manufacture and sale of goods and services at a national level.†­ †¬Integration of goods and services taxation would give India a world class tax system and improve tax collections.†­ †¬It would lead to†­ †¬the abolition of†­ †¬many other†­ †¬taxes such as octroi,†­ †¬sales taxes,†­ †¬entry tax and eliminate the cascading effects.†­ GST proposes to introduce a singleRead MoreShould The Uk Government Restore The 50 % Additional Rate Of Income Tax? Essay1381 Words   |  6 Pagestaxed nations across the globe despite impaired competitiveness and stifled economic growth. Unlike most OECD countries that have lessened their tax burdens since 1997, UK taxation has increased, which has resulted in reduced competitiveness of the country’s position as a low tax regime. The other characteristics of UK taxation include forcing taxpayers into higher rate tax bands, which enforces higher tax rates for more people. However, in the past few years, there have been debates and controversiesRead MoreThe Impact Of Tax Structure Of The United Arab Emirates945 Words   |  4 PagesCurrently, the United Arab Emirates does not have a federal corporate income tax (CIT) regime; however, most of the Emirates introduced income tax decrees in the late 1960s, and taxation is therefore determined on an Emirate-by-Emirate basis. Under the Emirate-based tax decrees, CIT may be imposed on all companies (including branches and permanent establishments [PEs]) at rates of up to 55%. However, in practice, CIT is currently only enforced in respect of corporate entities engaged in the productionRead MoreThe Issues of Taxation1409 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Tax is any kind of requirement in the form of money or asset that is expected of an individual or a business entity by the governing authority. There are various types of taxations such as capital tax, individual tax and income tax among others (Simontacchi, 2007). The taxation issue has been a thorn to businesses and their owners, especially those who do international trade. This has affected the international businesses very much. As a result, the governments of those nations thatRead MoreEssay about Double Taxation1718 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Double taxation arises when an individual or business acquiring income in a foreign country is required to pay taxes on that income in both the foreign country as well as the country of origin. For example, an American company operating in a developing country, in the absence of a tax treaty between the two countries may have to pay a withholding tax to the government of the developing country, as well as corporation tax to the United States government (Howard, 2001, p. 259). TheRead MoreImpact of Carbon Taxation on Passengers of Aviation Industry1017 Words   |  4 PagesCarbon Taxation Its Impact on Passengers of Aviation Industry Introduction Introduction of Carbon taxation by European Union stirred disturbance in the aviation industry Airlines bear it or pass the effect on the customer 2 Rationale Behind Taxation Airlines use fossil fuels responsible for the emission of: Carbon compounds Green house gases (GSGs) Resulting in hazardous impact on the environment 3 Continue-2 Air transportation is the second largest with a 13% share of transport-relatedRead More Is Taxation is Theft? Essay1037 Words   |  5 Pages Taxation, the government acquisition of property from the individual has mixed support in any Western democratic system. To make its way into the good will of the majority, taxation has surrounded itself with doctrines of justification. No law which lacks public approval or acquiescence is enforceable, and to gain such support it must address itself to our sense of correctness. This is particularly necessary for statutes authorizing the taking of private property. Sometimes depicted as ‘theft’ byRead MoreShould There Be A Sugar Tax1326 Words   |  6 PagesShould There be a Sugar Tax in New Zealand? Introduction: The New Zealand government should have a tax to regulate the consumption of sugary drinks or foods, because this leads to decrease issues of people s health and it would be heartening healthy conducts. †¢ Body: 1. A sugar tax would reduce people’s health issues. (supporting) a) Sugar taxes help to prevent obesity. b) Sugar taxes also would helpful for prevention of dental problems. 2. Sugar tax service would encourage healthy behaviorsRead MoreDetermining The Tax System Should Be Structured1748 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction. Arguably, the purpose of the tax system is to generate adequate funds to finance the smooth running of an economy, most especially in terms of redistribution of income to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. Designing and adopting a tax system that is efficient and fair is of great importance to the government and policy makers of any nation. According to Mankiw et al (2009) designing a system of taxation which is optimal has been a long standing issue which has been of interest

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Critical study of software copyright and piracy in China Free Essays

ABSTRACT This study aim to demonstrate Chinese students’ attitude towards software copyright and piracy in China. This paper has selected a small group of Chinese student to evaluate their presumption and data were collected by using interview among this group. There are some factors which has a significant impact on piracy. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical study of software copyright and piracy in China or any similar topic only for you Order Now Therefore, for finding out the validity and add extra elements in finding and discussion chapter will present new items which has a role in software piracy. Thus, this research has some limitation such as the number of sample and the matter of time. Hence, the result of this research cannot be valid. Chapter I Introduction In the past few years, there has been a doubt among the Chinese software users regarding the use of pirated software from the legal point of view. In addition to software users, anyone who is involved in the software copyright and piracy issues, is confronted with this question that if the pirate act is illegal or not (Croix Konan, 2002). Answering this question requires to consider the perception of each individual Chinese software users regarding the software copyright and piracy. Whereby, awareness of Chinese users in decision-making has a direct impact on their piracy behaviour in terms of using pirated software (Liang Yan, 2005). To explore how Chinese software users recognize the matter of software copyright and piracy it is crucial to understand the function of copyright and piracy protection law, In fact, copyright and piracy protection law are the subset of the intellectual property law (IP) which has been considerably enhanced in the recent years. According to a definition provided by World Intellectual Property (WIPO, 2006) â€Å"intellectual property can be anything which creates by human mind such as, inventions, literary and artistic works†. On the other side, software piracy is opposite of the copyright law in which has increased along with the extension in popularity of internet in 1999 (Katz, 2005). Currently, China is under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement, which compels China to have transparency on intellectual property protection in terms of laws, regulations, administrative rules and judicial decisions (Panitchpakdi Clifford, 2002). Hence, this study places emphasis on Chinese student various perceptions regarding the software copyright and piracy. The next chapter will review the existing literature review and evaluate different point of views. Furthermore, it will emphasize on methodology chapter to illustrate the method of collecting data. Moreover, in finding and discussion chapter will demonstrate and analyse the information towards answering research question and finally will present conclusion. CHAPTER II Literature review 2.1 China`s background in copyright law From the historical point of view, for the first time, copy right law came into existence in ancient China and the creation of copyright in China was initiated by the innovation of printing by Bi Sheng in AD 1042. Moreover, compared to European countries the technique of printing had developed centuries earlier in China (Mertha, 2005). According to Martha (2005), in 1910, the first draft of author`s right was published and a number of punishments for unapproved use were established. WIPO (2006) state thatAfter the Cultural Revolution,in 1979 China entered into a new stage of modern legal system which contained the copyright structure and was an important step to connect to the outside world. Subsequently, as WIPO (2006) assert that â€Å"China has joined the world intellectual property organization in 1980†. Bently Sherman (2001) explained that copyright was originally intended primarily for the protection of authors, artists and composers to provide a legal foundation for the innumerable transactions by which they are paid for their work. Croix Konan (2002) explained that the first aim of copyright law is to provide the security for author`s right from abusing in illegal way. World intellectual property organization (WIPO, 2006) defines â€Å"copyright† as legal point of view in order to maintaining creator’s right and securing his/her â€Å"work†. In addition, the term â€Å"work† is used by intellectual property law in various aspects such as; novels, poems, plays, databases and computer programs. Generally, copyright laws are executed diversely in different countries around the world (Marron Steel, 2000). For instance, The European Countries and North America have tough copyright laws and enforce them determinedly. Meanwhile, there are some countries which have determined copyright laws but their courts are unwilling to enforce them. Furthermore, there are developing countries in which their principles are based on Islamic patterns and do not have adequate laws in terms of copy right ( Marron Steel, 2000). From worldwide viewpoint, entering China to the global network has generated a massive capability in order to share and observe information through new approaches, especially byInternet (Croix Konan, 2002). However, in recent years, the international business society has mentioned that there has been a doubt regarding China`s malfunction towards limiting international property infringement (Mertha, 2005). 2.2 Globalization and software piracy Bently and Sherman (2001) assert that, the original concept of copyright is surrounded by boundaries’ inside of the state, Thus, the security of copyright protection will be in danger if it operates beyond the country and goes through the national world. Therefore, the fence would be break down by the development of globalization and establish copyright as boundless subject in international trade. Consequently, developed countries realize that it is crucial to make some alteration in enforcement of copyright protection across the national borders. Therefore, due to unexpected economic growth in China, it has become the main target of whole global copyright enforcement, such as US and the European Union (Halbert, 1997). IIPA (2006) declared that the progression of globalization transforms software copyright and piracy from internal issue to universal matter among countries. Furthermore, due to the fact that China has been faced with a huge amount of piracy, it has been constantly criticized by other countries regarding the lack of enforcement and ability to protect software copyright. 2.3 Culture and software piracy Mum (2003) argued that cultural differences is one of the most significant aspects that should be considered in China`s software copyright and piracy and has a main role on development copyright in China. From western perspective, individual’s freedom and benefits often put emphasis on public shared benefits. In contrast, as a traditional Chinese point of view, individuals are part of society and are obliged to present their creation and innovation to the community (Mum, 2003). Considering the two mentioned viewpoints, it can state that the eastern minds are totally different from western minds, regarding that in western society intellectual theft is not appreciated, meanwhile, it is a new concept to many Chinese. In addition, Yu (2001) pointed out that in traditional Chinese culture copying regarded as honourable and necessary fact. Husted (2000) stated that the rate of piracy in China has a great connection with cultural dichotomy of individualism and collectivism. In addition, Marron and Steel`s (2000) found out that countries in which their principles is based on individualistic culture have a lower piracy rates comparing to the countries which have collectivistic culture. According to Wang, Zhang, and Ouyang (2005a) the correlation between pirated software purchasing and cultural subject in China is more expected to be engaged in the theft of software programs or sharing intellectual property. In fact, collectivist culture can be one of the great factors that might be the cause of the prevalence of software piracy in China. 2.4 The Chinese government, Communist ideology in software piracy Croix Konan (2002) argued that China`s government has been considerably attempting to change the legislation and policy making process in terms of prevent pirating. For instance, China government closed 9 factories from 18 which were producing pirated software’s and presenting illegal Cd`s in domestic market. However, despite the considerable reforms by China government regarding the implement of copyright enforcement, there are some domestic factors which make the matter worse (Mertha, 2005). Lu and Weber (2008) explored that China government should consider about the economical and political environments of public and private dimensions of software copyright to cover external and internal challenges. In addition, Communism philosophy in which its main principal is based on everything belongs to society and people, rather than private owners has been existed in China since 1949. Consequently, Communist thought of copyright are fundamentally well-matched with traditional Chinese culture, because they support each other to shape Chinese people`s attitude in the direction of decreasing copyright protection. Overall, the literature review includes variety of research areas and identifies a group of structural factors relating to software copyright and piracy in China. Meanwhile, the literature review has some limitation, for example, it uncovers the behaviour element which is crucial in act of piracy, but it will be covered in finding and discussion chapter by interviewing from Chinese student. CHAPTER III Methodology Generally speaking, the nature of human beings has been always concerned about what is happening surround them. In order to understand their surroundings they began to search regarding their requirements which at least named research. According to Cohen et al (2007) research is a process of planning, executing and investing in terms to find answer to our specific questions. In addition, getting reliable answers needs an investigation in a systematic manner and will be easier for reader to understand. Achieving these ends requires research methods. In this study, the research philosophy is examined by interpretivism. Bryman Bell (2003) defined it as an epistemological position that enquires the social scientist to grasp the subjective meaning of social action. Furthermore, the inductive approach has undertaken to this study in terms of understand the nature of problem, by which, it enables researcher to take more information about the research. (Bryman Bell, 2003). Evaluating about philosophy and approach, now it should consider that the research method is done by mono method meaning that is qualitative and by the nature of it, has a great advantages for this research. It was chosen because the research approach was based on inductive methods and it requires an exploration of detailed in depth about data. Denzin Lincoln (2000) believed that using this method able researcher to explain, translate and otherwise come to the terms with the meaning. This study will carry out both primary and secondary research. The primary research will be examined by doing an interview based on semi-structured type from a group of Chinese student which will be within an age group of 22-28. The semi-structured interview was designed by some relevant questions in order to answer the research question, further information will be on (appendix 1). An interview has chosen as a method for primary research for the reason that it is one of the methods by which the human world may be explored, although it is the world of beliefs and meanings, not of actions that is clarified by interview research. Bryman Bell (2003) pointed out that interviewing provide a wide range of data collection. Thus, it helps researcher to find out how people regard situations from their point of view. In this research, because the emphasize is basically based on the area of intellectual property law and as far as everyone are concerned, this field is extremely complicated and cannot be expressed in closed questions. Hence, semi-structured interviews have chosen because it has a great benefit for conducting this research. Moreover, it is based on an open-ended question. In addition, Bryman Bell (2003) argued that this approach can be used to gain different comments and offers the interviewer the chance to investigate an issue or service. In addition, it gives the interviewee an opportunity to share general views or their opinions in details. Apart from the benefits of this method, it has some disadvantages such as: it requires interviewing skill and need to have the skill to analyse the data. Furthermore, it should be done on sufficient group of people in order to make general comparison. Moreover, it is really time consuming and researcher should be able to ensure confidentially ( Saunders et al, 2003). It is crucial to mentioned that ethical concerns will emerge as the research planning starts. As Blumberg et al cited in Saunders et al (2007) argued that â€Å"ethics refers to the moral principles, norms or standards of behaviour that guide moral choices about our relationship with other†. Furthermore, in order to ensure confidentiality, this research will only consider about the age of the Chinese students and will not emphasise on their name or their institute (see appendix 2). To answer the research question, Chinese student attitude is examined in order to explore how they perceive the issue of software copyright and piracy and with the aim of give the sense of security to interviewee at the first of interview it will mention that the process will be recorded to ensure the crucial information is not omitted from the note taking. Overall, in this study by using qualitative approach with semi-structured interview will prepare a suitable occasion in terms of collecting a great deal of information from Chinese student regarding their point of view about software copyright and piracy in their country. Furthermore, it is expected that 10 interviews will be conducted and the sample will just measured by their age and the interview will be carried out in person by the researcher on site at the University Of Sheffield. Moreover, information from interviews will be classified into coding and categories, which can be derived from research question and the literature. CHAPTER IV Finding and Discussion 4.1 Finding This chapter aims to answer the research question which was about Chinese student attitude towards software copyright and piracy. To answer this question, this research is carried out by choosing a smaller society of Chinese users, namely Chinese students, in which their perception in terms of software copyrights and piracy in China will be examined. As it mentioned in methodology, in order to analyze the data, this research will categorize and coding the data which has conducted from Chinese student attitude, then it will examine the findings and discussion and finally will demonstrate the conclusion. The findings will categorized and coded by what interviewees mentioned regarding software copyright and piracy, for example, some of people express that the price of the copyright software`s are too expensive. Meanwhile, others pointed out that the general income of people in China cannot afford copyright products and on quarter of participants said that copyright products actual value does not deserve that high price. Therefore, this category named as cost with three subcategorized; price, income, value and coded as a software products. Secondly, half of the interviewee mentioned that pirated software`s are accessible and it can used them without any limitation, whereby, original software`s has the restriction of usage. Moreover, this opinion categorized by usability and accessibility of software products. Thirdly, from findings it can find out 9 of 10 participants disagreed with the culture as an element which has an impact on a software copyright and piracy. By contrast, in literature review in culture and software piracy some author`s were explained that culture has a considerable relation with software copyright and piracy. Furthermore, some interviewees expressed that some issues, for example, education or gaining knowledge should not consider as piracy, additionally, using software`s for a personal need without any intention of using in illegal way is not piracy. Finally, the item that generally accepted by applicant was China`s government, which they state that the main power who can enforce the copyright law and prevent piracy is government. Thus the first section was categorized by social development and cultural affect and the later section was grouped as Chinese government, which these two parts coded as a china development. To clarify the structure the complete coding fra me is established in (Appendix 3). 4.1.1 Software products: cost, usability and accessibility Cost, usability and accessibility play critical roles in decision-making whether to use pirated software or not among Chinese student attitudes. Among all of discussions cost is consistently mentioned as a reason to choose pirated software. Therefore, three subject matter illustrates from which will evaluate by participants viewpoints. Generally speaking, first of all, was the cost to buy copyright software. As they state that buying original WINDOWS XP in China is really expensive. Secondly, because of high prices for software products most of the people especially students and low-income earners are not able to afford the price. Thirdly, they cited that the copyright software`s are not valuable comparing to their price, for instance, by installing WINDOWS XP, it requires anti-virus as well to protect is and this will cost an extra money and pirated software`s functions are same as original one`s. Thus, it is not valuable. It can assume that there is another side to disagree with their thought in terms of cost, if comparing the price of software product with other spending. Since they can tolerate with others spending, there is no reason to reject software prices. 4.1.2 China development: Social development and Chinese government As it mentioned in literature review chapter there were two factors which also found by evaluatingChinese student presumption toward software copyright and piracy which is constantly, government policy and culture. Furthermore, participant conflicting views about those items and stating short words or sentences; it cannot provide valuable information about significant issues such as government policy and cultural affect. Therefore, in order to generalize their viewpoint it can state that, after Cultural Revolution in China and joining to the World intellectual property organization there has been a significant changes in terms of education, technology and the level of science through out of China (WIPO, 2006). Generally speaking, interviewees pointed out that the China government has the main power in order to prevent software piracy and change the policy towards enforcement of copyright law. Moreover, it can maintain that in spite of the power to enforce, why Chinese government does not really want to stop piracy. Furthermore, participants discussed that because of the matter of population and as China is among developing countries, government and authorities really feels the lack of knowledge and because they want to increase their literacy and awareness, they are not as strict as developed countries. 4.2 Discussion With the establishment of coding frame, this study will applies axial coding to make a connection between categories and sub categories. First, the participant’s perception develops from the issue which coded as software products with three subcategories. In the category of software product user`s resistance focused on copyright software`s high cost and poor usability and accessibility. In contrast, user`s are likely to use pirated software which low cost and good usability and accessibility. On the other hand, the interviewee which protects software copyright law, refuse to accept cost and excuses for piracy use. Second, in the category of China development which was generally analysed, it can mention that government policy in China is trying to educated and boosts the knowledge within the people, but this cannot be the reason to use piracy software’s or make author`s work invaluable. In other world, participants believe that Chinese government does not really want to limit piracy. Form their discussion it can find out government has a great interest in piracy regarding market economy. This study has found that in general Chinese student attitude towards software copyright and piracy mainly suffers from the phenomena which so-called Cost and the accessibility of pirated software’s. Furthermore, this paper has some limitation which will decrease the validity of this research, such as; the number of sample was not that much great to evaluate and examine the other perceptions, another item was the limitation of time, which was considerable for this research. Furthermore, it is suggested that copyright owners should lower down their retail prices of their products to the lower degree, by which, Chinese user`s be able to afford it. CHAPTER VI 5 CONCLUSION This study set out to examine how Chinese student are aware of software copyright and piracy in China. A small sample of Chinese student was selected to illustrate extra elements a part form literature review, which has significant role on using pirated software’s. Furthermore, the data were analyzed by Bryman Bell (2003). Overall in can conclude that, the fact that China started to play a more and more important role in today’s world and its development cannot be easily stopped or reversed. Therefore, like developed countries, China should redesign and change the software copyright law in order to minimize the amount of piracy in world. References: Bently, L, Sherman, B. (2001). Intellectual property law. New York: Oxford University Press. Blaxter,L, Hughes, C, Tight, M. (2001). How to research. (2 edn). Buckingham: Open University Press. Bryman,A, Bell, E. (2003). Business Research Methods. New York: Oxford UniversityPress. Business Software Alliance. (2004). BSA and IDC global software piracy study. Retrieved January 28, 2005, from http://www.bsa.org/China/globalstudy Cohen, L, Manion, L, Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methodes In Education. ( 6 edn). London: Routledge. Croix, S. J., Konan, D. E. (2002). Intellectual property rights in China: The changing political economy of Chinese-American interests. The World Economy, 25, 759-788. Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gubrium, J. F., Holstein, J. A. (1997). The new language of qualitative method. New York: Oxford University Press. Halbert, D. (1997). Intellectual property piracy: The narrative construction of deviance. International Journal for Semiotics of Law, X (28), 55-78. International Intellectual Property Alliance. (2006). The 2006 special 301 report: People’s Republic of China. Retrieved August 28, 2006, from IIPA Web site: http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2006/2006SPEC301PRC.pdf Katz, A. (2005). A network effects perspective: On software piracy. University of Toronto Law Journal, 55, 155-160. Lindlof, T. R., Taylor, B. C. (2002). Qualitative communication research methods (2nd ed.). London: Sage. Lu, J., Weber, I. (2008). Chinese government and software copyright: Manipulating the boundaries between public and private. International Journal of Communication, 1, 81-99. Marron, D. B., Steel, D. G. (2000). Which countries protect intellectual propertyThe case of software piracy. Economic Inquiry, 38 (2), 159-74. Mertha, A. (2005). The politics of piracy: Intellectual property in contemporary China. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Mum, S. H. (2003). A new approach to U. S. copyright policy against piracy in China. Symposium conducted at the 53rd Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, San Diego, California, United States. Nicol, C. (Ed.). (2003). ICT policy: A beginner’s handbook. Johannesburg, South Africa: Association for Progressive Communication. Panitchpakdi, S., Clifford, M. L. (2002). China and the WTO: Changing China, changing world trade. Singapore: John Wiley Sons (Asia). Saunders, s. Lewis, P. And Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business Students. Third edition. Pearson education limited. Wang, F., Zhang, H. Ouyang, M. (2005a). Software piracy and ethical decision making behaviour of Chinese consumers. Journal of Comparative International Management, 8(2), 43-56. Wang, F., Zhang, H., Zang, H. Ouyang, M. (2005b). Purchasing pirated software: An initial examination of Chinese consumers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22(6),340-51 World Intellectual Property Organization. (n.d.). Copyright and related rights. Retrieved October 14, 2006, from World Intellectual Property Organization Web site: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/copyright.html Yu, P.K. (2001). Piracy, prejudice, and perspectives: An attempt to use Shakespeare to reconfigure the U. S.-China intellectual property debate. Working Paper Series, 38, Jacob Burns Institute for Advanced Legal Studies. Retrieved,October13,2006fromhttp://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=262530 How to cite Critical study of software copyright and piracy in China, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Petroleum Fiscal Systems and Production †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Petroleum Fiscal Systems and Production. Answer: Introduction The gas and oil companies use various activities and processes that are integrated to change the petroleum resources into usable products for customers. These activities are linked to each other within individual and across the regions. Value creation is an important tool to the organization as well as the country. According to (Adelman, 2004, p. 345) VCA examines the sequence of activities that are employed to get a product and service from production to procurement via various stages of production, distribution and the final consumer. This analysis usually involves distributors, buyers and suppliers referred to as value systems. Woodside petroleum limited (WPL) is a gas and oil company in Australia. It began the year 1954 and currently it has over 3511 staffs among them are five directors. It involves a number of processes including production, development, evaluation, exploration, sale, and marketing of hydrocarbons. In this report by (BP, 2008, p. 234) it discusses the social value. The main products are natural liquefied gas, condensate, crude oil, pipeline gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. It operates involves operation of oil production, offloading and storage facilities based in Australia. The company is interested in frontier and emerging provinces in Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Australia, Atlantic margins and Pacific region. The company operates in US, Canada, Asia and Australia. Porters model is used to distinguish various stages of supply, physical changes in the inputs and outputs and supply services e.g. technological development and strategic planning. The greatest benefit is added to these services or a combination of individual strategies. Activities relate and should be integrated within the value chain. These activities involve resource exploration, petroleum production, storage, marketing, distribution, and transport WPL value chain analysis begins with identifying areas to do an exploration for gas or oil. The next step is appraising, developing and producing of petroleum fields. This stage in the value chain is known as upstream. These oilfield services involve other auxiliary services in the process of EP e.g. seismic surveys, equipment supply, well drilling and engineering projects. They form a crucial part of gas and oil industry. To illustrate exploration and production WPL should consider the breakdown of profit for large petroleum companies. This is due to the fact that private companys value and taxation represent their social value. The annual report on WPL according to (CSFB, 2002, p. 23) announced its production and consolidated results for the 1st half year ended on 30/June/2017. Its NPAT is $ 507M which is 49%more than the 1st half year of 2016. Operation cost was $1,869M for 2017 against $1,938M in 2016. Cash flow statements rose up by 170% to $445M. PBT was $763M against $508M in 2016. Profit for equity shareholders of the company was $507M equivalent to 60.3%per diluted and basic share against $340M (41%) of diluted and basic share in 2016. Cash from operation was $1235M against $1201M in 2016. Exploration expenditure and capital were $689M against $948M in 2016. Production cost is $42.2M. This was because of the high prices of oils. Ordinary distribution cost was $0.49m payable in September 2017. Profits may not necessarily mean a positive value. The company appointed James Richard as the director From (Boardman, Greenberg, Vining, 2006, p. 45)Gas processing and oil refining are used to change hydrocarbons extracted into usable products. Processed products are distributed to the market either through retailer, wholesaler or directly to the consumer. This stage of the value chain is known as downstream. WPL represent feedstock for other petrochemical industry that shows a geographic and historic relationship between the two.WPL can integrate more than one activity using value chain using vertical integration. Mostly, integration involves EP and RM and can expand within a given task thus horizontal consolidation. In Australia, the horizontal consolidation in the upstream is affected by natural gas and downstream by the size of the local market and ability manages exports of products and services. Vertical integration in the country is made using licensing tools and regulatory tools e.g. seeking approval to build or not build a processing facility. The description of WPL is based on alternative sources to determine different extraction processes. Aggregate inputs involve all cost of funding, cost of depletion, opportunity cost and production cost. Transportation and storage From production place, crude gas and oil are transported to the relevant processing areas and thereafter distributed to the market. According to (Johnston, 1994, p. 56)Infrastructure used involve transport e.g. pipelines, railways, roads and ports and storage facilities are key issues in different stages of the value chain that links between processing and production facilities and between final consumer and processing. These stages of the value chain are known as midstream. WPL can store the gas and oil in different locations along the chains chain for various reasons e.g. price speculation or hedging and security during supply. Crude oil is normally stored in large holding tanks and transported by truck, pipeline, tankers, and roads to the refineries company for processing. An example of a pipeline that reaches out to other countries is Druzhba pipeline that connects Europe and Russia, Trans-Alaskan pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that links Caspian and the Mediterranean Sea. WPL uses ocean tankers to connect international services. Exports ports are located near the company or production place for easy access and distribution. The company is interested in frontier and emerging provinces in Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Australia, Atlantic margins and Pacific region. The company operates in US, Canada, Asia and Australia. Major import facilities have huge loading and storage facilities e.g. Singapore and Rotterdam refineries to reduce transport charges and be near product demand regions. It also allows the purchase of oil in an open market or buys from producers directly. When they are done with refining the product is distributed by similar modes of transport for marketing. Road transport is the most common means of transport but uses the pipeline to reach out to other countries. Natural gas is usually stored in underground facilities using various methods including; aquifers, salt caverns, and reservoirs. Transportation of gas depends on the physical state of the gas. The natural gas liquid can be distributed using tanker trucks and pipeline while a dry gas is distributed by pipeline and not in deep seas and ocean. This reduces the chances of trading natural gas between various regions since pipeline transport is expensive and may not be allowed in other regions. An alternative for LDG is LNG. Piped gas must be distributed from the production site to the final consumer for industries, individual use and power stations using different types of pipeline networks. Adding compression in pipelines can serve the purpose of the storage facility. Therefore it would be a challenge for WPL to integrate gas networks for scheduling within a short period and trading. In Australia gas producers dont own a majority share in pipeline infrastructure, as a result, they sell their gas to the gas grid. Major projects of pipeline need upfront investment therefore not viable for the business without proper identification of users, revenue or tariff, and financing facilities.WPL involves many countries and is likely to suffer geopolitical challenges. For any evacuation infrastructure and supply, sunk costa became expensive, but once installed they may improve the viability of the project and economy of the country. Refining and marketing WPL refines crude oil is usually to get oil products suitable for consumption. The main products are gas oil, fuel oil gasoline, kerosene, and LPG. Middle distillates involve gas, oil, and kerosene; light distillates involve naphtha and gasoline. The main consumers of energy are power generation stations, transportation, and heating while consumers of non- energy include e.g. feedstock for petrochemical companies. The uses differ in the market depending on the purpose for use. Non- energy users and transportation are vulnerable making them captives in the market for oil. For power stations and heating, markets can be switched easily between fuels i.e. between coal, gas, and oil making their price elasticity high. From the study by (Westwood, 2008, p. 126)oil refining involves separating hydrocarbons from crude oil by converting it into important petroleum products. Refineries consist of the process of separation followed by conversion then treatment. The first process involves heatin g, separation of crude oil to required products using distillation. They are then directed for conversion parts to be altered using heat, catalyst, hydrogen, and pressure. The output is then heated. Refineries involve categories of configuration and size i.e. technical flexibility and capability to process different types of feedstock and other products. Due to their chemical nature, crude oil can produce different products when refined. Lighter and sweeter crudes produce high yields, valuable products, and trade in premium markets. Refineries struggle to optimize crude oil depending on the companys configuration processes, anticipated product price and desired product mix. The demands of Oil products are usually seasonal. Refining is cyclical and profitability is sensitive depending on marginal changes in demand and supply. Profitability is measured using gross refining margin calculated as revenues received minus cost of feedstock and another cost e.g. maintenance, labor and worki ng capital. GRM does not include non-cash costs and may translate to losses. Marketing involves distribution and selling of refined products through retail, wholesale or direct to the consumer. Transportation is distributed to retail stations while heated oil is distributed to customers. Kerosene is bought directly by customers, airlines, airports; industrial plants and shipping companies. Marketing margins are more stable compared to refining margins thus increasing the profitability margin of petrol stations. WPL does not involve gas production but also in marketing of products. Gas must be processed and transported in suitable pipelines. NGLs are bought by industrial, retailers and wholesalers through petrol stations. The GTL processes are used to convert natural gas to more quality odorless, colorless and biodegradable products. Technology has been used in some plants. Trade in LNG is expected to grow because of declining of production in indigenous products. Porters five forces model According to (Collier, 2007, p. 48) , Porter's five forces refers to factors that determine the company competition e.g. industry rivalry, suppliers, customers, new entrants and alternative products. Even though the strength of forces differs between industries, when they are put together they help determine profitability. It affects the investment, prices, market share, profit margins and volume of the industry. These forces include: Rivalries develop in the market naturally and they compete for the same customers. They use product promotion tools such as introduction of new products, innovation, advertising, attractive customer service price completion and warranties to enhance their being in the market and win big market share. According to the model the speed at which rivalry is in the market it results in slow growth of the company, equal companies, high fixed cost, overcapacity, price cutting, the risk of exit, barriers to entry in the market and lack of differentiation. Substitute products affect industry competition by placing a limit on the level of profitability within the company. Substitutes involve a search for other products that serve similar functions same as the one the company produces. Porter uses this model to show how companies should take importance in the availability of these products. Suppliers are important in the market and they affect the purchasing power in terms of price and product quality. According to (Collier, 2007, p. 63)Suppliers exert more pressure on the company to improve the quality, price and substitute products in the market. The products of suppliers are important in the market. They differ in costs, integration, labor and methods of supply. They can be altered if proper strategies are used. Buyers buying patterns are significant. They can make prices to go up or down by demanding more or less depending on the need and availability of products. The quality of products influences the demand for a product in that people will buy more if the products meet their needs. The purchasing power differs each time. Integrating these changes may be hard making it hard to determine the market structures. A threat to the company of new entrants depends on entry barriers. Porter identified six barriers Reduction in the cost of a unit of product or economies of scale. This leads to new entrants on a larger scale that leads to a reaction from the existing companies. Or accept a low cost on a small scale. Product differentiation of the company including brand identification to ensure customers loyalty. The frequency of switching costs to absorb the cost of the buyer and supplier. Accessibility to channels of distribution. New entrants need to have their distribution channels for their products. Independent of scale which leads to cost disadvantages. Existing company has an advantage over product technology, favorable sites, government subsidies, accessibility to raw materials and experience. New entrants are disadvantaged in the form of government regulation and licensing. They face opposition from existing firms and face changing technologies and market stability. Other changes may be strategic planning strategies, manpower, and level of expertise. The problem of interfering with new price and existing price show challenges that new entrants face. This model concentrates on competitive environment that affects the profitability of the industry. Using this model will ensure WPL is profitable. It has to establish these processes so that it is competitive in the market. This will help them to respond to competitive forces in an appropriate way. For porter directors need to analyze competitive strategies in order to prepare for changes, new businesses and market problems to improve stability Critiques and risks of Porters model Despite the many benefits the model has to the organization, one should consider the following factors when applying it. The speed of change may be slow. It has static Market structures. It provides a snapshot of the business only. It is hard to define the industry of business. It ignores non-market forces. It assumes competition in the market. It is applicable for small markets. The market stability today is affected by changes in technology, new businesses, entry barriers and relationships to supply chain that causes market disruption. This affects the model of the organization to maintain the companys market position. The company has to update the model regularly in order to suit the market. This model provides a snapshot of a given market. It does not give information on taking preventive actions but it gives suggestions to the threats and challenges to the company though evaluating alternatives. The dynamics of companies makes it a challenge to define the industry market. WPL sells different types of products in the market. This makes it difficult for them to define their market. Porters model has a challenge in integrating complex markets. If the company narrows its market segments to match the model then other key factors may be ignored e.g. the relationship between buyers and sellers and legislation. WPS should be aware, understand the effects and respond to ethics, social responsibility, and state legislation. They have to consider their ethics and internal culture when making strategies. Porters value chain model is not able to incorporate the effects of sharing skills, strategy, and resources as methods of responding to opportunities. Benefits of porters value chain model Despite all the above challenges, from (CSFB, 2002, p. 256)porters model helps management of WPL to assess, analyze changes and dynamics of the market and evaluate their current market structure. It provides a good framework for future research and collecting information needed for formulating the companys future strategy. Determine the profitability of the company and competition strategy by looking at the strengths and threats of the company. This will help them make informed decisions on whether to increase capacity in other sectors or develop strategies. It helps the company to determine and understand the importance of services and products in ascertaining potential profits. It will help the company to identify the strengths as well as threats to improve their company and avoid such mistakes. Conclusion WPL value chain involves exploration of fields, production of gas and oil, storage and transportation and marketing and refining of oil. If all these activities are integrated well they transform into a required product for consumption. In the value chain model, activities and processes are inter-linked between individual companies, within and across the other regions of the world. Integration in the process of the value chain can be vertical or horizontal they are used to help generate increasing value. This ensures wide economies of scale in relation to exploration and production activities this helped the company to access funds properly to continue investing, act as a solution to the consumers and developing risks. As a strategy to WPL the natural resources helps to improve production and exploration activities and issues in relation to strategies of depletion. Value chain helped the company to invest beyond their regions. Vertical integration guide and encourage diversification in the value chain process. This involves diversifying risks to the country to acquire a large value-adding process in order to respond to changes in international and domestic demand. Porters value chain helps a company determine its profitability and competition strategy through analysis of strengths and threats. It also helps in making informed decisions on whether to increase capacity in other sectors or develop strategies. Along the value chain, WPL will be able to determine and understand the importance of services and products in ascertaining potential profits. The market stability is affected frequent changes in technology, new businesses, entry barriers and relationships to supply chain. These changes cause market disruption, affects the model of the organization. WPL need to maintain the companys market position by updating the model regularly in order to suit the market. Solution to value creation is difficult to recommend instead an experience the company gets around the world provides information for successful arrangements and operation strategies. When these strategies are properly analyzed they form a basis for future decisions in solving issues in the country. This model provides a snapshot of a given market. It does not give information on taking preventive actions but it gives suggestions to the threats and challenges to the company though evaluating alternatives. The dynamics of companies makes it a challenge to define the industry market. References List Adelman, M. A. (2004). "The real oil problem." Regulation (1 ed.). NY: McGraw Hill. Bacon, R., Tordo, S. (2005). "Crude Oil Price Differentials and Differences in Oil Qualities. A Statistical Analysis" ESMAP Technical Paper. NY: ESMAP. Boardman, A. E., Greenberg, D. H., Vining, A. (2006). Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice. NJ: Prentice Hall.: Upper Saddle River. (2008). Statistical Review of World Energy 2008. London: BP Plc. Collier, P. (2007). Laws and Codes for the 'Resource Curse', . The university of Oxford. CSFB. (2002). Oil and Gas Primer. New York: Credit Suisse First Boston Equity Research. Johnston, D. (1994). International petroleum fiscal systems and production sharing contracts. Tulsa: PennWell Books. Westwood, D. (2008). The World Offshore Oil Gas Production Spend Forecast. NJ.