Telepathic Industries
«The Regulation of Virus Research and the Prosecution for Unlawful Research?»[Abstract] 13.09Kb (0) 5766 hitsAlistair Kelman is a director of Telepathic Industries Ltd, providing independent expert legal services on computer and Internet-related matters. Until September 2001 he was also a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Computer Security Research Centre. He has an engineering degree and is a computer specialist as well as a barrister. From 1977 until 2000 he was in continuous practice at the English Bar, specialising in cases involving computers. This originally involved him in software copyright disputes and in dealing with disputes when computer systems did not work properly. However, he quickly also became involved in criminal computing matters and successfully defended many individuals charged with computer-related offences. In 1979 he drafted a Bill for introduction in the House of Commons, to give express copyright protection for computer software.
As a specialist barrister until leaving the practising Bar to develop his inventions in the field of e-commerce, he frequently argued computer-related matters in both civil and criminal cases. In 1980 he wrote the Special Report for the British Computer Society on the admissibility and reliability of computer evidence in civil and criminal cases - which formed the basis of Section 69 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. He wrote the Special Report for the Economist Intelligence Unit on Computer Fraud and is co-author of one of the leading text-books in this field, 'Electronic Commerce: Law and Practice', Sweet and Maxwell, 3rd Edition, Dec 2001 (info), described as 'an indispensable companion to those seeking both to advise upon and engage in e-commerce' ('Solicitors Journal'), and as 'one of the most authoritative practitioner publications on Internet and e-commerce law' ('Managing Risk', November 2002); (Amazon). He also advised the EC on copyright harmonisation and electronic commerce issues.