title: Confidential information and trade secrets arising from University research: Time for greater clarity?

authors: Kingsbury, Anna

abstract: This article considers the law of confidential information and trade secrecy as it applies to university researchers. It outlines the statutory and policy framework for university research activity and the commercialisation of that research, reviews the relevant civil and criminal law that protects confidential information and trade secrets, and reviews the approach taken to confidential information in the provisions of publicly available New Zealand university intellectual property policies. The article concludes that there is considerable uncertainty about the obligations of researchers and argues that greater clarity would benefit all parties. It proposes that, for staff working on specific projects, employment contracts should provide for clear identification of information to which an obligation of confidence arises, and the nature of that obligation. In addition, it proposes that universities review intellectual property policies in order to clarify claims made to confidential information and the obligations applying to staff.

text: Confidential information and trade secrets arising from University research: Time for greater clarity? This article considers the law of confidential information and trade secrecy as it applies to university researchers. It outlines the statutory and policy framework for university research activity and the commercialisation of that research, reviews the relevant civil and criminal law that protects confidential information and trade secrets, and reviews the approach taken to confidential information in the provisions of publicly available New Zealand university intellectual property policies. The article concludes that there is considerable uncertainty about the obligations of researchers and argues that greater clarity would benefit all parties. It proposes that, for staff working on specific projects, employment contracts should provide for clear identification of information to which an obligation of confidence arises, and the nature of that obligation. In addition, it proposes that universities review intellectual property policies in order to clarify claims made to confidential information and the obligations applying to staff.

year: 2015

title: The battery company, formed to operate the Firth and Clark Battery at Waiorongomai

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: The Battery Company was a private one, and although there were hints that other shareholders existed, only Josiah Clifton Firth and James McCosh Clark were known to be its owners. Firth was the more prominent of the two, willingly so, as he was never short of opinions and used his links with local and central government to assist his own interests in general and this company in particular.
When constructing the battery at Waiorongomai, Firth posed as a philanthropist aiming to benefit the mining community rather than himself. As the venture was potentially risky, he was praised for his initiative, but his terms for raising capital from mining companies and the charges he imposed soon led to widespread criticism. As time passed and as mining faded, he gained increasing control over the mines, acquiring interests in many of them, some of which were developed with little success.
After celebrations were held for the opening of his battery, the cold water treatment of the first crushing created distrust and suspicion. For years there were loud complaints about the high charges and how mining companies controlled by the company were being exploited simply to keep the battery operating. That so many mines were unprofitable was blamed on the company, and Firth’s policy of working mines as cheaply as possible was criticized. Because of his monopoly, miners wanted other batteries erected, and Firth was accused of discouraging this through his influence on the county council; an influence that was claimed to mean higher tramway charges through his appointing a pawn as tramway manager. 
Despite his constant praise of private enterprise and private initiative, Firth was very ready to seek financial assistance from government, with some success. Genuinely interested in new technology, his successful efforts to, first, improve the battery, and second, to sell his company’s interests to wealthy overseas capitalists were praised. He even planned to construct a low level tunnel traversing most of the field. But despite all their efforts, neither Firth nor Clark benefited financially from their company.

text: The battery company, formed to operate the Firth and Clark Battery at Waiorongomai The Battery Company was a private one, and although there were hints that other shareholders existed, only Josiah Clifton Firth and James McCosh Clark were known to be its owners. Firth was the more prominent of the two, willingly so, as he was never short of opinions and used his links with local and central government to assist his own interests in general and this company in particular.
When constructing the battery at Waiorongomai, Firth posed as a philanthropist aiming to benefit the mining community rather than himself. As the venture was potentially risky, he was praised for his initiative, but his terms for raising capital from mining companies and the charges he imposed soon led to widespread criticism. As time passed and as mining faded, he gained increasing control over the mines, acquiring interests in many of them, some of which were developed with little success.
After celebrations were held for the opening of his battery, the cold water treatment of the first crushing created distrust and suspicion. For years there were loud complaints about the high charges and how mining companies controlled by the company were being exploited simply to keep the battery operating. That so many mines were unprofitable was blamed on the company, and Firth’s policy of working mines as cheaply as possible was criticized. Because of his monopoly, miners wanted other batteries erected, and Firth was accused of discouraging this through his influence on the county council; an influence that was claimed to mean higher tramway charges through his appointing a pawn as tramway manager. 
Despite his constant praise of private enterprise and private initiative, Firth was very ready to seek financial assistance from government, with some success. Genuinely interested in new technology, his successful efforts to, first, improve the battery, and second, to sell his company’s interests to wealthy overseas capitalists were praised. He even planned to construct a low level tunnel traversing most of the field. But despite all their efforts, neither Firth nor Clark benefited financially from their company.

year: 2016

title: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Matariki

abstract: The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

text: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

year: 2011