Biographical notes for Alistair Kelman


	Biographical notes for Alistair Kelman

Alistair Kelman is a Director of Telepathic Industries. He is also a London based barrister in specialist private practice in Lancaster Buildings, the UK wide set of cyberspace barristers with their administrative base in Manchester. He has an engineering degree and is a computer specialist as well as a barrister. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics Computer Security Research Centre. Since 1977 he has specialised in cases involving computers which 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 young people in a variety of cases. In 1979 he drafted a Bill for introduction in the House of Commons to give express copyright protection for computer software. This failed to attract sufficient UK Parliamentary support. Six years later the House passed similar retroactive legislation.

As an specialist barrister (with attitude) he is frequently in the English Courts arguing computer related matters. He wrote the Special Report for the Economist Intelligence Unit on Computer Fraud and has a new book on Electronic Commerce being published by Sweet and Maxwell. The book will be available before Christmas 1998.

He has advised the European Commission on copyright harmonisation and associated electronic commerce issues.

At the LSE he is pioneering Continous Professional Education as part of a team headed up by Dr James Backhouse. The team has been experimenting in producing Distance Learning materials for new vocational courses which provide training using custom produced CDROMs and tutorials over the Internet. A new course on Globalisation of Law and the Emerging Legal Issues of the Information Society is shortly to be beta tested. Contact Dr Backhouse for further information.

Link to E-Commerce:Law and Practice

Lancaster Buildings

LSE Computer Security Research Centre

77 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW

Visiting Fellow at the LSE CSRC

Room S216, St Clements Building

The London School of Economics

Houghton Street,

London WC2A 2AE

Tel 0161-661 4444 Fax: 0161-661 4445

Tel: 0171 955 6153

DX: 59319 HENDON