SCL, in conjunction with the SCL London Group, launched its first national essay competition in recent years earlier this year. The competition attracted a high level of interest from students at a variety of UK and Irish universities. The topic that all entrants had to focus on was “Does English law offer a solution to the problem of SPAM?” – a question of great relevance to both consumer and business users of e-mail.
Dr Ian Walden, Reader in Information and Communications Law at Queen Mary, University of London and Head of the Institute of Computer and Communications Law there, is a member of the London Group Committee. He co-ordinated the judging of the entries with a review committee drawn from the SCL London Group committee. The unanimous decision of the panel was that Matt Brewer’s entry should be awarded the prize. As Ian Walden remarked “This entry was well-written and exhibited a clear knowledge of the relevant issues.”
Matt Brewer has just completed his law degree at the University of Bristol. When told that he had won, Matt said “I am very pleased. What a brilliant end to the examination period!” Part of Matt’s course covered intellectual property law, and the relationship between IT and law holds a particular fascination for him; he is considering a Masters course on the topic. His gap year and holiday periods have given him experience of working on IT infrastructure engineering and this no doubt gave a useful practical focus to his entry. As winner, he will receive a £1,000 cash prize, have the opportunity of spending up to two weeks on secondment with the Commercial and Technology law team at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and have free attendance to SCL events during the next year to a value of £500.
SCL Joint Chairman Nigel Miller said: “I congratulate the winner and was most impressed to hear of the high standard of entries. SCL hopes that this will become an annual event as it reflects our commitment to the encouragement of students interested in IT law.”
Matt Brewer will be formally presented with his winning cheque at the London Group meeting on 1 July.
The winning essay is now available on the SCL Web site (click here) and will appear in the August/September issue of the magazine.
