The ELSA

which will be made available to allgroups through ELSA ONLINE and is usefulfor all ELSA groups when arrangingan event relating to the current IFPtheme.Reaching conclusionsAnd last but not least something aboutthe last part of the sentence: in order toreach to conclusions. First of all, it is partof the IFP to organise a Final IFPConference at the end of each theme.This great event, is for the current IFPtheme hosted and organised by ELSAMunich (don’t miss their article in thisissue of Synergy with more informationon this event). The Final IFP Conferenceis used to discuss different aspects of theIFP theme. I think the best about theConference is less writing and moreinformation: visit http://www.ifpconference.netfor further information andyou will see the spirit of the IFP and geta good idea of what a Final IFPConference is all about.ELSA also has the IFP Book. This book ispublished after the IFP theme ends, andin it you will find articles from both professorsand ELSA members about thetopics of the relevant IFP theme. The IFPBook from the last IFP theme has justbeen released. This book is titledInternational Law as we Enter the 21stCentury (ISBN 3-8305-0249-4), and itseditor is Mhairi Eloise Main, the Directorfor the IFP 1997-1999. I hope the newbook will be published during the year2003.I think this article is enough to give youan idea about the IFP. I only have arequest for you: get all the informationabout the IFP, appoint a Director for theProgramme in your Boards (a specialist ifpossible) and begin to work in the IFP.You will see the results in few days. As Ihave done first in Valladolid, after thatin Spain and finally in ELSAInternational.The Final IFP ConferenceHans-Michael DemlELSA MunichFrom April 7 – 13 2002 ELSAMunich will host the Final IFPConference with the topic“Information Society – TheLegal challenges”.This conference will be the paramountevent in the International FocusProgram of the years 2000-2002 thathas the same title. The last years haveproved, that Information Technologyhas the potential to create whole newcompanies, even new “economicempires” in a very short time – and putthem into their graves even quicker.Our new understanding of informationhas already changed our ways to work,spend our free time and meet otherpeople. The IFP theme hits the spirit ofthe time.The Final IFP Conference has a highimportance for the whole ELSA network,as it concentrates most of thetopics touched by the IFP theme itself inone event and involves all the possibilitiesof the ELSA network. The speakers,patrons and sponsors of the conferencewill be of high reputation. So far Prof.A. Heldrich (President of the Universityof Munich), Dr. E. Stoiber (PrimeMinister of Bavaria) and E. Liikanen (ECCommissioner for Enterprise &Information Society) have accepted thepatronage of this event.The organising committee has set ahigh emphasis on the academic programme.More than 30 different speakersfrom all over Europe will contributeto a five-day lasting curriculum of lectures,workshops and panel discussions.After the first day with two introductionsand a formal greeting by theMinister of State of Bavaria, Mr. E.Huber, two days are dedicated for theimpacts of Information Technology oncurrent civil law.Civil Law Aspects of the ConferenceThe civil law part is split up in twoblocks, the first part concerns all issuesrelated to e-business in general. We willoffer four lectures about the possiblelegal strategies to realise e-businesssolutions, the particular questionsrelates to completion of contracts viathe net, electronic signatures and paymentmethods in e-commerce. Theselectures will be held by differentlawyers working for law firms specialisedon the topic.This round will be followed up by fivedifferent workshops about the practiceof a lawyer in e-commerce litigation,venture capitals in a law firm, biometrics,a re-evaluation of the “gold rush”to IT start-ups and e-banking. The lecturersfor these workshops will comefrom CMS Hasche Eschenlohr & Partner,Coudert Schürmann and SBSSiemens.The selection of workshop topicsis trying to offer a glimpse of theeveryday practice of lawyers in thisfield, as well as of the most up-to-datetechnological developments.The second day will be dedicated to theprotection of content on the web. Afteran introduction to the topic by Prof.Lehmann from the Max-Planck-Institutefor Intellectual Property, the lectures21