Web and digital media lawyer
Johannesburg Area, South Africa
- Current
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- Adjudicator at Wireless Application Service Providers' Association
- Project Lead at Open Law Project
- Principal at Jacobson Attorneys (Sole Proprietorship)
- Blogger. Evangelist. Maven. at pauljacobson.org
- Past
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- Sub-committee member at StanSA/SC 71 L Information Technology: Document Description and Processing Languages
- Member of the Advisory Council at The Open Knowledge Definition Project Advisory Council
- General Counsel and Company Secretary at iCommons Limited
- Blogumist (blogger/columnist) at The Times
- Fellow at iCommons Limited
- Fellow at The African Commons Project
- Partner at chilibean media
- Owner at 3puppies Media
- Lecturer at University of the Witwatersrand
- TherapistDirectory.co.za at Leo Archer CC trading as TherapistDirectory.co.za
- Senior Associate at Werksmans Incorporated
- Professional Assistant/Associate at Werksmans Attorneys
- Candidate Attorney at Werksmans Attorneys
- Education
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- University of the Witwatersrand
- University of the Witwatersrand
- University of the Witwatersrand
- King David
- Recommended
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12 people have recommended Paul - Connections
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474
connections
- Industry
- Legal Services
- Websites
Paul Jacobson’s Summary
I started out my career as a commercial lawyer with Werksmans Incorporated and left to start my own practice, Jacobson Attorneys, in August 2005. On 1 August 2007 I launched a new media law and policy focus area in Jacobson Attorneys. This new emphasis for my work as a lawyer draws on my experience with social media to provide an innovative service to clients involved in the new media space.
I focus on the intersect between social media (I prefer the term "new media") and the law. There are four themes I find most interesting and they are content licensing (I am biased towards open content licenses like Creative Commons licenses); expression and defamation; privacy and unlawful competition. Of course general commercial law principles apply to new media implementations so I also prepare terms and conditions and a variety of policy documents for clients as well.
Paul Jacobson’s Specialties:
Contractual disputes, new media, social media, online publishing, digital media, content licensing and protection, content distribution and licensing, privacy, freedom of expression and open source models.
Paul Jacobson’s Experience
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Adjudicator
Wireless Application Service Providers' Association
(Telecommunications industry)
December 2008 — Present (1 year )
I was appointed to adjudicate complaints referred to WASPA by members of the public against WASPA members. WASPA is a volunteer industry association which represents its members in various fora and performs a governance function. One of its roles is to adjudicate complaints filed against its members which is where I play a role.
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Project Lead
Open Law Project
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Public Policy industry)
January 2007 — Present (2 years 11 months)
The Open Law Project is an advocacy initiative that promotes the creation and development of these open law projects. Meaningful access to legal information and content is essential for a sustainable democracy and to strengthen the rule of law and respect for human rights.
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Principal
Jacobson Attorneys (Sole Proprietorship)
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Legal Services industry)
August 2005 — Present (4 years 4 months)
Jacobson Attorneys is a South African law firm focussed on the Web, open source technology and related technology and managing the legal risks that emerge from this dynamic ecosystem. Our people are lawyers and technologists who are passionate about the gear they carry, the platforms they use and excited about the legal challenges they face bringing it all together into a vibrant and effective bundle of tools. Some of these legal challenges include content licensing, managing privacy issues and generally managing risks associated with publishing and online communities.
Our principal is Paul Jacobson, an attorney with a bias towards open source models, open content licensing and mobile Internet solutions. If you want to be sure your Web, open source and other technology related legal risks are being managed effectively, you should speak to us today. -
Blogger. Evangelist. Maven.
pauljacobson.org
(Media Production industry)
December 2004 — Present (5 years )
I am a freelance blogger/evangelist/maven. I write and evangelise primarily about the social Web and mobile technology.
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Sub-committee member
StanSA/SC 71 L Information Technology: Document Description and Processing Languages
(Research industry)
July 2007 — November 2008 (1 year 5 months)
I represent The African Commons Project on this sub-committee of SA Standards (a division of the South African Bureau of Standards). The sub-committee reviews and makes recommendations on candidates for certification as standards (whether that be locally or internationally) and discusses related topics. The focus of the sub-committee is on document descriptions and processing languages.
The sub-committee recently considered and voted against certification of Microsoft's Office Open XML document format at ISO (the international standards body) and subsequently was involved in submitting an appeal to certification of OOXML by ISO pursuant to a fast track process that led to the format's certification. -
Member of the Advisory Council
The Open Knowledge Definition Project Advisory Council
(Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
February 2008 — September 2008 (8 months)
The Advisory Council was created in the Autumn of 2007 as the body formally responsible for maintaining and developing the Definitions and associated material found on this site. Its basic goal is to take forward the 'Open Definition' work for the general benefit of the open knowledge community. You can find out more information about the project at http://opendefinition.org/
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General Counsel and Company Secretary
iCommons Limited
(Public Relations and Communications industry)
January 2008 — August 2008 (8 months)
In January 2008 I was appointed General Counsel and Company Secretary for iCommons. iCommons is an organisation with a broad vision to develop a united global commons front by collaborating with open education, access to knowledge, free software, open access publishing and free culture communities around the world. As General Counsel and Company Secretary I advised the Executive Director and the Board on a range of legal, regulatory and policy issues.
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Blogumist (blogger/columnist)
The Times
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Media Production industry)
June 2007 — February 2008 (9 months)
I write a weekly column on new media and related legal issues for The Times, a Johnnic Communications publication.
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Fellow
iCommons Limited
(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Media Production industry)
July 2007 — January 2008 (7 months)
I provide legal assistance to the iCommons team as well as support for various projects undertaken and managed by iCommons from time to time.
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Fellow
The African Commons Project
(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Media Production industry)
July 2007 — January 2008 (7 months)
I am assisting with TACP's activities by providing legal advice and assistance where required.
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Partner
chilibean media
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Media Production industry)
January 2007 — September 2007 (9 months)
chilibean media is a new media/social media consulting business that assists clients with new media adoption and provides guidance on related regulatory issues.
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Owner
3puppies Media
(Privately Held; Myself Only; Publishing industry)
December 2006 — July 2007 (8 months)
3puppies is an online micro-publishing business that hosts a network of blogs and a podcast. You can find it at 3puppies.co.za.
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Lecturer
University of the Witwatersrand
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Education Management industry)
February 2006 — December 2006 (11 months)
I lectured to first year students on Roman law and to intermediate students on the law of Civil Procedure. Besides preparing and presenting lectures I was also required to mark exam papers and assignments.
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TherapistDirectory.co.za
Leo Archer CC trading as TherapistDirectory.co.za
(Privately Held; Myself Only; Health, Wellness and Fitness industry)
October 2004 — December 2006 (2 years 3 months)
TherapistDirectory.co.za was created with the intention of becoming the most comprehensive and complete healthcare and wellness directory website in South Africa and the primary source of information for the public.
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Senior Associate
Werksmans Incorporated
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Legal Services industry)
March 2003 — July 2005 (2 years 5 months)
Conduct general commercial litigation with focus on long terms insurance based litigation on behalf of large insurance companies. Render general legal advice to corporates. I was able to work relatively autonomously although, where required, I supported work being handled by directors of the firm.
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Professional Assistant/Associate
Werksmans Attorneys
(Partnership; 201-500 employees; Legal Services industry)
March 2001 — February 2003 (2 years )
As a professional assistant (and later associate) I still provided support to more senior members of the litigation department and, at the same time, I began to build my own litigation practice with a focus on long term insurance litigation and on unlawful competition.
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Candidate Attorney
Werksmans Attorneys
(Partnership; 201-500 employees; Legal Services industry)
January 1999 — February 2001 (2 years 2 months)
I worked as a candidate attorney largely under David Hertz, a partner (and now director) in the litigation department. My role was primarily to support litigation work in the department and in the commercial department.
Paul Jacobson’s Education
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University of the Witwatersrand
Certificate in Management of Technology , General aspects of management of technology , 2003 — 2003
This course introduced me to technology innovation and managing that innovation. I realised that technologies come and go and an important skill is to recognise when there is going to be a technological discontinuity and how it will impact on older technologies.
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University of the Witwatersrand
Bachelor of Laws , Law , 1997 — 1998
Law school was a fantastic experience. I took a variety of subjects ranging from gender issues to telecommunication law to constitutional law and came to believe that law can be used as a force for social change. As with my undergraduate studies, I also found that my legal studies helped me develop a way of approaching challenges fairly analytically and this was only developed through my work experience.
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University of the Witwatersrand
Bachelor of Arts , Philosophy and Law , 1994 — 1996
I really enjoyed my studies towards my Bachelor of Arts and I think my favourite subjects were English, Philosophy and Law. When it came to choosing my majors for my degree, I went with Philosophy and Law. Law was a fantastic training for my early career and Philosophy was instrumental in laying the groundwork for my business life as a whole, interestingly enough. The thought processes I seem to have developed there seem to counteract some restrictive thought processes installed by my legal studies and work experience although I'd be fibbing if I said I remember anything of substance from my Philosophy studies.
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King David
Additional Information
Paul Jacobson’s Websites:
Paul Jacobson’s Interests:
New/social media (including blogging, podcasting and knowledge sharing tools), Web technologies, innovative legal services, science fiction, travel
Paul Jacobson’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
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