Research
08 July 2008
The Internet and Pornography: What If Congress and the Supreme Court Had Been Comprised of Techies in 1995-1997? by Cheryl B Preston [Michigan State Law Review] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: The legislative and political choices at the birth of the information technology society caused and will likely continue to cause significant ramifications in the course of digitizing human culture. This article considers both the positive and negative ways that the crash of the Communications Decency Act (the CDA), as well as Congress and the Supreme Court's understandings of the Internet at the time, may influence subsequent technological, legal, and social developments involving the World Wide Web.
07 July 2008
How to Overcome Digital Divide? Determinants of Internet Diffusion by Baptiste Massenot & Oleg Shchetinin [Toulouse School of Economics] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: We document the existence and the persistence of the digital divide and investigate the determinants of the Internet diffusion in both developing and developed countries. Our study innovates on the following: i) we use a data set that covers more countries and years than the earlier studies ii) We use the GMM estimator which requires milder assumptions to be consistent than the traditionally used panel data estimators in technology diffusion studies.
06 July 2008
Broadband Development and Growth in OECD Countries OECD
This volume examines broadband developments and policies, and highlights challenges such as connecting users to fibre-based networks or coverage of rural areas. It also outlines emerging issues that may need policy attention as we move to next-generation networks. The findings are also relevant to emerging and developing economies designing broadband strategies.
05 July 2008
55% of adult Americans have home broadband connections Pew Internet & American Life Project
There was no growth in broadband adoption among poorer families or blacks, while growth was strong among rural residents, older Americans, and those in households earning $20,000 to $40,000
03 July 2008
MP3: The End of Copyright as We Know it? by Pieter Kleve & Feyo Kolff Social Science Research Network
Abstract: New technology provides the music industry with ways to run its business more efficiently by distributing music over the Internet. But this technology is also posing a threat to the music industry, as music is infinitely copied amongst users. Copy protection systems will not provide a lasting solution because the protection scheme will eventually be by-passed. Copyright legislation can only try to keep up by differentiating between commercial and personal, non-commercial use of music.
02 July 2008
Anomalies in Internet Law by Pieter Kleve & Richard V. De Mulder Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Modern information technology has brought a flood of new possibilities. It has become a lot cheaper and easier to communicate with other people anywhere in the world and to send each other music files, video clips, texts and pictures. Rather than just enjoying these new possibilities, many governments, companies and even individuals try to stop others from using these new technologies to their full potential. Of course these "frustrating agents" have good reasons for their efforts: their interests are harmed or potentially harmed. The music industry, as well as other "content" providers, has been very active in trying to stop new technologies being applied. Furthermore, governments have constantly tried to forbid or restrict the use of new technologies, often referring to interests such as crime control, security and privacy.
01 July 2008
Unanticipated and contingent influences on the evolution of the internet by Glenn Kowack [interactions] Association for Computing Machinery
Abstract: Some years ago I read an 1880s-era newspaper article about one of the first demonstrations of long-distance telephony. The reporter wrote: "What might this new device be used for? Well, people at a party in Manhattan might call people at a party in New Jersey. Or, a young man might use the telephone to 'pop the question' to his true love." When the telephone was first deployed, many had difficulty seeing its value. Life and work were accommodated to the infrastructures of the time: markets were local, modern cities were densely constructed so that related businesses were near each other. How would the telephone compete with other technologies?
23 June 2008
Analysis of Internet Policies and Civil Rights In Italy, Serbia and Burma-Myanmar: A Technological and Legal Approach by Marcella Atzori, Francesco Aymerich, Gianni Fenu & Simone Surcis [Second International Conference on the Digital Society] Digital Library
Abstract: This work will be consider the relationship between state authority, Internet policies and civil rights in three countries: Italy (EU), Serbia (Europe) and Burma-Myanmar (Asia). It will provide an overview about the debate existing in these countries, where it is possible to point out a common trend of restrictions of civil rights due to surveillance and control actions of the authorities on the ICTs. If, in the extreme case of Burma-Myanmar, these actions consist in a ban on using the Internet freely for the citizens, in the other countries they create legal contradictions not easily solved, which may prefigure increasing restrictive measures for the future and risks for the e-democracy.
16 June 2008
The internet and the 2008 US election Pew Internet & American Life Project
Fully 46% of all Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. Further, the proportion of Americans going online on a typical day at the tail end of the primary season to get political news or information has more than doubled since a comparable point in the 2004 race -- from 8% of all adults in spring 2004 to 17% of all adults in spring 2008.
Guiding the Censor's Scissors: Assessing Internet Filtering by Derek Bambauer [Brooklyn Law School] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: On-line censorship is on the rise, in democratic states - including the U.S. - as well as authoritarian ones. It is no longer sufficient to employ a country's mode of governance as a proxy for the legitimacy of its Internet restrictions. In addition, attempting to apply one state's normative views regarding on-line content to practices of other states is likely to devolve, unhelpfully, into accusations of cultural colonialism or repression. This Article seeks a new approach to evaluating the legitimacy of Internet filtering by focusing on the process by which censorship decisions are made, the protections available for content owners and users, and the narrowness with which these choices are implemented. It hopes to engage a range of stakeholders - from governments to watchdogs to activists to corporations - in assessing filtering regimes through quantitative metrics, and then to utilize these measurements in both public and private decisionmaking.
13 June 2008
The Amazing Diversity Framework of the Intellectual Property Rights Harmonisation by Pieter Kleve, Richard V. De Mulder & Kees van Noortwijk Social Science Research Network
Abstract: The process of globalisation has been boosted considerably by the application of information technology. Global communication and exchange of data have become everyday, almost trivial, phenomena. As a consequence of the globalisation of the modern world, the European Union and other international organisations have paid a lot of attention to harmonisation of legislation. These attempts, however, often seem to be concentrated on information technology itself rather than on the social problems that may have arisen from it. In IT law causes and consequences often appear to be blurred. The result of the, often very extensive, legislative initiatives does not fulfill its expectations.
12 June 2008
Privacy Protection and the Right to Information: In Search of a New Symbiosis in the Information Age by Pieter Kleve & Richard V. De Mulder [Cyberlaw, Security & Privacy] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: The dichotomy between personal privacy and free access to information, which has come increasingly to the fore with the advance of information technology, justifies a reconsideration of these traditional values and interests. In this article, it is contended that privacy, as a constitutional right, is subject to changing norms as a result of the advent of the information society.
11 June 2008
Pornography, Coercion, and Copyright Law 2.0 by Ann Bartow [Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: The lack of regulation of the production of pornography in the United States leaves pornography performers exposed to substantial risks. Producers of pornography typically respond to attempts to regulate pornography as infringements upon free speech. At the same time, large corporations involved in the production and sale of pornography rely on copyright law's complex regulatory framework to protect their pornographic content from copying and unauthorized distribution. Web 2.0 also facilitates the production and distribution of pornography by individuals. These user-generators produce their own pornography, often looking to monetize their productions themselves via advertising revenues and subscription models. Much like their corporate counterparts, these user-generators may increasingly rely on copyright law to protect their creations in the future.
09 June 2008
Consumer empowerment in communication services OECD
Improving the ability of consumers to choose between competing suppliers is important for well functioning markets. The report examines how to increase market flexibility for consumers in communication services, and improve access to information.
08 June 2008
Economics of malware: Security decisions, incentives and externalities OECD
While originating in criminal behaviour, the magnitude and impact of the malware phenomenon is also influenced by the decisions and behaviour of legitimate market players. This working paper is based on qualitative empirical research into the incentives of market players when dealing with malware.
05 June 2008
Beyond Europe: The Internet, Regulation, and Multistakeholder Governance—Representing the Consumer Interest? by Christopher T. Marsden [Journal of Consumer Policy] SpringerLink
Abstract: The "Internet," as a global self-regulated and interconnected network of institutions driven by educational and subsequently commercial priorities, has evolved into an element within a broader "global information society." Industry, treated benevolently by market-led governments, has created co- or self-regulatory institutions or compacts, but as consumers have eagerly embraced the broadband Internet the scheme of governance must embrace respect for the social and economic rights and responsibilities of consumers at national, European and global levels.
04 June 2008
Cybersquatting: Prevention better than cure? by Mairead Moore International Journal of Law and Information Technology Advance Access
Abstract: Since the early Commercialisation of the World Wide Web, cybersquatting as a phenomenon has been in existence and has been consistently rising; with recent 2006 figures showing a 25% increase up from the previous year. This paper examines the various legal mechanisms that have been employed to deal with cybersquatting by examining firstly, the reaction of the Courts and secondly, the reaction of the registering authorities. Finally the paper looks at some of the more recent attempts to curb cybersquatting at the registration level by the employment of phased registration periods and additionally some radical solutions suggested in some circles will also be examined.
03 June 2008
Models of Internet Governance by Lawrence B. Solum [Illinois Public Law Research Paper/U Illinois Law & Economics Research Paper] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: Internet governance is a large, complex, and ambiguous topic. When we think about regulation of the Internet, we might be thinking about a narrow but important set of questions about specific institutions, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force or ICANN: these institutions can be said to govern the technical infrastructure and architecture of the Internet.
02 June 2008
Should Anti-Cyberbullying Laws Be Created? by Matthew C. Ruedy [North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology] North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology
In 2006, thirteen-year-old Megan Meier met a teenage boy named Josh Evans on the social networking website MySpace. The two had an amicable relationship until Josh began making derogatory comments to Megan. The correspondence ultimately resulted in her suicide. Months later, "Josh" was revealed to be the collective creation of forty-seven-year-old Lori Drew, her teenage daughter, and her part-time employee, Ashley Grills.
01 June 2008
Identity Theft and the Gullible Computer User: What Sun Tzu in The Art of War Might Teach by Joseph Savirimuthu Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology
Abstract: Securing trust is now a priority. Identity theft, phishing and pharming have exposed shortcomings in the criminal law. The online environment is now seen as the playground of criminals. Online criminal activities pose significant social and economic costs. Apparently, the Fraud Act 2006 is the instrument that will now neutralise the threats posed by phishers and identity thieves.
29 May 2008
Celebrity in Cyberspace: A Personality Rights Paradigm for Personal Domain Name Disputes by Jacqueline D. Lipton [Washington and Lee Law Review] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: When the Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts fought for control of the domain name, what was her aim? Did she want to reap economic benefits from the name? Probably not, as she has not used the name since it was transferred to her. Or did she want to prevent others from using it on either an unjust enrichment or a privacy basis? Was she, in fact, protecting a trademark interest in her name? Personal domain name disputes, particularly those in the space, implicate unique aspects of an individual's persona in cyberspace. Nevertheless, most of the legal rules developed for these disputes are based on trademark law. Although a number of individuals have successfully used these rules in practice, the focus on trademark law has led to inconsistent and often arbitrary results. Additionally, commentators have questioned recent expansions of trademark law in the Internet context.
25 May 2008
The Perpetration and Prevention of Cybercrimes by Stanley Kratchman, Jacob Lawrence Smith and Murphy Smith [Internal Auditing] Social Science Research Network
Abstract: A major problem facing e-business is its vulnerability to cybercrime. Cybercrime includes any criminal activity committed on the Internet, such as phishing, spoofing, botnet, and denial of service attacks that cause e-business websites to lose money.
20 May 2008
OECD Report: 235m broadband subscribers in OECD countries; Up 18% in 2007; More work to be done OECD
Broadband subscriptions reached 235 million in December 2008, equivalent to 20 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland continue to lead the OECD in broadband penetration. New OECD statistics show strong broadband growth and a progressive upgrade to fibre-optic connections. The new report based on the broadband strategies of all 30 OECD countries highlights innovative policies and areas of weakness.
19 May 2008
Effective use of digital communications and media increasingly important for participation in Australian society, research finds Australian Communications and Media Authority
Appropriate skills and confidence in using new communications and media services are increasingly important for participation in all aspects of Australian society according to research released today by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
17 May 2008
Governments and business must tackle Internet address shortage together, says OECD Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
With nearly 85% of all available Internet addresses already in use, experts believe that, if current trends continue, Internet addresses will run out by 2011. What next? Will the Internet be able to scale to connect billions of people and devices to the Internet? This new report focuses on possible scenarios and on the need to deploy the newer version of the Internet Protocol, IP version 6 (IPv6).
