Information Policy

The Internet as a tool for democracy? A survey of non-profit Internet decision-makers and Web users

by Linda Jean Kenix

Abstract: Although research has urged scholars and practitioners to develop the Internet as a democratic tool, little research has examined how users actually use the Internet and how the Internet is conceptualized by those who create its content – particularly in the non-profit sector where questions of democracy, interconnected communication and information gathering are often central to survival. This research surveys 688 people associated with non-profit organizations in the United States to better understand their perceptions and uses of the Internet as a tool for social change.

http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2124/1984

Mobile WiMAX

by Jarno Pinola and Kostas Pentikousis, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

One of the technologies that can lay the foundation for the next generation (fourth generation [4G]) of mobile broadband networks is popularly known as "WiMAX." WiMAX, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is designed to deliver wireless broadband bitrates, with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees for different traffic classes, robust security, and mobility. This article provides an overview of mobile WiMAX, which is based on the wireless local and Metropolitan-Area Network (MAN) standards IEEE 802.16-2004 [1] and 802.16e-2005 [2]. We introduce WiMAX and focus on its mobile system profile and briefly review the role of the WiMAX Forum. We summarize the critical points of the WiMAX network reference model and present the salient characteristics of the PHY and MAC layers as specified in [1] and [2]. Then we address how mobile nodes enter a WiMAX network and explain the fundamentals of mobility support in WiMAX. Finally, we briefly compare WiMAX with High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), another contender for 4G.

http://cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/archived_issues/ipj_11-2/112_wimax.html

Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending On Pace to Surpass $3.4 Trillion in 2008

Despite current economic concerns, worldwide IT spending will exceed $3.4 trillion in 2008, an increase of 8 percent from 2007 spending, according to Gartner, Inc. Analysts said much of this growth is based on the decline in the U.S. dollar. The estimated worldwide IT spending growth expressed in constant currency is forecast to be approximately 4.5 percent.

http://gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=742913

NZ Broadband fund opens for business

The government’s $340 million fund to accelerate broadband is now accepting applications from business and community groups.

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/netw/ED1B08CF376CF466CC2574B00073F1B8

Third of UK homes still without web access

While broadband continues its march into ever more homes in Blighty, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveal that more than a third of households are still going without a web connection.

According to the ONS' 2008 Internet Access report, 65 per cent of homes - some 16.46 million households - now have internet access: an increase of 1.23 million households since 2007. And while 35 per cent of UK homes remain internet-less, the figure is down from 43 per cent two years ago.

Of the homes that have internet access the vast majority (86 per cent) are getting their web love via fat pipes, while dial-up continues its lingering death, with connections falling to just nine per cent - a one percentage point drop on last year.

Overall, more than half (56 per cent) of UK homes now have broadband internet access - an increase of five percentage points on 2007, according to the ONS report.

The stats also show a digital refusenik attitude is growing among Brits. Of those households that do not have internet access, a larger proportion of respondents said they do not need it or do not want it than two years ago. While other reasons for eschewing the web - such as access or equipment costs being too high - showed little or no increase.

However, The figures also suggest Brits may be becoming slightly more tech savvy across the board: just 15 per cent said they don't have web access because of a lack of skills, compared to 24 per cent two years ago.

There is also a clear link between a household's level of education and whether it's online, according to the ONS report. Individuals who have no formal qualifications are least likely to have internet connection in their home, at 56 per cent now online, while adults under 70 with a university degree or equivalent qualification are most likely (93 per cent).

The generation gap in web access persists too - adults aged over 65 are still the least likely to use the web, with 70 per cent stating they have never done so. However, there's evidence the gap is shrinking: that figure is down from 82 per cent two years ago. Meanwhile, the 16 to 24 age group unsurprisingly used the web the most, with 77 per cent using it every day or almost every day.

Although the ONS report shows the most popular place to get online was the home, the number of adults who have accessed the web via wireless laptops and 3G mobiles in the last three months has increased since last year - five percentage points and one percentage point respectively, to 23 per cent (laptops) and four per cent (mobiles).

For mobile phone data users, the most popular activity was sending photographs or other video clips. It's a marked difference from the wired world, where sending and receiving emails was the most popular online activity, followed by finding information about goods or services.

The ONS figures also reveal a growing north-south digital divide.

The South East is the most connected region, with 74 per cent of households having net access in 2008, followed by London with 73 per cent and then the East of England (70 per cent). While the North East has the fewest internet-enabled households (54 per cent), followed by the North West (56 per cent), and the East Midlands and West Midlands (both with 61 per cent).

The divide between North and South is getting bigger: back in 2006 there was a 12 percentage point gap between net connectivity in the South East and the North East. In 2008, that gap has risen to 20 percentage points.

While the general trend is for internet access to keep growing in southern homes but to stagnate in some northern regions, there are exceptions: Yorkshire & Humber web connections, for instance, have jumped 10 percentage points since last year.

The stats also show internet access in Wales has taken a leap forward - rising from 57 per cent of homes in 2007 to 67 this year to just overtake England (66 per cent) in the league of wired countries.

Northern Ireland remains the least wired area in the UK, with just over half (56 per cent) of households connected.

http://networks.silicon.com/broadband/0,39024661,39275908,00.htm

The Future of the Internet - A Political View

by Geoff Huston

Lets face it, gathering a collection of ministerial delegations to laboriously recite prepared speeches to each other sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. And observing meetings where the major outcome appears to be limited to the scheduling of the next meeting can become somewhat tedious after a while. It should not be surprising that the level of expectation of tangible outcomes for such governmental meetings is invariably abysmally low. So what's the value of adding yet another meeting to governments' schedule? What makes the OECD-hosted ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy so unique in the context of the Internet's current political landscape and its political future? Why would a meeting about the dismal science of economics hold any interest at all?

http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2008-07/foi.html

Internet law made simple

Lexelerator, an internet law wiki to help SMEs get online. © Yong Hian Lim - Fotolia.com Internet law is a new frontier where SMEs fear to tread. Now European researchers have created a new internet law wiki designed to encourage more SMEs to go online.

The internet has enabled a brave, new world of online commerce, pushing new ventures and large corporations to launch confidently into cyberspace.

But SMEs have lagged far behind, held back in large part because they lack reliable information about their online legal obligations. Without the enormous resources of a legal department, many SMEs fear the potential repercussions.

Now European researchers have developed what is probably the first internet law wiki written for non-experts. A wiki is an online information source contributed by the users, like Wikipedia.

“Fear of legal problems is one of the main reasons why SMEs are slow to launch internet-based services, from e-commerce to online marketing,” explains Margaretha Mazura, initiator of the LEKTOR project.

SMEs have good reason to be fearful. Internet law across Europe represents a patchwork of varying standards. Even where European directives exist, the national regulations implementing the directive vary from country to country.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=89984

Study: Mobile Users More Loyal Than PC

If brands want loyalty, they may continue to be impressed with mobile content sites. Consumers of mobile content appear to be more loyal to the sites they visit than subscribers to the same content accessed through the Internet, according to a new paper written by Philip Sugai and Donghun Kim, both professors at the International University of Japan,

Although the mobile platform has been considered inferior to the PC since the launch of mobile data services, this study shows that not to be the case, Sugai said.

This research surveyed more than 400 PC and mobile phone subscribers in Japan, and tested their loyalty by finding out how much they would be willing to pay to remain loyal to their current mobile or PC content sites in light of a series of other competing offers. The loyalty of subscribers to both free content and services such as Yahoo! Japan and subscription-based content such as Disney were each studied, with results clearly showing the power of the mobile platform versus the PC for both.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=162470

Belarusian bloggers' charity action

Belarussian bloggers have launched http://bynames.info blog, which will participate in the competition with a 4000 USD reward fund.

If the blog wins, all the money will be transferred to a charity account of Michail Larin, a young man who is connected to an artificial heart device.

He urgently needs a heart transplantation surgery, but it can't be done in Belarus. The operation costs a lot of money - EUR 350.000

"Komsomolskaya Pravda" newspaper organised a fund raising action for Michail. 10% of the sum needed has already been gathered.

Belarusian rock and pop musicians launched http://serca.tut.by - an online resource where they upload their exclusive recordings which are available for free. The musicians ask only for one thing - "Help Mikhail Larin".

Bank accounts for donations in EUR/USD:

Charitable account #6430010000013 ASB BELARUSBANK branch # 511/319 for Larin Michail Vladimirivich

Top 10 Web Politricks

Written by Nicole Ferraro

The Internet has played a greater role this presidential election season than ever before. We have had our first-ever YouTube debates, Facebook participatory forums, and endless array of vlogged politico gaffes. And, as a result, the politicians have learned there's a whole World Wide Web of people they can no longer ignore.

So, in an attempt to target the connected crowd, the '08 political campaigns themselves have been pulling out all the stops, trying to make their candidates appear hip to this Internet thing.

But, after months of suffering through it all, it seems that couldn't be further from the truth.

Most of the online efforts set forth by the political campaigns this season have been laughable at best, and have demonstrated how completely out of touch politicians generally are with what's happening on the Tubes. Whether it's the hip-happenin' band of youngsters steering Obama's every move, or the straight-laced, quill-using conservative crew on the McCain team – the Web efforts put in place this election season have been getting weirder and weirder.

Rather than fooling us into believing the candidates care about the Internet, these efforts have made all the more clear their lack of understanding and concern. ("I don't know what this 'digital divide' stuff is – but did you know our campaign managers can Friend you on Facebook?")

So we at Internet Evolution are taking a stand against these silly politricks and letting the politicos know we're onto them. What follows next, in reverse order, is our ever-enlightening multi-page analysis of the Top 10 Web Politricks.

As always, and unlike the candidates, we want your feedback – so be sure to cast your ballot (get it?!) for your favorite Internet Politrick on the boards below!

Here are our 10:

10) Fight the Smears: Obama's Myth-Busting Site
Tackling the issues that matter, likeee, secret Muslimism.

9) Robo-Calling
Think: telemarketing PLUS spam. Now with VOIP!

8) Disseminating Inaccuracies 2.0
Or... If it's not true, it should be.

7) McCainSpace & MyBarackObama
Create a social network to satisfy the obsessive politician-groupie in you.

6) The RNC's "Barackbook"
Join Barackbook; befriend a would-be terrorist.

5) Spam the Liberals!
Mac attack on the liberal blogosphere.

4) Political Celebrity in Absentia
It's like real social networking, but minus the networking socially part.

3) Hillary's Sopranos Ripoff
Or, how to get de-nominated, virally.

2) Swiftboating on YouTube
"Swiftboating" style videos end up on YouTube as the Willie Horton attack ad auteur gears up again.

1) Twitter Me This: Veep-stakes
Twitter your VP selection... after choosing him/her using a Facebook Poke.

http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=162076&f_src=ieupdate