Think Tanks and the Internet As think tanks try to push policy making in their desired direction in such diverse fields as health, education, taxation, regulation and national security it is not surprising, that also the Internet has entered their issue list: RAND, a center-right U.S. think tank not only argues for the usage of certain guidelines concerning the use of e-mail, but has also released a research report - sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense - entitled "Strategic Information Warfare: A New Face of War". In November 1999 RAND has furthermore launched a co-operation with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) aimed at combating the threat of cybercrime. ICCs practical expertise and RANDs research and analytical capacities shall aid at finding solutions to fight hackers, industrial spies, and other criminals who may exploit the Internet to attack commercial and public-sector systems. Another of the big players in the elite of think tanks, the conservative Washington D.C. based Cato Institute quite surprisingly has started to defend human rights in Cyberspace. Jonathan D. Wallace' "Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the Internet." sees the constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of speech and expression in the United States under attack by proposals to limit or restrict the use of anonymity on the Internet. Yet another conservative think tank, the U.S. based Center for Strategic and International Studies in June 1999 has initiated a Conference (Global Information Infrastructure Commission) to accelerate the development of E-Commerce in India. Among the Conferences participants were not only government representatives from India and the United States, but also the CEO of Global TeleSystems Group Inc., the vice chairman of Fujitsu and the executive president of Siemens A.G., as well as the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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Educational Programs As the dissemination of ideologies and ideas is crucial to think tanks they apply different strategies to reach as many audiences as possible. Therefore also the concept of education plays an important role. Educational and training programs are aimed at the influencers and future influencers of public opinion and shall lead to the acceptance of think tanks respective social, economical and political ideas. The label "educational activities" thus very often stands for nothing less than the dissemination of ideology. Most think tanks regularly organize conferences, symposia and seminars to deliver their findings and ideas to a broader audience. RAND for example also runs a Ph.D. program at its Graduate School.

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CANYON A US military signals intelligence satellite of the second generation from the 1970s.

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Leonard M. Adleman Leonard M. Adleman was one of three persons in a team to invent the RSA public-key cryptosystem. The co-authors were Adi Shamir and Ron Rivest.

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