Acessing the Internet The Net connections can be based on wire-line and wireless access technolgies.
Usually several kinds of network connections are employed at once. Generally speaking, when an E-mail message is sent it travels from the user's computer via copper wires or coaxial cables Satellite communication Although facing competition from fiber-optic cables as cost-effective solutions for broadband data transmission services, the space industry is gaining increasing importance in global communications. As computing, telephony, and audiovisual technologies converge, new wireless technologies are rapidly deployed occupying an increasing market share and accelerating the construction of high-speed networks. Privatization of satellite communication Until recently transnational satellite communication was provided exclusively by intergovernmental organizations as Scheduled privatization of intergovernmental satellite consortia:
When Intelsat began to accumulate losses because of management failures and the increasing market share of fiber-optic cables, this organizational scheme came under attack. Lead by the USA, the Western industrialized countries successfully pressed for the privatization of all satellite consortia they are members of and for competition by private carriers. As of February 2000, there are 2680 satellites in service. Within the next four years a few hundred will be added by the new private satellite systems. Most of these systems will be so-called Low Earth Orbit satellite systems, which are capable of providing global mobile data services on a high-speed level at low cost. Because of such technological improvements and increasing competition, experts expect satellite-based broadband communication to be as common, cheap, and ubiquitous as satellite TV today within the next five or ten years. Major satellite communication projects
Source: Analysys Satellite Communications Database | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conservative vs. Progressive Think Tanks The political orientation of think tanks is as broad as in every other kind of institutions or organizations. It ranges from conservative over centrist to progressive. Still it can be noted, that there are considerable differences between the right and the left wing of think tanks, especially concerning funding sources and revenues as well as media relations, which have considerable consequences on their perception and influence on the public as well as on policy makers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Databody convergence In the phrase "the rise of the citizen as a consumer", to be found on the When the citizen becomes a consumer, the state must become a business. In the data body business, the key word behind this new identity of government is "outsourcing". Functions, that are not considered core functions of government activity are put into the hands of private contractors. There have long been instances where privately owned data companies, e.g. credit card companies, are allowed access to public records, e.g. public registries or electoral rolls. For example, in a normal credit card transaction, credit card companies have had access to public records in order to verify identity of a customer. For example, in the UK citizen's personal data stored on the Electoral Roll have been used for commercial purposes for a long time. The new British Data Protection Act now allows people to "opt out" of this kind of commercialisation - a legislation that has prompted protests on the part of the data industry: While this may serve as an example of an increased public awareness of privacy issues, the trend towards outsourcing seems to lead to a complete breakdown of the barriers between commercial and public use of personal data. This trend can be summarised by the term "outsourcing" of government functions. Governments increasingly outsource work that is not considered core function of government, e.g. cooking meals in hospitals or mowing lawns in public parks. Such peripheral activities marked a first step of outsourcing. In a further step, governmental functions were divided between executive and judgemental functions, and executive functions increasingly entrusted to private agencies. For these agencies to be able to carry out the work assigned to them, the need data. Data that one was stored in public places, and whose handling was therefore subject to democratic accountability. Outsourcing has produced gains in efficiency, and a decrease of accountability. Outsourced data are less secure, what use they are put to is difficult to control. The world's largest data corporation, Technically the linking of different systems is already possible. It would also create more efficiency, which means generate more income. The question, then, whether democracy concerns will prevent it from happening is one that is capable of creating But what the EDS example shows is something that applies everywhere, and that is that the data industry is whether by intention or whether by default, a project with profound political implications. The current that drives the global economy deeper and deeper into becoming a global data body economy may be too strong to be stopped by conventional means. However, the convergence of political and economic data bodies also has technological roots. The problem is that politically motivated surveillance and economically motivated data collection are located in the same area of information and communication technologies. For example, monitoring internet use requires more or less the same technical equipment whether done for political or economic purposes. Data mining and data warehousing techniques are almost the same. Creating transparency of citizens and customers is therefore a common objective of intelligence services and the data body industry. Given that data are exchanged in electronic networks, a compatibility among the various systems is essential. This is another factor that encourages "leaks" between state-run intelligence networks and the private data body business. And finally, given the secretive nature of state intelligence and commercial data capturing , there is little transparency. Both structures occupy an opaque zone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Citizens for Tax Justice Citizens for Tax Justice was formed in 1979 to give people a "greater voice" in the development of the tax laws at the national, state and local levels. CTJ efforts are based on the idea that people should pay taxes according to their ability to pay them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Neighboring rights Copyright laws generally provide for three kinds of neighboring rights: 1) the rights of performing artists in their performances, 2) the rights of producers of phonograms in their phonograms, and 3) the rights of broadcasting organizations in their radio and television programs. Neighboring rights attempt to protect those who assist intellectual creators to communicate their message and to disseminate their works to the public at large. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Citizens for a Sound Economy Since 1984, Citizens for a Sound Economy has advocated market-based solutions to public policy problems. Uniting its 250,000 members is the fundamental belief that a strong and vibrant free-market economic system offers the best hope for creating opportunity and improving the quality of life for every American. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Economic Policy Institute EPI was founded to "widen the debate about policies to achieve healthy economic growth, prosperity, and opportunity in the "new American economy"." Areas of research include political issues, economic issues, industry policy, social issues, education and environmental issues. EPI's current research agenda includes projects on: evaluating state/federal minimum wage policies; welfare reform; social security studies; domestic industrial competitiveness; nonstandard work arrangements; "fast-track" and other globalization policies; and privatization of public services. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RSA The best known of the two-key cryptosystems developed in the mid-1980s is the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) cryptoalgorithm, which was first published in April, 1977. Since that time, the algorithm has been employed in the most widely-used Internet electronic communications encryption program, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Adi Shamir Adi Shamir was one of three persons in a team to invent the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Competitive Enterprise Institute The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a pro-market, public policy group committed to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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