Internet In Europe Research Articles

Right to be forgotten on the internet in Europe and Russia

Right to be forgotten on the internet in Europe and Russia

Members of the European Parliament Online: The use of Social Media in Political Marketing

The appearance of political marketing and campaigning on social media is a relatively new phenomenon, which was first introduced in the US before spreading to Europe. The importance of online political marketing can be seen in, among other factors, the major advantages offered by the Internet. Despite the fact that not everyone uses the Internet in Europe, the percentage of those who do is considered to be high enough for its application in politics. The goal of this paper is to examine the connection between European politics, Members of the European Parliament and the use of social media, and to give suggestions on how the use of social media in political marketing could be further advanced. The final recommendations target the greater use of social media for the creation of stronger bonds between politicians and citizens in Europe, which could improve electoral participation and consequently contribute to overcoming citizens’ apathy and the lack of democracy at the EU level. Social media sites could be used to mobilize a larger number of EU citizens to vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections.

Back to the roots: the 1987 telecom green paper 25 years after – has European telecom liberalization fulfilled its promise for Europe in the internet age?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that telecommunications liberalization in Europe has taken the European telecommunications and internet sectors a breathtaking leap forward. To counter the leveling off of growth and facing the smartphone revolution, new structural changes are now required.Design/methodology/approachThe paper assesses in a concise manner the effect of telecommunications liberalization in Europe based on the 1987 green paper. It demonstrates the enormous dynamics created in the mobile and fixed network sectors and the key role of liberalization to make Europe internet‐ready during the 1990s. The paper then proceeds to the analysis of the leveling off of growth during the last few years and discusses required changes to restart dynamics.FindingsThe green paper of 1987 successfully defined a framework within which political and legal action in both regulatory and competition fields could develop, leading to full liberalization of telecommunications in the European Union by 1998. The subsequent decade saw an enormous expansion of both mobile and fixed services, which only abated by the end of the decade. Liberalization and coordination of licensing of mobile systems were the basis for the entry of the internet in Europe and the explosive growth of GSM mobile services. The paper finds that the deployment of broadband internet and fourth generation mobile now needs further change to relaunch dynamics. It welcomes the goals of the digital agenda for Europe in the context of the 2020 objectives of the European Union, but argues that deeper structural changes are needed to achieve these goals.Originality/valueLiberalization of European telecommunications was guided by a strategic framework set out in the 1987 telecommunications green paper and developed subsequently further. Comprehensive frameworks of this nature will be needed if Europe wants to gain a leading role in the future smart phone and broadband internet markets.

Special Issue on Smart Cities and the Future Internet in Europe

This Special Issue of the Journal of the Knowledge Economy focuses on how advanced European cities develop strategies towards becoming “smart cities”, based on the many possible innovative usages of network infrastructures and Internet-based applications, through the engagement of open innovation ecosystems. Part of these strategies is to develop new types of innovation approaches in urban areas, which are characterized, firstly, by a high level of citizen involvement in co-creating Internet-based applications in all sectors of the economy and society; secondly, by the emergence of new forms of collaboration among local governments, research institutes, universities, and companies. Such strategies and the resulting "innovation ecosystems" are becoming increasingly relevant given the growing economic and social issues and opportunities that cities are currently facing. This special issue investigates these smart city strategies through four smart city case studies and two papers addressing horizontal issues. The case studies aim to analyze the currently emerging strategies and policies related to identify how the opportunities of the Future Internet are being used for the socio-economic development of urban areas. The four cases also address how cities are redefining their innovation structures and how they started to experiment citizens involvement within the context of open innovation, and present lessons learned that are of interest to smart city stakeholders.

Communication and culture: Signing Deaf people online in Europe1

Having been shut out of use of telephone, major means of communication for personal, social and vocational purposes for over one hundred years, deaf people have enthusiastically welcomed advent of text and other visual modes of communication via Internet. Deaf people are using Internet for usual purposes hearing people do: socialising, entertainment, learning, business, etc. Evidence is emerging that they too are using Internet to forge new links and alliances both nationally and internationally. From these links may be emerging a new sense of (Ladd, 2003), with common experiences of being Deaf in a hearing-speaking world uniting signing Deaf people from all around world into a (Lane, Hoffmeister & Bahan, 1996) which transcends national and geographic barriers. A theoretical analysis of such activities in Deaf-World will be informed by an extension of Granovetter's (1983) notion of the strength of which posits that in social networks weak among acquaintances and more distant contacts will provide more new knowledge and information (in this case about innovative communication technologies) than strong like family and close friends will do. It is considered that contacts made on Internet are examples of ties which will help expedite development of new ideas and wider contacts among Deaf people and development of a more outward looking Deaf World that incorporates broader international perspectives. Following up on previous research in Australia, Germany and Norway (Power, Power & Horstmanshof, 2007; Power, Power & Rehling, 2007; Bakken, 2005) this paper reports a study of online links and activities of Deaf sites and individuals on Internet in Europe. It examines Deaf-related blogs, vlogs, Second Life and other social networking sites to determine themes of Deafhood and evidence of development of more contacts that are weakly tied to Internet user that emerge in online communications and activities of Deaf people.

THE DIFFUSION OF I-MODE OVERSEAS: A PERSPECTIVE OF INSTITUTIONAL DIFFERENCES

The Japanese telecom giant DoCoMo launched promoted its proprietary i-mode mobile services in 1999 and overseas in 2002. Diffusion overseas was much slower than expected, however. This paper investigates the diffusion of Japanese i-mode mobile internet in Europe from an institutional perspective, focusing on five earlier i-mode overseas operators located in Taiwan, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France. We found four strategic institutional levers that stimulated i-mode domestic diffusion but failed to appear in overseas areas: operator leadership, subscriber scale, mobile penetration rate, and the ability of the firm to coordinate capability among complements. We propose strategies to internationalize a new standard by co-branding with local vendors and by using penetration pricing as an incentive for switching. Additionally, we recommend an industrial policy that drives cannibalization to facilitate mobile migration to a more advanced standard.

Regulation as a barrier to electronic commerce in Europe: the case of the European fund management industry

This paper presents results of exploratory research into the question of whether the distribution of investment funds via the Internet in Europe is being deterred by regulatory barriers. The paper examines the theoretical underpinnings behind financial services regulation and then asks if current regulation in place within the European Union and its Member States is consistent with this theory or indeed if regulation is acting as a barrier. Using both primary data and secondary sources, this exploratory study argues that European fund management firms face different regulatory obstacles, often the result of protectionism and the inconsistent application of financial regulations, in different EU countries. As a result, they are unable to reap the benefits that electronic commerce should bring in an industry that appears highly suited for it.

Questioning the Neutrality of Procedural Law: Internet Regulation in Europe through the Lenses of Bourdieu's Notion of Symbolic Capital

Abstract: The main question addressed in this article concerns the role of law in regulating the Internet in Europe, while the focus is on the European Commission in the process. The thesis advanced is that Bourdieu's notion of capital may offer a view radically different to understanding regulatory law as objective and neutral, and to conceiving action as being initiated to achieve certain policy outcomes. Based on the assumption that power is at the heart of action, the argument is that the European Commission is predominantly engaged in struggles to remain a crucial locus of governance and maximise its power as a major think‐tank. To follow this intuition, this article questions the extent to which decentralised regulatory techniques have been effective in weakening mechanisms of control, as power may now be exercised in novel and less visible ways and thus be misrecognised. Unravelling the processes that disguise the effects of power will be done by virtue of three case studies: Architectural solutions introduced in software by the industry with the aim to combat illegal copying, domain names allocation by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and content regulation in the context of the Safer Internet Action Plan.

Consumer privacy and the Internet in Europe: a view from Germany

Despite the widely varying estimates about the strength of the global Internet economy, there is general agreement among experts about the dramatic influence of this medium on consumers as well businesses. However, one area that has generated conflicting views is the issue of Internet privacy. As businesses develop more sophisticated technologies to collect, store and disseminate information on consumers, privacy and security of this information are raising concerns among consumers and public policy advocates. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that consumers in some European countries view privacy protection as a very important issue. Investigates consumer attitudes in the Federal Republic of Germany. The findings indicate that consumers in Germany have very strong views about protecting their privacy. They believe that both companies and governments are obligated to protect the information of their consumers and citizens. To this end, German consumers are willing to support stricter legislation. Results also suggest that German consumers’ views about Internet use and on‐line behaviors, are affected, among other things, by their views regarding privacy in general, their personal expertise in Internet technologies, and how they view the role of the government and the role of companies in protecting consumer privacy.

The Austrian Country Market: a European case study on marketing regional products and services in a cyber mall

“Small and mid-sized businesses throughout the G7 are far behind large corporations in getting hooked up to the global Internet …” Dunlap, 1996. The Austrian Country Market (ACM) is a notable exception, and this paper describes the contents and purpose of the ACM website, a cyber mall for regional food specialties and tourism. The experiences gained from 3 years of marketing to a German-speaking Internet population are presented. The paper also presents some of the insights gained from an analysis of server logfiles, e-mails, and a customer satisfaction survey. Some of the difficulties of marketing on the Internet in Europe are also highlighted.

Emerging patterns in telematic flows among European countries and peculiarities of the Italian case

The development of the Internet in Europe bos witnessed extraordinary and rapid growth over the last few years. If, in general terms, this phenomenon is common among many countries it is also true that the rhythm of Internet penetration has nonetheless been quite different. This difference is even more pronounced when the analysis is extended beyond the EU Member States to Europe in its larger context, i.e. the composite regional macroeconomic system that, for cultural and commercial reasons, Joins countries in an intense and significant relationship (including, in particular, the EFTA countries, Turkey and some East European countries). The paper seeks to verify whether -and to what degree -the relationships that currently exist on the Internet among these countries are such that they show the prerequisites of a network in which it is possible to identify a series of ties that define a clear hierarchical structure to this space. In conclusion the Italian case, which due to the disparities in the regional (north and central vs. south) diffusion of the phenomenon presents important peculiarities, will be dealt with in depth. The aim is to identify the causes and evaluate whether the liberalisation processes that are presently occurring in the telecommunications sector will, in future, result in a reduction or in a worsening of this national anomaly.

A review of wide-area aspects of high performance networking

This paper provides a broad overview of many aspects of wide-area networking, with an emphasis on the evolution of the Internet in Europe. The reality of today's Internet is contrasted with the vision of a future Global Information Infrastructure. The pivotal integrating role played by the World Wide Web in the explosive growth of the internet is highlighted. Potential GII infrastructures are analysed; various factors influencing Internet evolution are discussed; the likely economic and social impact of the Internet is briefly reviewed. The present status and planned evolution of high-performance academic and research networking in both Europe and the USA is presented, and brief comments are made on the situation elsewhere. A report is made on the present status of the liberalisation of the regulatory regimes of European telecoms, and the overall political background in which European networking finds itself is discussed. Suggestions for further reading are provided.