The Internet

We discuss and compare the remedies in the two cases antitrust cases of the European Union (EU) against Microsoft. The first EU case alleged (i) that Microsoft illegally bundled the Windows Media Player (WMP) with Windows; and (ii) that Microsoft did not provide adequate documentation that would allow full interoperability between Windows servers and non-Microsoft servers as well as between Windows clients and non-Microsoft servers. After finding Microsoft liable and imposing a large fine, the EU imposed as remedies the requirements on Microsoft (i) to sell a version of Windows without WMP (Windows-N); and (ii) to publish and license interoperability information. Windows-N was a commercial failure, and there has been only limited cross-platform server entry. In its second investigation of Microsoft, the EU alleged illegal tying of Internet Explorer (IE) with Windows. The EU settled with Microsoft with Microsoft undertaking the obligation to ask (through compulsory Windows updates) consumers whose computers have Internet Explorer pre-installed to choose a browser from a menu of competing browsers. Thus, the EU imposed quite different remedies in the two cases: an unbundling remedy for the WMP but a close to a must-carry requirement for IE. We analyze and compare the different approaches.

""Wireless cellular environments, such as UMTS, are often affected by congestion and errors, which are inherent to wireless transmission channels due to fading, interference, resource scarcity, mobility, etc. For a conversational video application to
be successful i.e., to provide good viewing quality to the receiver at all times, the sender must be able to quickly adapt its sending/encoding rate (and other related parameters) to that offered by the link. Moreover, for a rate adaptation scheme to be successful, the receiver must provide timely feedback in order to mitigate further losses due to congestion. In this paper, we investigate different rate adaptation mechanisms and redefine them for 3GPP networks, reusing existing RTCP extensions standardized in the IETF and in 3GPP where possible.""

Although television has been traditionally the main channel of mass communication between candidates and electors, social media has emerged as a new channel, becoming a relevant platform where a dynamic flux of information is shared by electors and candidates.The role of social media can be considered from a classical perspective, in other words, as a tool or asset to be managed. Or, it can also be viewed as a new dimension of development that encourages political participation. Considering the Barack Obama's 2007-2008 presidential campaign established an opening point in the use of new technologies of information and Internet in electoral campaigning throughout the world, the main objective of our work is to evaluate the role of social media in the last Chilean presidential campaign.

The advent of the Internet has allowed many scattered communities across the world to rediscover and share a common identity that was believed lost. It has also led to the reconstruction of identities by way of new representations, which are constantly being formulated, nourished, and maintained. The Africans of the diaspora, in particular, created multiple websites for community exchanges in the form of discussion groups, online forums, interactive newspapers, blogs, and various media tools such as online television, radio, and newspapers that are being used as shared spaces at national or even continental levels. However, these shared spaces do not have the stability of national, cultural or racial spaces. They appear to be the receptacles of contradictory identities, concurrently manifesting globalizing and localizing dynamics. These spaces represent a ‘fragmegration’ (Rosenau 2003), where people struggle to reconcile the tensions resulting from their perceived Africanity and their belonging to a global world; the tensions between common cultural heritages and new identities; and the tensions between a shared experience of colonization and different expressions of colonialism in different parts of Africa – and therefore different conceptions of what it means to be African today. The objective of this paper is to show how these seemingly irreconcilable contradictions manifested themselves on the French African diaspora's online forums.

"The study examines the Internet usage and regulations in Niger Delta University Libraries. The descriptive research design was usedfor this study. 404 Internet users were randomly selected ./i'om the libraries on three campuses of Niger Delta University. The questionnaire method of data collection was
employed and complemented by interviews. Findings of the study are: the Internet services in the library are functional and accessible to all users. There are no Internet regulations in the libraries. The Internet services in the library are not geared only toward educational purpose but patrons use it for other personal
activities and visiting other websites as well. It is recommended that there should be an Internet regulation policy in the library. These regulations will guide students on the use of the Internet. Students should be given passwords in order to gain access to the Internet so that its usage c~n be monitored."

"""În condiţiile în care internetul a schimbat ireversibil societatea umană, abordarea din perspectiva ştiinţei dreptului a acestui nou fenomen social global a reprezentat pentru autor o provocare. Cu toate riscurile inerente unui astfel de demers, autorul a acceptat provocarea şi, prin această lucrare, a reuşit să elaboreze şi să sistematizeze o nouă disciplină de profil –„Dreptul internetului”.
Lucrarea „Dreptul internetului” - concepută iniţial sub forma unui curs universitar pentru studenţii şi masteranzii Facultăţii de Administraţie şi Afaceri din cadrul Universităţii din Bucureşti –  constituie, din perspectivă academică, o reală noutate datorită instituţiilor abordate, a structurii sale, şi îndeosebi a caracterului integrator specific unei discipline ştiinţifice.
Şi din punct de vedere metodologic lucrarea prezintă originalitate: fiecare capitol al lucrării cuprinde câte un preambul în care sunt prezentate sintetic principalele noţiuni juridice din perspectiva ramurii de drept specifice, astfel încât problematica abordată este accesibilă şi cititorilor care nu au cunoştinţe juridice.
Nu în ultimul rând, stilul concis şi fluent al autorului, precum şi claritatea raţionamentului juridic folosit permit o lecturare facilă chiar dacă temele de specialitate examinate au un caracter tehnic complex.
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"Este artigo argumenta sobre a emergência da ciberguerra como nova forma de conflito internacional. É feita uma introdução à temática da guerra no ciberespaço, seguida de uma contextualização histórica que abrange o nascimento da ARPAnet1 e a sua evolução até à Internet que conhecemos hoje.
São analisados dois exemplos reais e paradigmáticos desta realidade: os ciberataques à República da Estónia e o ciberataque à central de produção de material nuclear de Natanz, no Irão, executado pelo Stuxnet2.
São, ainda, argumentadas questões que demonstram que as ICT 3 estão a fornecer às sociedades novas ferramentas para práticas antigas e a possibilitar a distribuição de poder (empowerment) pelos novos intervenientes desta emergente forma de guerra, seguidas da conclusão.

This article is dedicated to the emergence of the cyber war as a new form of international conflict. The topic of cyberspace war is introduced, followed by an historical background covering the birth and evolution of DARPA’s ARPAnet to the Internet we know today.
Two paradigmatic and real examples of this new reality: the cyber attacks to the Republic of Estonia and the cyber attacks to Iran’s Natanz nuclear material production facility, executed by Stuxnet, are analysed.
The issues about ICT allowing the use of new tools to perform old practices and the distribution of power (empowerment) among new actors in this emerging way of war, are also discussed, followed by the conclusion."

"This presentation proposes a short overview of a pilot application developed by FMSH-ESCoM for the European R&D project LOGOS (6th FP) called « People and Cultures of the World » (PCM standing for “Peuples et Cultures du Monde”).
PCM is a video portal based exclusively on re-appropriated videos (i.e. re-described, re-indexed, re-published,... videos with respect to specific user communities and needs).  Its URL is: http://semioweb.msh-paris.fr/corpus/pci/EN/Default.asp
PCM is a concrete example for user-centric re-appropriation strategies of digital heritage resources by the means of sophisticated semantic (semiotic) technologies available through a technical platform enabling any (habilitated) user to work with video resources and to publish them following his/her specific needs and desires.
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