An Antitrust Analysis of the Case for Wireless Network Neutrality

The ongoing debate about possible implementation of regulatory rules requiring “network neutrality” for wireless telecommunications services is inherently about whether to impose a prohibition on the ability of network operators to control their vertical relationships. Antitrust analysis is well suited to analyze whether a wireless network neutrality rule is socially beneficial. Implementing network neutrality rules would be akin to using a per se antitrust rule regarding vertical relationships instead of the rule of reason analysis typically applied to vertical relationships in antitrust. Per se rules are used to prevent actions that rarely, if ever, have any pro-competitive benefits, such as price-fixing agreements. Rule of reason analysis is used when there are potential efficiency gains from the actions under investigation. Some vertical practices of the wireless carriers, such as bandwidth restrictions, may appear to be anticompetitive, but may also have plausible efficiency justifications so should be judged under rule of reason analysis. Economic examination of the wireless industry shows significant competition between networks which reduces the concern about vertical relationships, but some areas that should be monitored by antitrust and regulatory authorities. We propose several regulatory changes that would likely increase wireless competition and lessen the perceived need for prophlactic network neutrality rules while at the same time allowing efficiency-enhancing vertical relationships.network neutrality, wireless internet, antitrust,

The prevention of mobile phone theft: a case study of crime as pollution; rational choices and consumer demand.

This thesis makes two contributions to environmental criminology. The first contribution is a rational choice event model for mobile phone thieves. This is based on interviews with 40 mobile phone thieves. In addition, the deterrent effects of 23 designs of phone are assessed. Comparisons are made between the responses of offenders and non-offenders; and between experienced offenders and less experienced offenders. The results show that mobile phone thieves make discerning choices about which model of phone to steal at the point of theft. The factors affecting handset choice reflect Clarke s (1999) CRAVED characteristics. Mobile phone thieves are differentially deterred by a variety of design solutions, the most effective of which reduce the resale value of stolen handsets. In contrast with offenders, non-offenders are more easily deterred, and statistically significantly more deterred for five of the 23 designs presented in this thesis; do not appreciate the importance of resale value; and are not so aware of the possibilities for circumventing or neutralising security technology. The differences between offender and non-offender responses mean that offenders are arguably best placed to assess product use and misuse in the process of designing-out crime. The second contribution of this thesis is a Mobile Phone Theft Index which controls for phone availability in the absence of handset sales data. Mobile phone theft is arguably a form of pollution (Roman and Farrell, 2002) and can, therefore, be controlled using traditional pollution control instruments (Farrell and Roman, 2006). Informing the public of their risk of victimisation according to handset ownership would make security a marketable aspect of handset design, incentivising industry to decrease theft rates. Industry action to date shows evidence of obstructionism and pre-regulatory initiatives (Newman, 2004) meaning that a novel instrument such as the Index is necessary to alter the current status quo where industry costs UK society an estimated £1.2 billion per year (Mailley and Farrell, 2006)

Definition of final crime risk assessment mechanism to measure the risk of theft of electronic products and proof them against theft

This report presents research conducted as part of a two-year European project (Project Marc) which aims to develop a mechanism to assess the risk of theft of electronic products and to take steps to make that mechanism operational. The view of the authors, reflected throughout this report, is that the task of developing such a tool is vital yet daunting. It is vital because of the need to build upon the gains made within other sectors and the need to seize the opportunity presented by the realisation that crime trends can be explained in terms of the supply of opportunities, that reducing the supply of opportunities will reduce crime and that these tasks are not the sole responsibility of the police. It is daunting because in spite of extensive evidence for the efficacy of well-designed and implemented opportunity reduction measures, the problem comes when the crime to be prevented (theft of electronic products) is widespread but not generally devastating to its victims and when opportunity reduction finds itself in tension with commercial interests. The report sets out the process of developing a crime risk assessment mechanism and the justification for pursuing the options taken. Initial consultation with a variety of stakeholders yielded the common view that the crime risk assessment mechanism presented must a) measure both risk and protection (ensuring that the two are commensurate), b) reflect the perspectives of those who would be tasked with implementing it and c) reflect the language of stakeholders from a variety of European states. Taking these views on board, the authors conducted an extensive consultation with stakeholders from four sectors (insurance, consumers’ organisations, law enforcement and manufacturers of electronic products) from ten European member states. Participants were asked to rate a variety of electronic products in terms of both vulnerability and security and to explain the ratings they gave. Their responses were used to develop two checklists which incorporate a variety of factors, weighted according to the frequency with which they were expressed. The authors suggest that the crime vulnerability checklist developed measurement. The security measurement by checklist was concluded to be inappropriate, since it would lead to limited and unimaginative security, and a case-by-case assessment by domain experts is advocated, in the light of measured vulnerability. A two-pronged approach to rating of electronic products (and possibly services) is outlined based upon approaches already deployed in relation to food standards

개발 초기 단계에서의 소셜 AI 개인비서 평가 모델 개발

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 산업공학과, 2022.2. 윤명환.This dissertation aims to propose a user evaluation model to evaluate social AI personal assistants in the early stage of product development. Due to the rapid development of personal devices, data generated from personal devices are increasing explosively, and various personal AI services and products using these data are being launched. However, compared to the interest in AI personal assistant products, its market is still immature. In this case, it is important to understand consumer expectations and perceptions deeply and develop a product that can satisfy them to spread the product and allow general consumers to easily accept the product promptly. Accordingly, this dissertation proposes and validates a user evaluation model that can be used in the early stage of product development. Prior to proposing this methodology, main characteristics of social AI personal assistants, the importance of user evaluation in the early stage of product development and the limitations of the existing user evaluation model were investigated in Chapter 2. Various technology acceptance models and evaluation models for social AI personal assistant products have been proposed, evaluation models that can be applied in the initial stage of product development were insufficient, however. Moreover, it was found that commonly used evaluation measures for assessment of hedonic value were much fewer compared to measures for utilitarian value. These were used as starting points of this dissertation. In Chapter 3, the evaluation measures used in previous studies related to social AI personal assistant were collected and carefully reviewed. Through systematic review of 40 studies, the evaluation measures used in the past and limitation of related research were investigated. As a result, it was found that it was not easy to develop a prototype for evaluation, so it was possible to make the most of the products that have already been commercialized. In addition, all evaluation items used in previous studies were collected and used as the basis for the evaluation model to be proposed later. As a result of the analysis, considering the purpose of the social AI personal assistant, the role as supporting the user emotionally through social interaction with the user is important, but it was found that the evaluation measures related to hedonic value that are commonly used were still insufficient. In Chapter 4, evaluation measures that can be used in the initial stage of product development for social AI personal assistant were selected. Selected evaluation measures were used to evaluate three types of social robots and relationship among evaluation factors were induced through this evaluation. A process was proposed to understand to various opinions related to social robots and to derive evaluation items, and a case study was conducted in which a total of 230 people evaluated three social robots concept images using the evaluation items finally selected through this process. As a result, it is shown that consumers’ attitude toward products was built through the utilitarian dimension and the hedonic dimension. In addition, there is positive relationship between ease of use and utility in the utilitarian dimension, and among aesthetic pleasure, attractiveness of personality, affective value in the hedonic dimension. Moreover, it is confirmed that the evaluation model derived from this study showed superior explanatory power compared to the previously proposed technology acceptance model. In Chapter 5, the model was validated again by applying the evaluation measure and the relationship among evaluation factors derived in Chapter 4 to other products. 100 UX experts with expertise in the field of social AI personal assistants and 100 users who use the voice assistant service often, watched two concept videos of the voice assistant service to help users in the onboarding situation of mobile phones and evaluated these concepts. As a result of the evaluation, there is no significant difference in the evaluation results between the UX expert and the real user group, so the structural equation model analysis was conducted using all the data obtained from the UX expert and the real user group. As a result, results similar to those in Chapter 4 are obtained, and it is expected that the model could be generalized to social AI personal assistant products and applied for future research. This dissertation proposes evaluation measure and relationship among evaluation factors that can be applied when conducting user evaluation in the initial stage of social AI personal assistant development. In addition, case studies using social AI personal assistant products and services were conducted to validate it. With the findings of this study, it is expected that researchers who need to conduct user evaluation to clarify product concepts in the early stages of product development will be able to apply evaluation measures effectively. It is expected that the significance of this dissertation will become clearer if further research is conducted comparing the finished product of social AI personal assistants with the video type stimulus in the early stage of development.본 논문은 최근 빠르게 발전하고 있는 social AI personal assistant의 개발 초기 단계에 활용 가능한 사용자 평가 항목을 개발하고 평가 항목 간의 관계를 검증하는 것을 목표로 한다. 개인 디바이스의 발달로 인해, 각 디바이스에서 생성되는 데이터가 폭발적으로 증가하고 있고, 이를 활용한 개인용 AI 서비스 및 제품이 다양하게 제안되고 있다. 하지만 그 관심에 비해, social AI personal assistant 제품의 실제 시장은 아직 성숙하지 않은 단계이다. 이러한 상황에서 제품을 빠르게 확산시키고 일반 소비자들이 쉽게 제품을 수용할 수 있게 하기 위해서는, 소비자의 기대와 인식을 충분히 이해하고 그를 충족시킬 수 있는 제품을 개발하는 것이 중요하다. 이에 따라 본 연구에서는 제품 개발 초기 단계에 활용할 수 있는 사용자 평가 항목을 제안하고 평가 항목 간 관계를 도출하는 것을 목표로 한다. 먼저 2장에서는 social AI personal assistant의 특징, 제품 개발 초기 단계에서 이루어지는 사용자 평가의 중요성 및 기존 사용자 평가 모델의 한계점을 조사하였다. 기존에 기술 수용 모델 및 AI personal assistant 제품의 평가 모델들이 다양하게 제안되어 왔으나, 제품 개발 초기 단계에 활용할 수 있는 평가 모델은 부족하였고, 제품 전반을 평가할 수 있는 평가 모델의 부재로 대부분의 기존 연구에서는 두 가지 이상의 평가 모델을 결합, 수정하여 사용한 것을 알 수 있었다. 3장에서는 AI personal assistant 관련 기존 연구에서 활용된 평가 항목을 검토하였다. 총 40개의 연구를 리뷰하여, 기존에 활용되고 있는 평가 항목의 종류 및 한계점을 알아보았다. 그 결과, 평가를 위한 프로토타입 개발이 쉽지 않기에 이미 상용화된 제품들을 최대한 활용하는 것을 알 수 있었으며, 제품 전반을 평가한 사례는 부족함을 알 수 있었다. 또한 기존 연구들이 사용한 평가 항목을 모두 수집 및 정리하여 이후 제안할 평가 모델의 기반 자료로 활용하였다. 분석 결과, social AI personal assistant의 목적을 고려해보았을 때, 사용자와의 사회적 인터랙션을 통해 사용자의 감정적인 면을 채워주는 역할이 중요하지만, 공통적으로 활용하고 있는 감정적 가치 관련 평가 항목이 부족한 것으로 나타났다. 4장에서는 social AI personal assistant 제품 개발 초기 단계에서 활용 가능한 평가 항목을 수집 및 제안하고, 평가 항목을 활용하여 social robots을 평가한 뒤 이를 통해 평가 항목 간의 관계를 도출하였다. Social robots 관련 의견을 다양하게 청취하고 평가 항목을 도출하는 프로세스를 제안하였으며, 본 프로세스를 통해 최종 선정된 평가 항목을 이용하여, 총 230명이 세 가지 social robots 컨셉 영상을 평가하는 사례 연구를 진행하였다. 평가 결과, 제품에 대한 소비자 태도는 Utilitarian dimension과 Hedonic dimension을 통해 형성되었고, Utilitarian dimension 내 사용성 및 제품 효용성, Hedonic dimension에 포함되는 심미적 만족도, 성격의 매력도, 감성적 가치 각각은 서로 긍정적인 상관관계를 지님을 알 수 있었다. 또한 기존에 제안된 기술 수용 모델 대비 본 연구에서 도출한 평가 모델이 우수한 설명력을 보임을 확인하였다. 5장에서는 4장에서 도출된 평가 모델을 타 제품에 적용하여 모델을 다시 한번 검증하였다. 해당 분야에 전문성을 지닌 UX 전문가 100명 및 음성 비서 서비스를 실제 사용하는 실사용자 100명이, 휴대폰 온보딩 상황에서 사용자를 도와주는 음성 비서 서비스의 컨셉 영상 두 가지를 보고 컨셉에 대한 평가를 진행하였다. 평가 결과 UX 전문가와 실사용자 그룹 간에는 평가 결과에 유의미한 차이를 보이지 않았기 때문에, UX 전문가와 실사용자 그룹에서 얻은 데이터 전체를 활용하여 구조 방정식 모델 분석을 진행하였다. 그 결과 5장과 유사한 수준의 결과를 얻었고, 추후 해당 모델을 social AI personal assistant 제품에 일반화하여 활용할 수 있을 것으로 판단하였다. 본 논문은 social AI personal assistant 관련 제품 및 서비스의 개발 초기 단계에서 사용자 평가를 진행할 때 활용 가능한 평가 항목 및 평가 항목 간의 관계를 도출하였다. 또한 이를 검증하기 위하여 social AI personal assistant 제품 및 서비스를 활용한 사례연구를 진행하였다. 본 연구 결과는 추후 제품 개발 초기 단계에서 제품의 컨셉을 명확히 하기 위한 사용자 평가를 실시해야 하는 연구진이 효율적으로 활용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. 추후 이 부분의 검증을 위해, social AI personal assistants의 완제품과 개발 초기 단계의 video type stimulus를 비교하는 추가 연구가 이루어진다면 본 연구의 의미를 보다 명확하게 제시할 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background and motivation 1 1.1 Research objectives 5 1.2 Dissertation outline 7 Chapter 2 Literature review 9 2.1 Social AI personal assistant 9 2.2 User centered design process 13 2.3 Technology acceptance models 16 2.4 Evaluation measures for social AI personal assistant 22 2.5 Existing evaluation methodologies for social AI personal assistant 27 Chapter 3 Collection of existing evaluation measures for social AI personal assistants 40 3.1 Background 40 3.2 Methodology 43 3.3 Result 51 3.4 Discussion 60 Chapter 4 Development of an evaluation model for social AI personal assistants 63 4.1 Background 63 4.2 Methodology 66 4.2.1 Developing evaluation measures for social AI personal assistants 68 4.2.2 Conducting user evaluation for social robots 74 4.3 Result 77 4.3.1 Descriptive statistics 77 4.3.2 Hypothesis development and testing 80 4.3.3 Comparison with existing technology acceptance models 88 4.4 Discussion 93 Chapter 5 Verification of an evaluation model with voice assistant services 95 5.1 Background 95 5.2 Methodology 98 5.2.1 Design of evaluation questionnaires for voice assistant services 99 5.2.2 Validation of relationship among evaluation factors 103 5.3 Result 108 5.3.1 Descriptive statistics 108 5.3.2 Hypothesis development and testing 111 5.3.3 Comparison with existing technology acceptance models 118 5.4 Discussion 121 Chapter 6 Conclusion 124 6.1 Summary of this study 124 6.2 Contribution of this study 126 6.3 Limitation and future work 128 Bibliography 129 Appendix A. Evaluation measures for social AI personal assistant collected in Chapter 4 146 Appendix B. Questionnaires for evaluation of social robots 154 Appendix C. Questionnaires for evaluation of voice assistant service 166박

An Investigation of the Applicability of the Uses and Gratifications Theory for Providing Insight into e-Tourists’ Use of Smartphones

Despite the previous smartphone research in the context of travel and tourism, there is limited research based on a strong theoretical background that seeks to understand how tourists are motivated and satisfied via smartphone use. This study extended previous studies by systematically investigating and quantitatively measuring how and to what extent tourists are gratified (satisfied) by the use of smartphones during their trips based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory. According to this theory, individuals choose a media platform with the anticipation that it will aid them in realizing a specific intention, the satisfaction of this need being referred to as gratification (Green 2014; Logan, 2017; Stacks & Salwen, 2009). This study investigated four constructs in terms of antecedents (i.e., motivations of using smartphones by tourists) and consequences (i.e., satisfaction with smartphones use by tourists, satisfaction referred to as gratifications). This study adopted the Uses and Gratifications Theory as a theoretical framework to explore the use of smartphones by tourists and to measure quantitatively their touristic satisfaction. U&G motivations (Social Interaction, Entertainment, Convenience, and Information) and hypotheses were developed. The respondents of the main study were tourists traveling in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, who have experiences using smartphones at the destination. To test the model for the study, a multilevel analysis (multilevel SEM) was employed to avoid statistical biases caused by common traits within group tourists and to measure potential group effects. This study also analyzed multilevel mediation in the structural equation model. It was hypothesized that the attitude construct mediates the relationship between motivations of using smartphones by tourists (independent variable or predictors) and satisfactions with smartphones use by tourists (dependent variable) in the structural model. Moreover, the relationships among constructs were tested and examined based on the theoretical background developed through a review of the literature. This study provides a classification of motivations of using smartphone use by tourists (U&G motivations) and a newly developed scale to measure satisfaction with smartphone use by tourists and their experiences, and thus it may enhance deeper our understanding of motivations of using smartphone by tourists, attitude toward the smartphone use by tourists and satisfactions with smartphone use by tourists. This study addressed specific aspects of tourism experiences. The results suggest that U&G motivations have a significant effect on tourists’ attitude toward smartphone use, which, in turn, significantly affects e-tourist satisfaction at the individual level. However, there was no group effect among U&G motivations, the attitude toward smartphone use and e-tourist satisfaction. Based on the results from this study, the most important reason that tourists used their smartphones was to obtain information during their trips to Greenville, SC. The results of this study provide practical and theoretical implications for e- tourism communication and tourism marketing

Assessing the Lead Market Potential of Countries for Innovation Projects

This paper presents an approach to assessing the potential of countries to increase the likelihood that locally preferred innovation designs become successful in other countries, too. The concept suggests that for many innovations lead markets exist that initiate the international diffusion of a specific design of an innovation. Once a specific innovation design has been adopted by users in the lead market chances are that it subsequently becomes adopted by users in other countries as well. Lead markets can be utilised for the development of global innovation designs. By focusing on the design of the innovation which responds to the preferences within the lead market, a company can leverage the success experienced in the lead market for global market launch. In order to follow a lead market strategy of new product development, it is necessary to assess the lead market potential of countries before an innovation is developed and tested in the market. This paper presents an indicator-based methodology that approximates the lead market attributes of countries. This assessment methodology was applied to two innovation projects at the truck division of DaimlerChrysler AG. The method produces information that is of importance for the development phase and the market launch of globally standardised innovations.Innovation, Global Diffusion, Market Entry

External evaluation of mobile phone technology-based nutrition and agriculture advisory services in Africa and South Asia

The GSM Association (GSMA), working with a wide range of mobile network operators and civil society organisations, is launching a series of nutrition-focused m-health and m-agriculture initiatives in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. GSMA refers to nutrition-enhanced initiatives collectively as ‘m-nutrition’. This report summarises the plans for an impact evaluation of two of these nutrition-enhanced initiatives: mHealth in Tanzania and mAgri in Ghana. The evaluation consists of three integrated components: a quantitative impact evaluation, a qualitative evaluation focusing on implementation fidelity, pathways of impact and external validity, and an evaluation of the sustainability of the business model behind the mNutrition initiative. The business model evaluation compares the two initiatives described above with a third, mHealth in Ghana, which is closer to the GSMA core commercial model, and additionally, possibly to retain a view on Bangladesh, mAgri to generate more heterogeneity in conclusions.Department for International Development (DFID