Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given

Internet Utopianism and the Practical Inevitability of Law

Writing at the dawn of the digital era, John Perry Barlow proclaimed cyberspace to be a new domain of pure freedom. Addressing the nations of the world, he cautioned that their laws, which were “based on matter,” simply did not speak to conduct in the new virtual realm. As both Barlow and the cyberlaw scholars who took up his call recognized, that was not so much a statement of fact as it was an exercise in deliberate utopianism. But it has proved prescient in a way that they certainly did not intend. The “laws” that increasingly have no meaning in online environments include not only the mandates of market regulators but also the guarantees that supposedly protect the fundamental rights of internet users, including the expressive and associational freedoms whose supremacy Barlow asserted. More generally, in the networked information era, protections for fundamental human rights — both on- and offline — have begun to fail comprehensively. Cyberlaw scholarship in the Barlowian mold isn’t to blame for the worldwide erosion of protections for fundamental rights, but it also hasn’t helped as much as it might have. In this essay, adapted from a forthcoming book on the evolution of legal institutions in the information era, I identify and briefly examine three intersecting flavors of internet utopianism in cyberlegal thought that are worth reexamining. It has become increasingly apparent that functioning legal institutions have indispensable roles to play in protecting and advancing human freedom. It has also become increasingly apparent, however, that the legal institutions we need are different than the ones we have

PKI Interoperability: Still an Issue? A Solution in the X. 509 Realm

There exist many obstacles that slow the global adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) technology. The PKI interoperability problem, being poorly understood, is one of the most confusing. In this paper, we clarify the PKI interoperability issue by exploring both the juridical and technical domains. We demonstrate the origin of the PKI interoperability problem by determining its root causes, the latter being legal, organizational and technical differences between countries, which mean that relying parties have no one to rely on. We explain how difficult it is to harmonize them. Finally, we propose to handle the interoperability problem from the trust management point of view, by introducing the role of a trust broker which is in charge of helping relying parties make informed decisions about X.509 certificates

The Internet as a business environment in Romania

In an ever-developing society, a strong, viable economy is vital for any country that seeks to survive on the global market and to provide upwardly decent living standards for its citizens. Recognizing the above mentioned points as mandatory, but also prompted in its actions by the European community of which it recently became a member, Romania is taking steps to develop its electronic commerce to meet 21st century global standards. Some of the more important legal measures that have aided the development of e-commerce in Romania include the liberalization of telecommunications, the validation of electronic documents, the creation of customer protection services and regulations and the facilitation of electronic fund transfer through debit/credit cards. The obstacles encountered in the implementation of e-commercial transactions are manifold. The small number of users that can access the Internet from home and the people’s mistrust and lack of familiarity with e commercial transactions are only a few of the hindrances setting back their development in Romania. Emanating from the present study are numerous solutions for the improvement and popularization of Romanian e-commerce which would raise awareness about the advantages of electronic commerce on the Romanian business scene.e-commerce, e-banking, usage, factors

The economic ecology of small businesses in Oxfordshire

Report by the Oxfordshire Economic Observatory (OEO) for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Oxfordshire Branch

The Development of an Information Society and Electronic Commerce in the European Union in the Context of Selected Documents of the EU and International Organisations

In this article, the author presents selected documents on electronic commerce published by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Chamber of Commerce and the European Union since 1994.W niniejszym artykule autor prezentuje wybrane dokumenty dotyczące handlu elektronicznego opublikowane przez Komisję ONZ ds. Prawa Handlu Międzynarodowego, Światową Organizację Handlu OECD, Międzynarodową Izbę Handlu oraz Unię Europejską od roku 1994