The global cultural commons after Cancun: identity, diversity and citizenship

The cultural politics of global trade is a new and unexplored terrain because the public domain of culture has long been associated with national sovereignty. States everywhere have invested heavily in national identity. But in an age of globalization, culture and sovereignty have become more complex propositions, subject to global pressures and national constraints. This paper argues three main points. First, new information technologies increasingly destabilize traditional private sector models for disseminating culture. At the same time, international legal rules have become more restrictive with respect to investment and national treatment, two areas at the heart of cultural policy. Second, Doha has significant implications for the future of the cultural commons. Ongoing negotiations around TRIPS, TRIMS, GATS and dispute settlement will impose new restrictions on public authorities who wish to appropriate culture for a variety of public and private ends. Finally, there is a growing backlash against the WTO’s trade agenda for broadening and deepening disciplines in these areas. These issues have become highly politicized and fractious, and are bound to vex future rounds as the global south, led by Brazil, India and China flexes its diplomatic muscle

New media practices in India: bridging past and future, markets and development

This article provides a review of the academic and popular literature on new media practices in India, focusing on the country’s youth's use of mobile phones and the Internet, as well as new media prosumption. One particular feature of the Indian case is the confluence of commercial exploitation of new media technologies and their application for development purposes in initiatives that aim to bring these technologies to marginalized segments of the Indian population. Technology usage in turn is shaped by the socioeconomic location of the user, especially in regards to gender and caste. The potential of new media technologies to subvert such social stratifications and associated norms has inspired much public debate, which is often carried out on the Internet, giving rise to an online public sphere. In all of the writings reviewed here, the tension surrounding new media technologies as a meeting place of the old and the new in India is paramount

E-business in Indonesia: It still has a prospect?

This study is aimed to investigate the current state of e-business in Indonesia and to discuss its prospect. An Internet research method is adopted to search and collect various data from online sources and to analyze e-business websites. The framework of investigation covers three parties: Internet users, government supports, and e-business firms. The findings reveal the mixed pictures. The number of Internet users is quite big but the national average penetration is still low. In terms of government supports in providing ICT infrastructure and regulation, Indonesia is still behind of many countries. However, there is a promising progress recently in this industry such as the emerging payment gateway companies to support electronic transactions, the investment of big global e-commerce firms, and the establishment of e-commerce association. Academics could use the finding as a preliminary outlook to more focused research topics. Investors could use it also as a preliminary thought to invest in this industry

Network Economics and the Digital Divide in Rural South Asia

The concept of a 'global digital divide' is now common, and many cross-country studies of determinants of differences in computer and Internet penetration have been performed. The main conclusions and policy implications from these studies are relatively blunt: get richer, have more telephones, and regulate telecommunications better. In this paper, we examine an alternative approach to bridging the digital divide, through organizational innovations that provide low cost Internet access in developing countries, within the existing conditions of income levels, telecommunications infrastructure and regulatory environment. We use survey data from 500 individuals in three South Asian countries, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, to examine factors influencing patterns of computer and Internet use. These individuals were in situations where computer and Internet access has been provided by a developmental agency (government or non-government). We estimate logit and multinomial logit models, using explanatory variables such as income, household size, education, and occupation, as well as infrastructure factors such as quality of electricity supply, and availability of telephones and televisions. Thus we are able to go beyond simple analyses of penetration at the country level, to understand the microeconomics of computer and Internet use in rural South Asia

Digital Media and Media literacy. An Analysis of the Contribution and Effect of social media in Media Literacy

In today’s digital world every one is significantly involved in consuming media content with their interest and intent. Now it is proven that most of the time we are accessing the media content through mobile phone or other handy devices through several applications and websites. According to one survey an average kindergartener can access 70 media messages everyday and teens are using one-third of the day in media messages.[1] India is world’s second-largest population and second-largest digital market which is growing drastically in both urban and rural areas. Now India has more than 500 million Internet users and over 450 million smartphone users and one in every three people is consuming video content online. Affordable and easy access to technology and the growth of regional language usage in media content is wonderfully mix the early and new Internet users, which make this market ripe for opportunity in digital media content.[2] India is a 2nd largest number of internet users in the world.[3] As a result a large number of population is shifting towards online and digital platform and it may possible that population is not that much media literate to analyze the critically think on the dissemination and consumption of media message. So this has become necessary to critically insight the term, types and effect of media literacy.Lattice Science Publication (LSP) © Copyright: All rights reserved

Digital library access for illiterate users

The problems that illiteracy poses in accessing information are gaining attention from the research community. Issues currently being explored include developing an understanding of the barriers to information acquisition experienced by different groups of illiterate information seekers; creating technology, such as software interfaces, that support illiterate users effectively; and tailoring content to increase its accessibility. We have taken a formative evaluation approach to developing and evaluating a digital library interface for illiterate users. We discuss modifications to the Greenstone platform, describe user studies and outline resulting design implications

Studying soap operas

This present issue of Communication Research Trends will focus on research about soap operas published in the last 15 years, that is, from the year 2000 to the present. This more recent research shows one key difference: the interest in soap opera has become worldwide. This appears in the programs that people listen to or watch and in communication researchers who themselves come from different countries