Chinese to Surpass English as Most-Used Language on the Net
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has concluded research that estimates by 2007 Chinese will be the most common language used on the Internet, surpassing English.
The research shows that by as early as 2003, at least one-third of the Internet population will communicate in a language other than English. Today there are 460 million English-speaking Internet users.
One effect of this transition from English to other languages will be that trademark infringement will probably increase, due to new technologies allowing the use of non-Latin characters in domain names.
Casino Profits Soar; Spelling More Problems for Addicts
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported recently that Australia's 13 casinos increased their profits by 19 percent in 2000-01.
Nick Xenophon, South Australian no pokies MP, says that this increase in profits is bad news for Australians with gambling problems.
"When it comes to gambling, the bigger the boom for the industry, the bigger the bust for individuals and families caught up in gambling addiction," Xenophon said.
The casinos' profits rose to $537 million on a turnover of $2.5 billion.
UK's Gambling-Friendly Attitude Puts It on Top
Even though the United Kingdom lags in broadband access, the country could lead Europe in online consumer revenue by 2005, thanks in large part to its stance on gambling, according to research firm Schema Consulting.
In contrast to Germany's 3 percent broadband conversion, the United Kingdom has only 0.3 percent uptake of the broadband services. This trails behind every technologically advanced country in Europe except Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Luxembourg.
Regardless of this fact, the United Kingdom is predicted to take 35 percent of the overall online entertainment spend--a hefty $38 billion is predicted by 2005--because it is more accepting of gambling while other countries are more likely to have restrictive laws about gambling.
Ontarians Exhibit High Incidence of Problem Gambling
A report titled "Measuring Gambling and Problem Gambling in Ontario" was released on Dec. 4 by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and the Responsible Gambling Council. The findings indicate high rates of problem gambling among young adults in Ontario.
The report found that 84 percent of Ontarians gamble without problems, but that 3.8 percent or about 340,000 people have moderate or severe gambling problems. In the 18-24 age bracket, that figure jumps to 7 percent.
"The finding that there are high rates of gambling problems among young adults indicates a need to enhance policies and programs aimed at preventing or reducing gambling problems in this age group," the study said.
The study also pointed to health problems as being a major inciting factor to gambling addiction problems, with one in four problem gamers being under a doctor's care for emotional or physical
problems and one in three feeling seriously depressed at times.
Internet Replacing Telephone for Many Americans
In spite of privacy concerns and a slowdown in online sales, more people are spending time online primarily for communication, according to a new study from UCLA's Center for Communication Policy.
The "Surveying the Digital Future" study shows that 72.3 percent of Americans use the Internet, up from 66.9 percent a year earlier. Time spent online increased as well, going from 9.4 hours in 2000 to 9.8 hours per week in 2001.
The most popular online activities based on time spent online were shown to be e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, online buying, finding information and reading news.
Jeff Cole, director of the Center for Communication Policy, noted that people's time online doesn't appear to be cutting down the amount of time people spend interacting with one another in person.
"This technology is not displacing face-to-face time, but it is displacing the telephone," he said.