The IGN Data Hub - Mar 8, 2000

Internet v. Public Policy

Public policy and the future of the Internet are headed for a clash, and should be better addressed by government officials, according to research from Forrester Research. Internet related issues fall into two categories:

• First, there is a need for rules explaining how the virtual world will operate and efforts to manage Net-driven change in the physical world. Possible battles could include rules for online business, including access, privacy and security, new e-commerce regulation and sovereignty.
• The second controversy will focus not on how the Internet works, but on the entities affected by the Internet economy, including existing industry regulation, taxation, free speech, education and government.

Online Trading Is in a Big Rush

The three largest online stockbroking markets in Europe by 2002 will be Germany, the U.K. and Sweden, according to Datamonitor. They suggest that fierce competition will drive commission levels down, and eventually lead to consolidation of firms. To survive, these firms will need to specialize or diversify, or face being swallowed up by retail banks or sunk by market forces.
www.datamonitor.com

Issues Concerning Web Users

@plan Internet Poll surveyed Internet users to find out what concerned them the most about using the Internet. Here's what they found:

• Eighty-five percent of online users are concerned about privacy on the Internet.
• Sixy-three percent of users consider safeguarding children under 18 while online to be extremely important.
• Forty-one percent rated equal access to the Internet to be paramount.
• Connecting high schools to the Web concerned 34 percent.
• Thirty percent felt intellectual property rights on the Internet are extremely important.
• Taxation of products and services online worried 19 percent.

Who Needs Windows 2000?

Microsoft may have issued Windows 2000, but the 1998 version still remains the dominant operating system, especially among home PC users. WebSideStory measured operating system usage, and found that by Feb. 25, 2000, Windows 98 was used by 66 percent of Internet users, compared to nearly 23 percent who used Windows 95. On weekends, Windows 98 usage tends to rise at least five or six percentage points, and drop during the week.
www.websidestory.com

More Money for Western European ISPs

Datamonitor reports that Western European ISPs expect e-commerce activities to generate 26 percent of their revenue by 2001. Advertising revenue will bring in another 25 percent in income.

"Major e-commerce revenues will be earned only by those ISPs able to establish a successful portal, thereby increasing their coverage considerably beyond their ISP user base," Datamonitor analyst Chris Tant cautioned. "There will be fierce competition between portals and, compounding this, a significant proportion of e-commerce revenues will be generated by customers going directly to an e-tailer, with no portal earning a share of the transaction."

Russia, Home of the Next Net Explosion?

Russian e-commerce generated $160 million during 1998, according to E-Commerce Times. Russian Internet Technologies Center told the publication that 7.8 million adults in Russia were connected to the Internet by 1999. A well-educated workforce, including a high-preponderance of engineers and technical experts could fuel Russian Internet growth. E-Commerce Times, however, warns that Russian engineers and technical experts could be lured out of the country, draining the impetus for much of that Internet growth.

Connect to Home

The European home is expected to become a home network. By 2003, Datamonitor predicts that home PCs will become less important while PDAs, mobile phones and MP3 players will gain importance. At the same time, the home networks will encompass PCs, STBs and other digital home devices, such as refrigerators and microwaves.

Another Dark Side of the Internet

An estimated 200,000 people are "cybersex compulsive", consuming large quantities of e-porn (more than 11 hours a week), visiting hardcore sites and X-rated sites. Associated Press quotes a study in the March issue of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, "This is a hidden public health hazard exploding, in part, because very few are recognizing it as such or taking it seriously."