Friendster.com was launched in California in 2002 with 20 users. Today, it has more than 27 million members and it is especially popular among Southeast Asian women. It differs from other online dating sites in that users must be approved before they can become part of a user’s personal network. This study explores what may have made the site so attractive, as well as how its users represent themselves in their personal profiles. Drawing on social constructionist and feminist theories, this thesis employed qualitative content analysis and survey methodologies to address the following questions: (1) How does Friendster.com portray its role in terms of getting people together? As a dating site or otherwise? (2) How do Southeast Asian women in these two age groups (18-21 and 27- 30) construct themselves on Friendster.com? (3) Do Southeast Asian women join Friendster.com to connect with the one? If not, what are their reasons for joining the site? (4) What are Southeast Asian women’s on- and off-line blind-date standards and practices? The research examines the choice of words and pictures from 60 Friendster users’ profiles by using qualitative content analysis as the methodology. Preliminary findings suggest that the site serves as a new safer form of an online dating service, and that its users aggressively sell themselves as a result. Moreover, the definition of blind-date is socially constructed. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Elliott School of Communication / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 74-80).

Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed by the US, the EU, and China; however, just because a right is guaranteed does not mean the government cannot manipulate the right to achieve its ends. Freedom of speech is commonly associated with the power of language; citizens speak in order to take control of those governing them, in order to assert their desires. In reality, freedom of speech is far more beneficial for governments, who can use this dissent to better control a population. In order to control the population, though, the governments must first control the dissenting speech, the discourse, surrounding an issue. In the case studies that follow, these three governments with very different regimes will manipulate discourses elicited in the name of free speech in order to advance the governments’ plans, even when these plans went against the stated public interest and ignored the dissenting citizens. This thesis, in essence, examines how freedom of speech can become a tool of power for regimes.

Durante la última década, el dominio digital se convirtió en una parte integral de nuestra vida cotidiana. Hoy en día, la transición que experimentábamos anteriormente mudando de los espacios actuales de comunicación al ciberespacio, cuando Internet era una novedad en nuestras vidas, ya no es aplicable, pasamos de uno al otro con la facilidad de pasar de una habitación a otra. En este contexto, conocimos la arquitectura participativa de la Web 2.0 y el concepto de las redes sociales online, y poco a poco, hemos pasado de la invisibilidad del ciberespacio a la super-visibilidad que tenemos hoy en día. Con todos estos factores en juego, nuestras formas de definir, entender y construir nuestras identidades han cambiado considerablemente.

Santraukoje yra nurodomas šio baigiamojo magistro darbo objektas, tikslas bei hipotezė. Taip pat trumpai yra apibūdinamas darbo turinys bei pagrindiniai nagrinėti aspektai. Šio magistro baigiamojo darbo tyrimo objektas – prekių ženklai elektroninėje erdvėje. Baigiamajame darbe yra nagrinėjami teisės aktai, reglamentuojantys prekių ženklų savininkų teises, teisės mokslininkų doktrina. Didelis dėmesys skirtas teismų, ypatingai JAV praktikai, kadangi šioje valstybėje buvo nagrinėta daugiausia prekių ženklų pažeidimų elektroninėje erdvėje atvejų. Darbo tikslas yra įvertinti prekių ženklų panaudojimą elektroninėje erdvėje, prekių ženklų savininkų teises bei jų gynimo būdus, teisinio reglamentavimo bei praktinio įgyvendinimo efektyvumą ir pasiūlyti galimus problemų sprendimo variantus. Magistro baigiamajame darbe yra aptariamos pagrindinės prekių ženklų panaudojimo elektroninėje erdvėje problemos, nagrinėjamos per prekių ženklų principų prizmę, kadangi interneto prigimtis prieštarauja pagrindiniam prekių ženklų teisės principui – teritoriniam. Išsamiai analizuojami prekių ženklų pažeidimai naudojant paslėptus ir atvirus raktinius žodžius, internetines nuorodas bei rėmelius, atsižvelgiant į teismų praktiką, kuri, deja, yra labai nevieninga. Didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas prekių ženklų pažeidimams elektroninėje erdvėje naudojant domenų vardus. Šių prekių ženklų savininkų teisių pažeidimo praktikoje yra daugiausia – dėl to yra gausi, ypatingai JAV teismų praktika. Darbo pabaigoje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The summary outlines the subject matter, purpose and hypothesis of the thesis. In addition it shortly describes the content and main aspects of this final work. The subject matter of this thesis is – trademarks in cyberspace. In this final work legal acts that regulate rights of trademark owners‘and civil remedies for their infringement, actual jurisprudence in trademark cases are analyzed. Great attention was imposed on jurisprudence of US, as in this country we can find the most infringement cases. The main purpose of this thesis is to valuate the usage of trademarks in cyberspace, owners’ rights and their civil remedies legal regulation and propose possible solution of the problem. This final work deals with main problems, related to the use of trademarks in cyberspace. Trademarks are major commercial instruments that play an important role in the electronic market place. The problems arises from the basic principles of trademark law and the nature of cyberspace. The trademarks infringement arise when trademarks (espaciallu well known ones) are used in internet frames, links, keywords or meta-tags. Beside other legal problems, this final masters’ work undertakes a survey of trademark issues connected with the registration and use of domain names, at the end is a short analysis about dispute investigations. This final work raises hypothesis that there is no proper regulation of trademarks owners’ rights and civil remedies for their infringement in cyberspace. And this does... [to full text]

Le réseau Internet favorise les transactions transfrontalières, même entre des personnes vivant à des distances éloignées les unes des autres. La perméabilité des frontières lors de l'utilisation d'Internet rend difficile l'application des règles traditionnelles du droit international privé, fondées sur le paradigme territorial. Le présent mémoire a pour but d'analyser cette problématique. En premier lieu, nous explorons dans ce contexte les caractéristiques d'Internet et les sources pertinentes du droit international privé. À travers le prisme du cyberespace, nous procédons ensuite à un examen des critères juridictionnels retenus par la doctrine et la jurisprudence. Dans cette optique, nous accordons une attention particulière au domaine de la cyberconsommation, lequel est particulièrement vulnérable à l'absence de référence territoriale. En effet, le paternalisme étatique destiné à protéger les consommateurs peut difficilement s'y exercer. Dès lors, il devient évident que la communauté internationale, confrontée à cette nouvelle réalité, sera appelée à se tourner vers des modes alternatifs de résolution de conflits et que les États participeront à cette fin à une corégulation avec le secteur privé. / The Internet facilitates transborder transactions, even among people living far away from one another. The permeability of borders arising from the use of the Internet makes it very difficult to apply traditional rules under private internationallaw, which are based on a territorial paradigm. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse this problem. First, we explore the characteristics of the Internet in this particular context and the relevant sources of private international law. Through the prism of cyberspace, we then review jurisdictional criteria arising from the doctrine and jurisprudence. Special attention is paid to the field of cyberconsumers, which is particularly vulnerable to the absence of territorial references. Indeed, state paternalism designed to protect consumers is difficult to apply in this field. Confronted with this new reality, the international community will increasingly turn to alternative methods of dispute resolution, while States join forces with the private sector to develop co-regulations. / "Mémoire présenté à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maîtrise en droit (LL.M.)"

Darbe nagrinėjama tema yra aktuali, kadangi toliau besivystanti informacinė visuomenė bei informacijos pateikimo būdai elektroninėje erdvėje sąlygoja pažeidimų vykdymą vis naujomis formomis. Pagrindiniai kylantys klausimai yra susiję su tokių pažeidimų darymo sustabdymu bei prevencijos galimybėmis. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas yra atskleisti interneto paslaugų teikėjų vaidmenį kovoje su neteisėtu intelektinės nuosavybės platinimu, išanalizuoti jų atsakomybės bei galimybių ribas. Darbe yra aptariami pažeidimai, kurie atsiranda elektroninėje erdvėje ir ypač išskiriama intelektinės nuosavybės pažeidimų specifika ir problematika. Taip pat aptariami intelektinės nuosavybės apsaugos elektroninėje erdvėje techniniai būdai ir jų pritaikomumas. Atsižvelgiant į išskirtus pažeidimus bei aptartus apsaugos būdus, darbe analizuojamas interneto paslaugų teikėjų vaidmuo šių apsaugos priemonių taikyme bei analizuojamas atsakomybės ribų nustatymas. Darbe yra supažindinama su nacionaline bei Europos Sąjungos teismų praktika situacijose, kada reikia nustatyti interneto paslaugų teikėjų atsakomybę bei įpareigojimų jiems nustatymo teisėtumą. Analizuojamas esamas reglamentavimas tiek Europos lygmeniu, tiek ir atskirų valstybių nacionalinės teisės lygmeniu bei taip pat paminima ir ne Europos Sąjungos valstybių praktika ir reglamentavimas. / The topic of the work is of great interest, since further development of information society and information presentation techniques in cyberspace leads to new forms of violations. Main questions that arise are related to stopping such violations and preventive measures that can be applied. The main goal of the work is to expose the role of the internet service providers in the fight against illegal distribution of intellectual property, to analize the limits of their liability and preventive possibilities. The paper dicusses the violations that occur in cyberspace and especialy infringements of intellectual property rights. Also the paper discusses the technical methods of intellectual property protection in cyberspace and their application. Given the analyzed infringements and protection measures, the paper also analyzes the role of internet sevice providers in applying these protective measures and the liability limits. The paper introduces the national and European Union case law relating situations in which it requires to establish internet service providers liability and established obligations legitimacy. The work analyzes the existing regulation on European level and on individual national levels, as well as regulation in non-European Union countries law.

The use of the Internet has increased exponentially over the last decade. Individuals across all continents are progressively engaging in cyberspace interactions at work, in education, and for leisure. These online interactions, unconstrained by the limitations of corporeal reality, offer the potential for unique presentations of the self. The general aim of the research described in this thesis was to examine self-presentation in cyberspace. The research focused on MOOs, multi-user, text-based, user-extensible online environments, as a likely site for identity experimentation and play in cyberspace. Two studies are described. In the first quantitative study, 75 university students logged on to the front page of a social MOO where they selected a screen name, chose their gender, and provided a character description. As hypothesised, self-presentations were more likely to be based on actual identity rather than hoped for or feared selves. Contrary to expectation, little evidence was found of gender play. Self-presentations were typically positively biased and results suggested that players also perceived themselves more positively in the online context. Although sex and age were generally unrelated to self-presentation strategies, previous online experience, ethnicity, and personality profiles helped to explain self-presentation behaviour. / A qualitative study of a further 20 students in an educational MOO explored players understanding of their initial self-presentational choices and their management of these self-presentations over a 12-week period. Findings from the second study were consistent with the results from the first quantitative study and confirmed a strong desire for authentic self-presentation. Despite this emphasis on authenticity, the intention to play with identity was manifest in the form of selective self-disclosure, fantasy play, and exaggeration of traits. Participants also reported behaving in less inhibited ways online. A low incidence of gender play was noted. The overt identity play assumed by the cyberspace literature was not found in either study. Rather self-presentation in the online context appears to be governed by essentially similar processes to those that shape self-presentation in the offline world. The implications of the findings for teaching and learning, particularly for educators who want to use MOOs for identity experimentation, are discussed.

Cyberhistory is a thesis presented at The University of Western Australia for the Degree of Master of Science. Computer history is its prime field of focus. Cyberhistory pursues four key themes in computer history. These are, gender, the notion of the periphery, access and the role of the proselytiser. Cyberhistory argues that, gender issues are significant to computer history, culture ascribes gender to computing, and culture has driven computer development as much as technological progress. Cyberhistory identifies significant factors in the progress of computer technology in the 20th century. Cyberhistory finds that, innovation can occur on the periphery, access to computers can liberate and lead to progress, key proselytisers have impacted the development of computing and computing has become decentralised due to a need for greater access to the information machine. Cyberhistory traces a symbolic journey from the industrial periphery to the centres of computing development during WWII, then out to a marginal computer centre and into the personal space of the room. From the room, Cyberhistory connects into cyberspace. Cyberhistory finds that, despite its chaos, the Internet can act like a sanctuary for those seeking to bring imagination and creativity to computing.

In a scope where continuous innovations are seen each day, the cyberspace can be seen as the tech-entrepreneurs’ playground for delivering new solutions to customers. Digital start-ups who interact through the cyberspace operate with little to no restriction despite having limiting resource. In 2008 a man named Satoshi Nakamoto developed a new technology called blockchain. The new breed of firms providing blockchain solutions have been painted to live in a borderless world with little technical restrictions. Exploring the effects that blockchain brings to their internationalisation has brought our attention to study the early internationalisation of blockchain born globals and their business ecosystem. The deductive and qualitative approach gave the results from four different companies that were involved in blockchain technology. By using previous theory on internationalisation and a deductive approach a conceptual synthesis was developed. The synthesis was later applied in the case-companies to observe the results. The findings have shown that the firms implementing blockchain in the core offering has resulted in an accelerated internationalisation. The major factors contributing to this quick internationalisations is the spread of knowledge between buyers and sellers, trough the cyberspace. However, the authors were unable to find a relationship between the accelerated internationalisation and to the extent in which a firm has implemented blockchain in its core offering. The finding has given the authors prominent answers to the research question and has highlighted the complexity of the subject. The, authors conclude the thesis by displaying the importance of cyberspace in the business ecosystem; how it attracts customers and the importance of the company’s business model. Blockchain technology proved to have effects on the process of internationalisation due to superior technological performance, but also its hype.

[pt] Em sua obra capital Ser e tempo (1927), o filósofo alemão Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) elaborou o fio condutor do seu pensamento por toda a vida: a questão do sentido do ser (Sein). A penetrante análise da existência humana aí conduzida desvela, tendo como ponto de partida a cotidianidade mediana, os vários modos de ser do ser-aí (Dasein), indicando que a atitude existencialmente autêntica – em meio a uma decadência estruturalmente constitutiva – é propiciada por um reconhecimento e acolhimento da nossa finitude. No decorrer dos anos 1930, sob o influxo da chamada viravolta (Kehre) operada em seu pensamento – processo no qual a ontologia fundamental de Ser e tempo cede lugar à história do Ser (Seyn) –, Heidegger inicia seu movimento de interrogação sobre a técnica, no contexto de sua crescente e impositiva hegemonia, interrogação que desembocará na Gestell ou enquadramento técnico. Trata-se de uma configuração histórica do Ser que visa ao controle e à disponibilização absoluta de todos entes, inclusive dos homens. A Gestell, bem entendido, não se restringe ao universo dos objetos técnicos: é também a emergência de uma maneira tecnológica de ver e habitar o mundo. Este fluxo é de matriz cibernética, marcado, entre outros fenômenos, pelo recente predomínio da virtualização da interação humana, mediada pela onipresente Internet (mais amplamente o ciberespaço). Configura-se assim um novo tipo de convivência, em que virtualidades são utilizadas cotidianamente, influenciando constantemente o comportamento humano, a começar pela comunicação interpessoal e a cognição. O tempo gasto no espaço virtual aponta para uma gradual transformação de hábitos. Destarte, o objetivo da nossa investigação será o de oferecer subsídios preliminares para a elaboração de uma nova analítica do ser-aí, verificando em que medida a cotidianidade mediana, como ser-no-mundo na era da Gestell, é alterada. Isso implica em conduzir uma interpretação dessa nova facticidade na qual, conforme nossa hipótese, a impessoalidade (das Man) consolida o seu poder, consumando o esquecimento do ser através de uma recusa da própria finitude. Valendo-nos da analítica existencial de Ser e tempo e da reflexão heideggeriana sobre a técnica – no seio da qual despontam as noções de proximidade e distância e quadrindade como novos referenciais –, a análise busca desvelar os novos modos de ser da convivência cotidiana virtual, discutindo neste contexto as possibilidades de o ser-aí superar o impessoal e transformar-se em existência autêntica. / [en] In his main work, Being and time (1927), the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) drew up the thread of his lifelong thinking: the question of the meaning of being (Sein). Starting from the average everydayness, the penetrating analysis of human existence conducted here unveils the various modes of being of Dasein, indicating that the existentially authentic attitude – amidst a structurally constitutive decadence – is fostered by a recognition and acceptance of our finitude. During the 1930s, under the influx of the so-called reversal (Kehre) in his thought – a process in which the fundamental ontology of Being and time gives place to the history of Being (Seyn) –, Heidegger begins his interrogation movement on technique, in the context of its growing and imposing hegemony, interrogation that will lead to Gestell or technical enframing. It is a historical configuration of Being that aims at the absolute control and availability of all entities, including men. Gestell, of course, is not restricted to the universe of technical objects: it is also the emergence of a technological way of seeing and inhabiting the world. This flow is of cybernetic matrix, marked, among other phenomena, by the recent predominance of virtualization of human interaction, mediated by the ubiquitous Internet (more broadly: the cyberspace). A new type of being-with-one-another is thus established, in which virtualities are used daily, constantly influencing human behavior, beginning with interpersonal communication and cognition. The time spent in virtual space points to a gradual transformation of habits. Thus, the objective of our investigation will be to offer preliminary subsidies for the elaboration of a new analytic of Dasein, verifying to what extent the average everydayness, as being-in-the-world in the Gestell era, is altered. This implies in conducting an interpretation of this new facticity in which, according to our hypothesis, the They-self (das Man) consolidates its power, consummating the forgottenness of being through a refusal of its own finitude. Drawing on the existential analytic of Being and time and the Heideggerian thinking on the technique – within which the notions of proximity and distance and fourfold emerge as new references –, the analysis seeks to unveil the new ways of being of the virtual everyday being-with-one-another, discussing in this context the possibilities of Dasein overcome the They-self and become authentic existence.