Bitcoin is the first decentralised, peer-to-peer network that allows for the proof and transfer of ownership of virtual currencies without the need for a trusted third party. The purpose of this article is to address how we can capture Bitcoin’s potential benefits for the economy while addressing new regulatory challenges.
News and Research articles on Business
The App Store rejection of the Dutch slavery game ‘Journey into Freedom’ illustrates Apple’s refusal to take games seriously as a medium of expression.
Early this month, the mobile and internet operator Vodafone released a report putting figures on data disclosures made to governments. That's a first but can it be called real transparency?
Content aggregation websites are the newest target of copyright enforcers. The 'kino.to court case' shows that ISPs hosting such websites are increasingly being drawn into the takedown battle.
In a recent high-profile court case on data protection and freedom of expression, the European Court of Justice has forgotten that publicness needs to be protected from privatisation, argues Lorena Jaume-Palasi.
The marriage between bitcoin cryptocurrency and traditional debit cards, let alone credit cards, remains unaccomplished. Monika Ermert explains why.
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are often seen as a threat by governmental and financial institutions worldwide. Regulation could help minimise the risks involved. The author explores some legal and self-regulatory precedents from which we can learn.
Germany’s largest telecommunications operator for the first time on 5 May 2014 published a ‘transparency report’ on surveillance requests by German authorities. Kirsten Gollatz reveals how this new statitical input fits into the larger picture.
The NETmundial conference on internet governance was heralded as a success. But in civil society, assessments have been more nuanced.
In an ambitious move, the Brazilian government, technical and civil society organised a meeting to address key issues of internet governance. While not everybody was happy with the final result, process-wise it was a landmark meeting.
Even after competitors of the old heavyweights .com or .fr were allowed to enter the domain name market, the several hundred applicants need one asset in particular: .patience.
Turkish business leaders, internet researchers and the Council of Europe were quick to reply when Turkish President Abdullah Gül went on to sign a package of draconian internet laws on February 18. The new legislation matters, not only for Turkey.
“Digital” is written big in the coalition agreement, which was signed to give way to the new German government. Will this propell Germany onto the front seat in international internet politics.
The increasing complexity of cloud services has created the opportunity for a new business model: Cloud Services Brokerage. The answer to the interest in policy-aware cloud-solutions is choice, argues Claus Schaale (Cisco) in his guest post for the Internet Policy Review.
The European Civil Liberties Committee LIBE is pushing the EU data protection regulation draft forward. Yet, many compromises are made along the way, leaving Europeans wondering who will be the good, the bad and the ugly in the data protection saga.
The system of national collecting societies provided a relatively stable framework for licensing musical works – until the internet changed the field of music distribution. The GEMA-Youtube case serves as a starting point to discuss the future of collective copyright management.
Privacy gets another push from recent surveillance revelations, but who shall provide it? A workshop on data protection in cloud computing prior to the upcoming meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force tries to get an answer from politicians and techies.
The 4th generation mobile or LTE network coverage in the European Union looks like a patchwork blanket. Reasons for the different speeds in building and offering the newest mobile broadband network vary, and as Monika Ermert finds out, business analysts simply cannot agree.
Over the years, the video game industry has grown into one of the largest, most profitable entertainment industries in the world. Originality and innovation - instead of fueling competition and guaranteeing a diverse market - are regarded by many as risky ventures. Some would even argue that innovation in the industry is not really innovative at all anymore. It doesn’t come as a surprise then, that user-driven innovation has come to play a considerably important role for the industry in recent years.
According to a row of policy institutes, digital fabrication will become a motor for economic growth and social innovation. The sudden appearance of digital fabrication tools only makes sense when understood against the backdrop of an emerging movement around open hardware development.
KEYWORDS:
Digital fabrication, 3D Printer, Innovation, Open hardware, Arduino, Ronja, Rep-rap, Hardware