For over a decade, William Lehr, Lorenzo Pupillo, and their colleagues in academia, industry, and policy have been on the electronic frontier, exploring the implications of the technologies that are ...revolutionizing communication and culture. In 2002, Cyber Policy and Economics in an Internet Age featured essays that focused on such emerging economic and policy-related issues of universal access, appropriate content, spectrum allocation, taxation, consumer protection, and regulation, with respect to the Internet. In this fully revised and updated edition, entitled Internet Policy and Economics: Challenges and Perspectives, the editors and contributors tackle the most current topics and issues, as the Internet continues to permeate all facets of society. New chapters cover dynamics in the developing world, the implications of e-commerce for fiscal policy, and the impact of peer-to-peer networks on music and the arts, as well as debates over intellectual property rights, privacy issues, and cybercrime. Applying insights from economics, political science, law, business, and communications, the book will serve as essential resource for researchers and students, policymakers and regulators, and industry analysts and practitioners.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks are comprised of equal "nodes" that function as both clients and servers, as opposed to systems in which data and information are managed through centralized servers. The ...implications of this architecture go far beyond the technological realm, the ability of individuals to share digital content files, including audio and video material, in real time, facilitates communication and, at a deeper cultural level, promotes community without hierarchy or strict control. As Eli Noam, Lorenzo Pupillo, and their colleagues demonstrate in this timely and incisive volume, P2P has permeated all facets of society, from YouTube and music downloading experiments on college campuses to international policy debates over intellectual property rights. Peer-to-Peer Video is the first book to apply economic principles to analyze and understand the P2P phenomenon, considering such topics as "consumer demand and the commons" and "file sharing and the copyright crisis." Moreover, the authors, who include scholars, consultants, and industry executives, provide numerous contemporary examples from the U.S. and around the world to shed light on the implications of P2P as a mass medium, considering such issues as pricing, licensing, security, and regulation. The result is provocative commentary on a slice of popular culture that will interest scholars and students, policymakers, media industry professionals, and general readers alike.
In an interview, Franco Bernabe, chairman of GSMA, chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia, talked about achieving a Digital Single Market. Bernabe said that the lack of a single market can be mainly ...traced back to the current limited consistency in the application of European directives and soft law regulations. This is particularly true for the mobile sector. Although this market is recognized as the most advanced in terms of penetration and competition (European wide operators, interoperability of networks), its regulatory and policy framework shows some inconsistencies at the Member State level, concerning especially the spectrum management. He added that Europe has a much more fragmented telecom market than other areas of the world. Therefore, they will probably see consolidation in the domestic market. However, the European single market's strength will rely more on a set of common rules, on common technical standards and on strong European equipment and device manufacturers than on cross border consolidation.
This chapter provides an overview of how the converging ICTs are challenging the traditional off-line copyright doctrine and suggests how developing countries should approach issues such as copyright ...in the digital world, software (Protection, Open Source, Reverse Engineering), and data base protection. The balance of the chapter is organized into three sections. After the introduction, the second section explains how digital technology is dramatically changing the entertainment industry, what are the major challenges to the industry, and what are the approaches that the economic literature suggest to face the structural changes that the digital revolution is bringing forward. Starting from the assumption that IPRs frameworks need to be customized to the countries’ development needs, the third section makes recommendations on how developing countries should use copyright to support access to information and to creative industries.
Alain Bourdeau de Fontenay passed away on Jul 23, 2011. He will be remembered fondly by the academic and ICT community for his deep knowledge of the most important issues, theory, but most of all his ...out-of-the-box thinking. Alain not only explored the underlying features of ICT but was able to apply his extensive knowledge of an extraordinary breadth of literature and theory to the subject. Most recently he was engaged in research into industrial organization working to integrate institutional, behavioural and evolutionary economics while maintaining the useful parts of neoclassical economics. De Fontenay's expositions were often difficult to understand but they always repaid the effort to explore in depth. De Fontenay made several contributions to research, and endlessly pursued new ways of using the received tools of economic science for new applications or extensions of existing ones. He authored and edited a number of studies on the frontiers of telecommunications demand analysis.
This paper examines the mix of technical, regulatory, and business strategy issues that arise in implementing next generation broadband platforms in Europe. Our review of some European studies on ...NGAN in Europe and our specific focus on the Italian situation, in particular on the competitive situation in Milano, shows the relevant flaw of continuing to advocate national patterns of regulation. In fact, the deployment of NGAN calls for a radical shift of regulation on a geographic level. The recognition that a NGAN business case does exist for OLO in a number of local areas, mainly metropolitan ones, has relevant regulatory implications.In the first place, since the conditions of competition differ significantly among local areas, regulation should promote both incumbents' and OLO's investments in NGAN by limiting ex ante interventions to those enduring economic bottlenecks found at a specific geographic markets level. In the second place, market definition is the most important step in the market analysis procedure to help decide whether to regulate a given service provided over a NGAN or not. We have proposed a taxonomy of local areas that may be adopted in a country like Italy for a correct geographic definition of markets 4 and 5 and, as a consequence, for the imposition of appropriate remedies.
Abstract
Our objective was to assess the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) with riluzole on disability and mortality of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Definite/probable ALS patients, 40−70 ...years of age, duration 6−24 months, self-sufficient (i.e. able to swallow, cut food/handle utensils, and walk), and with forced vital capacity (FVC) > 80% entered a pilot double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial and were followed for 48 weeks. ALC or placebo 3 g/day was added to riluzole 100 mg/day. Primary endpoint: number of patients no longer self-sufficient. Secondary endpoints: changes in ALSFRS-R, MRC, FVC and McGill Quality of Life (QoL) scores. Analysis was made in the intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) population, completers and completers/compliers (i.e. taking > 75% of study drug). Forty-two patients received ALC and 40 placebo. In the ITT population, 34 (80.9%) patients receiving ALC and 39 (97.5%) receiving placebo became non-self-sufficient (p = 0.0296). In the PP analysis, percentages were 84.4 and 100.0% (p = 0.0538), respectively. Mean ALSFRS-R scores at 48 weeks were 33.6 (SD 10.4) and 27.6 (9.9) (p = 0.0388), respectively, and mean FVC scores 90.3 (32.6) and 58.6 (31.2) (p = 0.0158), respectively. Median survival was 45 months (ALC) and 22 months (placebo) (p = 0.0176). MRC, QoL and adverse events were similar. In conclusion, ALC may be effective, well-tolerated and safe in ALS. A pivotal phase III trial is needed.
Background and purpose
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with limited treatment options. RNS60 is an immunomodulatory and neuroprotective investigational ...product that has shown efficacy in animal models of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. Its administration has been safe and well tolerated in ALS subjects in previous early phase trials.
Methods
This was a phase II, multicentre, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐group trial. Participants diagnosed with definite, probable or probable laboratory‐supported ALS were assigned to receive RNS60 or placebo administered for 24 weeks intravenously (375 ml) once a week and via nebulization (4 ml/day) on non‐infusion days, followed by an additional 24 weeks off‐treatment. The primary objective was to measure the effects of RNS60 treatment on selected biomarkers of inflammation and neurodegeneration in peripheral blood. Secondary objectives were to measure the effect of RNS60 on functional impairment (ALS Functional Rating Scale—Revised), a measure of self‐sufficiency, respiratory function (forced vital capacity, FVC), quality of life (ALS Assessment Questionnaire‐40, ALSAQ‐40) and survival. Tolerability and safety were assessed.
Results
Seventy‐four participants were assigned to RNS60 and 73 to placebo. Assessed biomarkers did not differ between arms. The mean rate of decline in FVC and the eating and drinking domain of ALSAQ‐40 was slower in the RNS60 arm (FVC, difference 0.41 per week, standard error 0.16, p = 0.0101; ALSAQ‐40, difference –0.19 per week, standard error 0.10, p = 0.0319). Adverse events were similar in the two arms. In a post hoc analysis, neurofilament light chain increased over time in bulbar onset placebo participants whilst remaining stable in those treated with RNS60.
Conclusions
The positive effects of RNS60 on selected measures of respiratory and bulbar function warrant further investigation.
