Underground Globalization: Mapping the Space of Flows of the Internet Adult Industry

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1261-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A Zook
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Barriers To Entry ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Entry Cost ◽  
Cost Differentials ◽  
Space Of Flows

This paper develops a case study of the Internet adult industry in order to study the ways in which electronic commerce interacts with geography. Digital products, low barriers to entry, cost differentials, and sensitivity to regulation have created a pervasive and complex geography of models, webmasters, and consumers around the globe. With a series of specially developed datasets on the location of content production, websites, and hosting it is shown that the online adult industry offers people and places outside major metropolitan areas opportunities to become active purveyors of this type of electronic commerce. The roles of these actors, however, are not simply determined by a spaceless logic of cyber-interaction but by histories and economies of the physical places they inhabit. In short, the ‘space of flows’ cannot be understood without reference to the ‘space of places’ to which it connects. This geography also provides a valuable counterpoint to mainstream electronic commerce and highlights the ability of socially marginal and underground interests to use the Internet to form and connect in global networks.

scholarly journals Strategies of E-Commerce Business Value Optimization

2005 ◽  
pp. 2653-2657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Scupola
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Networks ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
Electronic Networks ◽  
Information Products ◽  
America Online

The Internet economy is becoming an integral part of many countries’ economies, creating new jobs, giving rise to new companies like the dot coms and transforming traditional jobs and traditional companies. The Internet is increasingly becoming a part of the basic business model for many companies as organizations around the world are adopting new e-business models, integrated solutions to explore new ways of dealing with customers and business partners, new organizational structures and adaptable business strategies (Singh & Waddell, 2004). There are many definitions of electronic commerce (e.g., Wigand, 1997). Here, a classic definition by Kalakota and Whinston (1996) is adopted, where e-commerce is “the buying and selling of information, products and services via computer networks today and in the future via any one of the myriad of networks that make up the ‘Information Superhighway (I-way)’” (p.1). A distinction between physical and digital products can be made. A digital product is defined as a product whose complete value chain can be implemented with the use of electronic networks; for example, it can be produced and distributed electronically, and be paid for over digital networks. Examples of digital products are software, news, and journal articles. The companies selling these products are usually Internet-based “digital dot coms” such as Yahoo and America Online. On the contrary, a physical product cannot be distributed over electronic networks (e.g., a book, CDs, toys). These products can also be sold on Internet by “physical dot coms”, but they are shipped to the consumers. The corporations using electronic commerce are distinguished into “bricks and mortar” companies, hybrid “clicks and mortar” companies (such as Amazon.com) and pure dot coms (Barua & Mukhopadhyay, 2000).

Internet Shopping Model and Customer Perceptions

2004 ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Xianzhong Mark Xu ◽  
Martyn Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Grocery Shopping ◽  
Internet Shopping ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
The U.S

A major growth area in electronic commerce (EC) is organisations that directly interact with their customers (Business to Consumer EC). The supermarket sector is at the forefront of this development. However, it has been widely reported that e-tailing for grocery shopping, e.g., Webvan, particularly in the U.S., has not been successful. Little empirical evidence is documented to reveal whether customers’ shopping patterns have significantly changed toward Internet shopping. By using a case study approach and a questionnaire survey, this study reports the Internet shopping models adopted by the major U.K. supermarkets, and examines consumer shopping behaviour and their attitudes toward the Internet for grocery shopping.

scholarly journals Strategies of E-Commerce Business Value Optimization

2011 ◽  
pp. 1195-1202
Author(s):  
Ada Scupola
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Networks ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
Electronic Networks ◽  
Information Products ◽  
America Online

The Internet economy is becoming an integral part of many countries’ economies, creating new jobs, giving rise to new companies like the dot coms and transforming traditional jobs and traditional companies. The Internet is increasingly becoming a part of the basic business model for many companies as organizations around the world are adopting new e-business models, integrated solutions to explore new ways of dealing with customers and business partners, new organizational structures and adaptable business strategies (Singh & Waddell, 2004). There are many definitions of electronic commerce (e.g., Wigand, 1997). Here, a classic definition by Kalakota and Whinston (1996) is adopted, where e-commerce is “the buying and selling of information, products and services via computer networks today and in the future via any one of the myriad of networks that make up the ‘Information Superhighway (I-way)’” (p.1). A distinction between physical and digital products can be made. A digital product is defined as a product whose complete value chain can be implemented with the use of electronic networks; for example, it can be produced and distributed electronically, and be paid for over digital networks. Examples of digital products are software, news, and journal articles. The companies selling these products are usually Internet-based “digital dot coms” such as Yahoo and America Online. On the contrary, a physical product cannot be distributed over electronic networks (e.g., a book, CDs, toys). These products can also be sold on Internet by “physical dot coms”, but they are shipped to the consumers. The corporations using electronic commerce are distinguished into “bricks and mortar” companies, hybrid “clicks and mortar” companies (such as Amazon.com) and pure dot coms (Barua & Mukhopadhyay, 2000).

Identifying the Factors that Lead to a Successful Intermediary in Electronic Commerce

2010 ◽  
pp. 198-206
Author(s):  
Margaret Jackson ◽  
Marita Shelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Financial Intermediaries ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
On Line ◽  
Payment Mechanisms

The Internet has changed the way we interact with others in both our business and personal spheres. Electronic commerce has developed beyond buying and selling of goods electronically. It is now leading to new online intermediaries such as aggregators of information, peer-to-peer and social networking sites which allow sharing between individuals without the need for commercial service providers, and new on-line payment mechanisms such as BPAY in Australia, which provide additional services to those from existing credit providers. Using a case study approach, this chapter explores the factors that have led to the success of financial intermediaries and in particular, BPAY Ltd.

Internet Shopping Model and Customer Perceptions

2004 ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Xianzhong M. Xu ◽  
Martyn Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Grocery Shopping ◽  
Internet Shopping ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
The U.S

A major growth area in electronic commerce (EC) is organisations that directly interact with their customers (Business to Consumer EC). The supermarket sector is at the forefront of this development. However, it has been widely reported that e-retailing for grocery shopping, for example, Webvan, particularly in the U.S., has not been successful. Little empirical evidence is documented to reveal whether customers shopping patterns have significantly changed toward Internet shopping. By using a case study approach and a questionnaire survey, this study reports the Internet shopping models adopted by the major UK supermarkets, and examines consumer shopping behaviour and their attitudes toward the Internet for grocery shopping.

The Internet and the Empowered Consumer: From the Scarcity of the Commodity to the Multiplicity of Subjectivities

1999 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-123
Author(s):  
Matthew Horton
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Individual

This paper examines the forms of commodification and entrepreneurship that are emerging as economic activity is mediated through the Internet. These processes of commodification are usually conceptualised from two opposing discourses: those of business and poststructuralism. Business discourses remain faithful to certain established positions — most notably, there are continued emphases on the authority of the individual entrepreneur and the logic of scarcity as forces that determine economic value in electronic commerce. In contrast, poststructural discourse advocates for a conceptualisation of commodification which recognises the spaces that hypertextual environments like the Internet are able to open up for consumers. In these spaces, it is proposed, consumers can create subjectivities that can challenge — and so counter — these business discourses' positions. This paper sets out to examine the claims that both of these discourses make in relation to the commodification of the Internet. Through the presentation of a case Study of a small business that is attempting to make money from the Internet, this paper then looks at how aspects of both of these contrasting positions can inform practices that attempt to commodify the Internet.

The Internet is a Semicommons

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Grimmelmann
Keyword(s):  
Open Field ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Private Property ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Field System ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Dynamic Interplay ◽  
Enormous Success

78 Fordham Law Review 2799 (2010)The Internet is a semicommons. Private property in servers and network links coexists with a shared communications platform. This distinctive combination both explains the Internet's enormous success and illustrates some of its recurring problems.Building on Henry Smith's theory of the semicommons in the medieval open-field system, this essay explains how the dynamic interplay between private and common uses on the Internet enables it to facilitate worldwide sharing and collaboration without collapsing under the strain of misuse. It shows that key technical features of the Internet, such as its layering of protocols and the Web's division into distinct "sites," respond to the characteristic threats of strategic behavior in a semicommons. An extended case study of the Usenet distributed messaging system shows that not all semicommons on the Internet succeed; the continued success of the Internet depends on our ability to create strong online communities that can manage and defend the infrastructure on which they rely. Private and common both have essential roles to play in that task, a lesson recognized in David Post's and Jonathan Zittrain's recent books on the Internet.

An experimental study of Web switching behavior

2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-93
Author(s):  
James Otto ◽  
Mohammad Najdawi ◽  
William Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Waiting Times ◽  
Switching Behavior ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Wait Times ◽  
Web Page ◽  
Extensive Growth ◽  
The Impact

With the extensive growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, the issue of how users behave when confronted with long download times is important. This paper investigates Web switching behavior. The paper describes experiments where users were subjected to artificially delayed Web page download times to study the impact of Web site wait times on switching behavior. Two hypotheses were tested. First, that longer wait times will result in increased switching behavior. The implication being that users become frustrated with long waiting times and choose to go elsewhere. Second, that users who switch will benefit, in terms of decreased download times, from their decision to switch.

scholarly journals Public Archaeology's Mammoth in the Room: Engaging Wikipedia as a Tool for Teaching and Outreach

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine M. Grillo ◽  
Daniel A. Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Public Archaeology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
African Archaeology

AbstractAlthough archaeology has become increasingly concerned with engaging diverse publics, and has embraced the internet as a means of facilitating such engagement, attitudes towards Wikipedia have—understandably—been more ambivalent. Nevertheless, we argue here, Wikipedia's popularity and reach mean that archaeologists should actively engage with the website by adding and improving archaeological content. One way to do this is in the classroom: this paper provides a detailed how-to for instructors interested in having students create new Wikipedia content. We provide a case study in Wikipedia engagement from an advanced undergraduate course on African Archaeology, assess a program (Wiki Education) designed to help, and suggest further avenues for future outreach. We conclude that Wikipedia's utopian mission aligns with many of the goals of public archaeology, and argue that archaeology has much to gain by engaging with—rather than ignoring or even shunning—Wikipedia.

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