In The News

Piracy Shaves 11% Off Music Sales

Tim Burt October 1, 2003
Internet file sharing and downloads, as well as illegal CD manufacturing, have caused a global decline in music sales. While this may strike fear in the hearts of shareholders of the five music majors – Universal, Sony, EMI, Warner, and BMG – all is not lost. DVD sales increased by 55% in the first half of 2003, offsetting the decline in CD revenues. Yet, a representative of the major music...

China: Controls Tighten as Internet Activism Grows

September 28, 2003
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International says that the world's most populous country is fighting a shameful battle against its own people. The Chinese government has implemented some of the most restrictive internet regulations in the world, banning Chinese web users from visiting certain foreign websites, and even suppressing speech and dissent on China-based websites. In less than a...

Intel Insider Looks to Asia

Richard Waters September 21, 2003
Though it generates revenues equal to its next four competitors combined, Intel, the global leader in chip manufacturing, sees more and more competition coming from Asia. Intel CEO Craig Barrett argues that the next ten years will feature major upheavals in the capital intensive industry. To remain competitive, Intel must attract top talent, especially foreign nationals who have come to the US to...

Whatever Will Be Will Be Free on Internet

Steve Lohr September 20, 2003
After Napster, the first Internet music sharing network, was closed down by the recording industry three years ago, people in the industry were expecting some peace, but they were wrong – new software such as KaZaA and Morpheus, even better designed, emerged and were soon on computers across the globe. Now the recording industry has decided to make individual file sharers its targets. This has...

Two Years Later, a Thousand Years Ago

Robert Wright September 11, 2003
Until September 11, some viewed the globalization of American values in terms of a manifest destiny. However, on 9/11 nineteen hijackers "turned the tools of globalization against the system" and blew that view to pieces. Two years later, skepticism about globalization's benefits still persists. For evidence, one need only notice that anti-American terror networks still abound,...

A Head Trip: Indian Hair Finds Parts in Hollywood

Julia Angwin August 21, 2003
After the birth of a long-awaited son or the recovery of an ill spouse, Hindu women often visit a temple and shave their long locks as a gesture of thanks. Few suspect that their sacrificed hair may end up on the head of a European or American woman, possibly even a Hollywood actress. Yet temples across India make tidy profits selling the hair of pilgrims to foreign companies that make hair...

Goodbye America, Hello India

Roger Mitton August 19, 2003
The dotcom boom made California the premier destination of Indians coming to the US. Now that the bubble has burst, however, more and more Indians are reversing their trip, leaving sunny, but jobless California and seeking employment in India. Many of these highly-skilled, expatriate engineers believe that their return home is temporary. "They think they will return later when things get...