In contrast to the Scandinavian countries and the U.K, Eastern Europe is really behind in the Internet usage per capita. Yet, recently, the Internet has being growing very quickly in Eastern Europe as well. The reason that Eastern Europe fell behind the other countries in Europe, is the former communist regime in these countries. But now that the iron curtain is broken and there are no more government regulations, Eastern Europe is catching up with the rest of Europe. The expansion of the Internet has been a positive effect on higher education and institutions in Eastern Europe. Eastern countries view the Internet as a way to raise their education and technology levels. However, eastern countries are having trouble with limited finances, and poor telecommunications in their countries. Today the government regulations are no longer an issue in Eastern Europe. Yet, the Internet expansion is hampered by the lack of a well supported infrastructure, namely a decent telephone system. In Eastern Europe, the art of telephone system is non existent. Even in major cities in major technical universities, connections are limited to the speeds available to an average home in the US. In Eastern European countries, usually it is extremely difficult to make long distance phone calls. “The phone charges are so expensive in these countries that it really limits one’s ability to communicate.” , says Peter Honak of Budapest University (Woodward, p.1). Ironically, the shortcomings of telecommunication systems made e-mail the preferred method of communication in Eastern Europe. For instance, Hungary has the most highly developed computer systems in the region. It has an estimated 25,000 regular users in its publicly supported network for universities and other state institutions. Still, Hungary is really behind compared to 150,000 homes connected to the net in Sweden. In Hungary, it costs about $2.3 million a year to operate the Internet, where each user spends $100. According to Lajos Balint, a leader member of the infrastructure development program, for the price of a single technical textbook, they can provide access to all possibilities of the internet. In Hungary, e-mail has became really popular because when the cost of e-mail is compared to sending a fax or mailing air-mail letters, it is a lot cheaper (Woodward, p.1). At present, the shortcomings of the telecommunications in the region have made the Internet more important than it is in the West. Also, Internet is crucial for scholars in this region because it simply helps to equalize Eastern European scientists who are geographically and technologically disadvantaged. It increases their opportunities to participate in their discipline. Therefore, in general in Eastern Europe, there are National infrastructure development programs that are working on improving communication lines in order to provide more access. Some US organizations have also been helping Eastern European countries. For instance, The International Research & Exchange Board has been installing communication lines and public e-mail sites in former Soviet Republics and Russia. Also a US philantrophy called Pew Charitable Trusts is supporting a project which is aiming to build a network of regional universities in order to expose scholars to what’s going on in their disciplines in other countries (Woodward, p.1). As a result, as communication lines and phone systems are improved in this region, more Internet access can be expected. Other than Eastern European countries, Europe in general lags far behind the US One reason for this is that, in the past the development of the Internet was prevented by national politics mandating Open System Interconnect (OSI) Protocols, regarding Internet as a cultural threat similar to EuroDisney. In the past, outside of Scandinavia, political parties prevented the development of large scale internet infrastructure. Finally, in 1989 RIPE began the operation of Internet in Europe and as a result of this, today 25% of all hosts are located in Europe. Recently, authorities in Europe have been arguing that Europe’s phone systems have been impeding Internet growth (Stalter, p.1). For this reason the European Union (EU) passed a telecommunications deregulation which should be implemented by the EU countries by 1998. The deregulation will help to make the European phone market more competitive. With this new deregulation, the telecommunications industries have started to provide quicker and better Internet access. Today, there is a big competition between European companies vs. American companies like Netcom that is trying to get into the business in Europe. As a result of this competition the speed of Internet access is increasing and making Europe a promising new frontier. The Dataquest forecasts that, the number of on-line users in Europe will grow 12.4% this year to 9.1 million users. Although per capita Europe has fewer internet users than does the US., European countries are fascinated by cyberspace and are already searching for new ways of using computer technology to enhance their communities. For instance, European political parties are quite advanced in their use of cyberspace when compared to the American political parties (Noble, p.1). In Britain, the labor party has been using the Internet since 1994. The party conference is on the Internet and it allows some interactions between politicians and the public. The labor party leader Tony Blair said that their goal is to make every home wired up in the New Britain. Sweden has also been a pioneer in cyberspace. In Sweden most parties have at least a web site, but social democrats are the most advanced; the former prime minister, personally responds to dozens of e-mail messages every week. In Italy, there are only a few hundred thousand Internet users. Yet the political leaders such as Romario Poali understand the potential of the Internet extensively and have sponsored several home pages. In Holland, The Dutch Labor Party is another on line pioneer. The party itself is an Internet provider. Also, in Europe in general, the Party of European Socialists, which is the umbrella of labor parties throughout Europe, has been working to develop a comprehensive internet strategy (Noble, p.1). In addition to the political activities, European countries are using computer technology to enhance their educational and intellectual life. In England there are a few organizations that are working to bring the Internet to communities that would otherwise be left information poor. One of these communities is the chain of Cyber Cafes which are commercial organizations aiming to bring people to the Internet while allowing them to socialize in a ‘cafe’ atmosphere. While you sip your coffee at the Cyber Cafes, you explore the world of the Internet. This is a real suitable way for people who don’t know a lot about computers and for those who can’t afford individual access to the internet. The Cafe workers at the Cyber Cafe help you to get connected to the net and help you look for the information you need (Klein, p.1). The problem with the Cyber Cafes is that they still don’t reach the needs of the real public – the public who doesn’t have the money to spend at a cafe. Another community in England, the Women’s Internet Group, was formed by the Learning for Life with Technology (LIFT) organization in England – an organization working on bringing technology into communities both in England and the rest of the world. The Women’s Internet Group consists of women from diversified professions and backgrounds who want to learn to use the net for professional and personal reasons. Some people in this group learn to use the net for e-mail whereas some want to catch up with the information revolution going on in the world. In London, the London Borough of Southwark has started the construction of a ‘Mediatec’ which is a library-cum-theater-cum-production studio. In Mediatec there is an Internet clubroom similar to Cyber Cafes where people that live in the neighborhood can come and use the Internet. Also, the black community in London holds Internet access sessions once a month, also providing free information, advice and networking services with the help of other black computer experts (Klein, p.1). In addition to these intellectual aspects of the Internet, there are lots of ongoing educational programs about the Internet . Twelve institutions in Scandinavia are exploring how they might use the Internet and video conferencing systems to share classes, collaborate on research and administer joint degree programs. The project is called “Virtual Sound University” and it is the portion of an overall effort aiming to increase academic collaboration. The universities want to pool their sources together by using computer technology to offer students better opportunities. Their goal is to create an interactive multimedia environment for the whole region. The European Union is trying hard to aid this process by funding the University of Copenhagen which is to develop better video conferencing systems. Other than the aspects listed above, some European countries are doing community networking through freenets. Their goal is to promote free exchange of ideas and a sense of community. The countries that have freenets in Europe are, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. The countries which have the most number of freenet servers are Sweden and Finland followed by Germany and the only Eastern European country that has a freenet is Ukraine which is a former Soviet Republic. The Kyviv freenet in Ukraine is one year old and it is the first Internet community that is accessed by the public, east of the Elbe. And the interesting thing about the Kyviv Freenet is that it is supported by the United Nations (UN) office in Ukraine and is operated by the UN Internet Project. As illustrated, Europe is behind the US in terms of Internet access and communication technology. To sum up it can be said that Internet usage varies in European countries. The Scandinavian countries are the pioneers in the European cyberspace and they are followed by the U.K and Germany. The countries that have the least Internet access are the Eastern European Countries. There are two main reasons for them being behind. The first is the poor telecommunications infrastructure in the region and the second is the effects of the former communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Since there are no longer the communist regimes, Eastern European countries are catching up with the rest of Europe. At present, there are National Infrastructure Development Programs and also and the US is helping these countries. Overall, in Europe Internet has gained a lot of cultural acceptance and is already integrated into cultural and intellectual life. In general, Europe is a promising region in the world where a large amount of Internet access growth is expected in the future. INTERNET IN AUSTRALIA The situation of the Internet in Australia is pretty similar to the situation in Europe. Internet usage in Australia is increasing very fast. In fact, Australia seems to be one of the advanced countries in the world in terms of its usage of the Internet. There are no apparent government limitations in the region and the telecommunication infrastructure appears to be more developed when compared to Asia and the Middle East. Australia has one of the most information rich experimental freenets established so far, when compared to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The Australian Department of Social Security has sponsored an experimental free-net since May 1995 and will continue to do so through early next year. During the course of these months the many users of this service will be surveyed. Results will help the Department of Social Security identify to what extent this communications resource empowers community groups and individuals on low incomes. In attempts to bring community groups to the attention of the public, the Community Information Network possesses a “Community Organizations’ room” among its many other chat rooms. Here groups use the Networks as a means of communicating their existence and purpose to the public. In this “space”, home pages can be published, organizations may be added to a directory, and discussions are held regarding topics pertaining to the community sector. Other rooms exist on this network which provide a forum for individuals who may otherwise be inadvertently isolated by society. One such room is the “Disability Room” which the Department of Social Security is putting forth every effort to make accessible to all the disabled–including the blind. The Department is working with new HTML coding to create a text based version of this site for blind people. Additionally in a paradoxical manner, the Department has created a room for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in which information by and about this group can be discussed. Other groups for whom chat rooms have been dedicated in this system are seniors, women, and youth. The last category of rooms is comprised of general service providers. The Australian Department of Social Security created a service-window room where network users have access to Social Security payment eligibility, rates, and a plethora of Department of Social Security publications. As a subsection of this room, the Prime Minister’s home page provides users with access to speeches and media releases. Another room provides a listing of job vacancies. There is even a “Learning Room” where information about courses, vocational education, and training is accessible. The “Family and Children’s Room” is a forum where parenting / family relationships, family health, education, and family entertainment are discussed. Visitors to this room are provided with tips to assist parents in helping their kids with reading, writing, and math among other subjects. Poverty is another topic for which a chat room is dedicated. The United Nations has declared this year the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, and the Community Information Network has helped concentrate attention to this issue. Other chat rooms in this Network which have not been discussed are the Government Information Room, the Heath Room, the Internet Room, Local Information room, and the Rural room (for those living in rural and inaccessible geographic locations). As of June 27, 1996, increased efficiency in Australian Internet networks became more likely. According to the July 15, 1996 article by Kristi Essick found in InfoWorld, Optus Communications Pty. Ltd, an Australian company launched a “commercial cable system capable of transmitting television, telephone, and high-speed data through a single wire”–the first of its kind in the entire world. This new service will provide Australians with telephone calls for 20% less than the government owned Telstra Corp.–a break for many including Internet users. Along this same mode of development, high-speed cable modems for Internet access are anticipated later in the year. According to Patrick Southern, a spokesman for Optus, company plans are to have an installed base of 2.3 million homes by the end of 1996. An additional move to more eff icient Internet access was made by publishing Company Digital Corporation which has plans to set up Alta Vista search sites in Australia and Sweden to establish “mirror sites” worldwide. These mirror sites, according to another InfoWorld article, will provide users in countries with these sites with quicker response times to their Internet search queries (Infoworld v18 n35, 52). Additionally between each pair of mirror sites, “local partners” will help translate pages into the native languages of the land. Overall, Australia seems to be one of the more developed countries in terms of its usage of the Internet. There are apparently no government regulations in this region as we could not come up with publications and articles about government restrictions in our research. The telecommunication infrastructure appears to be more developed compared to other countries we examined, as we only found projects for further enhancement of the communication network, such as plans for the installment of high speed cable modems or of commercial cable systems that make the transformation of several data available. In addition, Australia seems to be experimenting one of the information richest freenets created so far. With its rooms for disabilities and children, this freenet appears to be more culturally involving then the freenets we looked into in other parts of the world. ARE POOR COUNTRIES USING THE INTERNET Today, there are many people in developed countries who are very enthusiastic about the Internet being global. The developed countries see the Internet as the information revolution that brings no barriers of communication and information access from anywhere in the world. However, in most parts of Africa, in south and south-east Asia and in Central and Latin America, the people’s main concern is getting some food and water, fighting diseases, poverty, wars and political pressure. These people unfortunately don’t and cannot for the time being think about the internet as long as they have concerns about their own lives. Even in the developed countries, there still is a huge information gap when we look at the people who can afford the net and the ones who can’t afford it (Klein, p.1). Besides fighting their ultimate life problems, the poor developing countries are also trying hard to take some further steps in the information revolution because it is a cheaper way of communication and it gives access to a huge amount of information, (No phone – so what?) However it is only a small elite in poor developing countries who have the money and knowledge to be involved in the information revolution. Unfortunately the Internet is a lot more easily accessible to the rich than the poor. Another key thing that disables the use of the Internet in developing countries is the lack of high standard education which means that since people don’t learn how to use a computer in school, they are always a step behind in the information revolution. In his paper titled ‘No phone – so what?’ Juhani Artto argues that a hungry person will never buy a computer, but that a great many low-income but educated people in developing countries can become Internet users any time, provided that more equipment and more connections become available in educational institutions and workplaces. The problem in developing countries is that there are more hungry people than educated people so most of the public in these countries do not care about the Internet. The American feminist Dale Spender explains this situation in her book called ‘Nattering on the Net’ as follows : “The real people in the real world are being divided up into the information-rich and poor : the ‘master minds’ and those who are ‘kept in the dark’. The possibility of the global village where everyone can have a say, is yet a long way off” (Klein, p.1). Unfortunately some countries as mentioned before are ‘kept in the dark’ by the will and power of their governments. However, when looked at the situation from a more optimistic point of view, it is seen that even in the poorest countries there are people trying to catch up with the information revolution. For example, one of the poorest countries of the world, Mozambique, had 26 hosts last July, which is more than many richer developing countries. As a result it can be said that in today’s circumstances there’s is an information gap between the rich and the poor, but one should not forget the fact that there are poor people who are very enthusiastic about closing this gap and that the gap is getting smaller and smaller every day. CONCLUSION As it has been mentioned in the introduction, the development of the Internet all around the world is like a rushing horse carriage. The United States which is the horse pulling the carriage, is the leading country in the usage of the Internet, followed by Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. Worldwide, 50% of all Internet users are in the US, 25% are in Europe and the rest is scattered around the world. Internet usage in Europe varies according to different regions, with Scandinavian countries – especially Sweden – and the UK leading the race and the Eastern European countries coming last. Australia is pretty advanced in its Internet usage like Europe when compared to Asia and the Middle East. The Asian and Middle Eastern countries are behind in their Internet usage when compared to the rest of the world. In the Asian region, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore are the leading countries. In the Middle East, Israel takes the lead followed by Iran. The important point that should be kept in mind however is that, the US is constantly advancing its usage of the Internet and the rest of the world is trying to keep up with the competition. The major reasons why countries differ in their usage of the Internet are their varying telecommunications infrastructures and government regulations. The countries are divided into “haves” and “have nots” in terms of their communication infrastructures. Those that are ahead in the race have developed telecommunication infrastructures including high speed communication networks and inexpensive high capacity computers. Those that are behind in the race lack decent telephone systems and well established Internet services. In addition, government restrictions play a major role for countries to be left behind in the race. The communist governments in Asia and the fundamentalist governments in the Middle East have a ske ptical view on the Internet because of its pornographic, religious, and political content. They fear the political attacks against their current regimes. Most important, they are bothered by western imperialism and the flow of “detrimental” ideas into their region with the access of the Internet. Overall, they see the Internet as a threat to their traditional values even if they are aware of its effectiveness as a powerful tool for communication. As opposed to all the government limitations in Asia and the Middle East, government regulations are no longer an issue in Europe, particularly since the fall of the iron curtain. European countries, especially those in the European Union, support the growth of the Internet. The telecommunication deregulation law that is to be effective in 1998, is a good example for their support to the Internet. The only thing that creates problems in Europe is the bureaucracy to pass new telecommunication laws to provide better telecommunications infrastructure. Despite the limitations, Internet has gained worldwide cultural acceptance. All sorts of on-line communities have started to develop in different parts of the world. Newsgroups, on-line bulletin boards, interactive Web pages, chat rooms, Cyber Cafes, and freenets are the examples of different types of communities that have been established so far. European countries are among the countries where Internet has been integrated into cultural and intellectual life. Most European political parties have their own Web sites on the Internet and provide forums for discussion of current political events. Europeans have also created several freenets for the exchange of ideas. England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine have their own freenets. Australia is another region where Internet has been integrated into the cultural life. Australia has one of the most developed experimental freenets in the world. This freenet aims to provide recognition for community organizations and a forum for discussion. It has a variety of rooms ranging from Community Organization Room, Disability Room, General Service Providers Room, Family and Children’s’ Room to rooms for job listings and poverty. In Asia, Internet is newly starting to be part of the cultural life. So far, human rights activists, political dissidents, educational and business institutions have created their own Web pages. They use the Internet for campaigning, advertising and marketing purposes. In addition, newsgroups and chat rooms provide spaces for intellectual and political discussion in Asia. However, Asian countries still do not have their own freenets. The Middle East, with the exception of Israel, is a region where Internet has gained low cultural acceptance. Egypt is the only country in the Arab region that has its own virtual communities, news groups and mailing lists. Most of the virtual communities about the Middle East are formed by the Middle Easterners living outside of the Middle East as opposed to other countries that build their communities with the help of their actual residents. Overall, there is still some aspect of community in each of these regions. Finally, we think that there are two types of measures to be taken in order to make the Internet more global. The first category is the type of measures that can be taken by the governments themselves. During our research we have noticed that all the countries that have high Internet usage per capita, have competitive phone markets. So, for more Internet growth, the governments should pass deregulations such as the ones done by the European Union. If governments change the laws and liberate the telecommunications systems in their countries, the foreign companies that have the means can invest in starting new network systems. Also governments can promote national development programs such as the ones in Eastern Europe. The second measure that can be taken is that International Unions and Organizations can develop programs in order to promote Internet both in their regions and the rest of the world especially in the Third World countries. At present, there are a few good examples of how effective and influencing unions like United Nations (UN) and the European Union can be. 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