Section 1.1
Forrester Research reported that online retail sales are likely to total
$172 billion for 2005.
Earlier the Dept. of Commerce reported that consumers spent $19.8 billion
online
in the first quarter of 2005 (up 24% from the first quarter of 2004).
The Dept. of Commerce figures are lower because it
doesn't count auctions and travel expenditures.
(June 5, 2005)
Section 1.2.2
An example of laws that need updating for modern technology:
During Japanese election campaigns in 2005, candidates were afraid to
use e-mail and blogs and to update their Web sites to communicate with voters
because a 1955 law that specifies the legal means of communicating
with voters does not, of course, include these methods.
It allows post cards and pamphlets. (Sept. 2005)
Section 1.2.2
Cameras in cell phones raise privacy issues that are not yet covered by
laws. For example, the privacy laws in Pennsylvania were not
sufficient to convict a man who used his cell phone to take a photo up
a woman's skirt. (The man was found guilty of disorderly conduct.)
The Pennsylvania legislature is considering amending its privacy law to
cover such incidents. (Aug. 2005)
Section 1.3.1
Consumers save 9%-16% by buying books and CDs on the Internet,
according to a Progressive Policy Institute report. We
also save 10%-40% by buying contact lenses online (in states where it
has not been made illegal). (Oct. 28, 2003;
reference: Robert D. Atkinson,
"Leveling the E-Commerce Playing Field:
Ensuring Tax and Regulatory Fairness for Online and Offline Businesses,"
June 30, 2003.)
Section 1.3.1
E-commerce businesses had a higher customer-satisfaction rating than
any other sector of the economy, in the University of Michigan's
National Quality Research Center
annual survey for 2003. Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and
eBay had the highest individual business ratings. (U. of Michigan,
National Quality Research Center. Feb. 18, 2004)
Section 1.3.5
When a man had a heart attack in a swimming
pool in Germany, lifeguards did not see him sink to the bottom of the
pool. An underwater surveillance system, using cameras and
sophisticated software, detected him and alerted the
lifeguards who rescued him.
A similar system alerted lifeguards in a busy swimming pool in France when
a man blacked out underwater. They saved his life.
The software distinguishes normal
swimming, shadows, and reflections from a swimmer in distress.
It is now installed in many large pools in Europe and the U.S.
(July 15, 2004)
Return to A Gift of Fire home page.