When Should “Consumers-as-Producers” Have to Comply With Consumer Protection Laws?

Since the 1960s, consumer protection law has been built on the contrast between large “producers” and small “consumers.” Today, instead, an ordinary consumer owns what can accurately be called a “personal mainframe”—a home computer whose processing power matches an IBM mainframe from about 10 Years ago. Equipped with a personal mainframe—an Information-Age factory—ordinary “consumers” at home are increasingly also becoming “producers.” As unregulated consumers become regulated producers, a major legal question is whether and when the individual should have to comply with consumer protection laws. The discussion here selects four examples of US legal rules that might apply to consumers-as-producers, with recommendations spanning the range of possibilities: (1) consumer privacy legislation: creating a threshold, with no compliance required for databases of fewer than 5,000 names, is recommended; (2) advertising substantiation: concerning the requirement that advertisers have a “reasonable basis” for their claims, applying current law to small advertisers is recommended; (3) spam: current law does not create a threshold for those who send a few commercial emails, but such a threshold is worth considering; (4) political blogging: the author agrees with the US Federal Election Commission decision to create a major exemption from campaign finance laws for online political advocacy, even for large blogs or websites. The common theme among these recommendations is to describe the sort of harm that existing law seeks to reduce. The approach here next looks at how the use of personal mainframes affects creation of those harms. Where the sorts of harm are likely to be created by consumers-as-producers, the analysis tilts towards requiring compliance. Where the sorts of harms are unlikely to be caused by consumers-as-producers, then the case for an exception is stronger.

电子病历的商务模式探讨

文章从分析我国电子病历（EMR）的发展现状入手，指出电子病历将是医院信息系统（HIS）的未来发展方向。针对电子病历的医疗电子商务，提出了“EMR数据库模式”。同时对模式运营中存在的若干关键问题提出了解决办法。     

对美国税收管理经验的借鉴

美国税收管理的经验,对于我国有着积极的借鉴意义。笔者在考察了美国税收管理过程中的税收征管、税务稽查和信息化建设等方面的具体操作流程之后,针对我国税收管理中存在的问题提出了相应的对策。     

Strategic Internet application trends in supply chain management

The Internet is evolving as a powerful force in the new marketplace where the nexus of competition has changed from individual firms to efficient supply chain networks both between firms and within industries. This study explores Internet adoption patterns and operational applications in US supply chain networks. The data reveal that the integration of the Internet into supply chain management applications has increased and has moved away from indiscriminate application of novel Internet technologies towards becoming a focused endeavor with precise expectations and measurable goals. Specifically, the study finds that Internet usage within supply chains is maturing as evidenced by enhanced and increased productivity, reduced costs and increased profit for participating firms.     

石油企业发展电子商务的意义及应注意的问题

针对石油企业如何利用电子商务，加快自身发展建设为主题，从电子商务的概念，优点和意义入手，对石油企业如何实施电子商务，实施的条件和应注意的几个问题等进行了详细的阐述。认为在网络经济发展的今天，石油石化企业只有抓住机遇，大力利用电子商务，提高传统产业的竞争力，才能在市场竞争中立于不败之地。     

Liquidity, Transaction Costs, and Reintermediation in Electronic Markets

Relationships between trading cost, technology, and the nature of intermediation in the trading services industry are discussed. Electronic markets are linked to reductions in trading costs. Lower explicit costs are related to system development and operating costs. Electronic order book information is identified as a means of realizing implicit cost savings. The concept of liquidity management in electronic environments is introduced, and its potential is empirically illustrated. The empirical results suggest new roles for brokerage and exchange operations, and competition between the two. Competitive advantage with respect to the provision of liquidity management services is compared across types of intermediaries.     

电子货币对货币政策的影响

电子货币有效地降低了信息成本和交易费用,拓展了交易的时间和空间。同时电子货币的产生和发展也给社会经济带来了新的问题和挑战。电子货币的发行会减少流通中的现金,降低基础货币的规模,导致货币乘数趋于波动,从而影响央行货币政策。本文将通过分析电子货币对货币政策影响机制,探讨央行货币政策的应对措施。     

我国大型B2C电子商务企业自建物流的SWOT分析

21世纪是一个信息时代,而电子商务将成为信息时代商务活动的巨大进步与发展趋势。我国是一个电子商务刚刚起步的国家,电子商务具有广阔的发展空间与巨大的市场潜力,但在快速发展的同时也存在着一些问题,包括物流配送、网络技术、网上支付、物流配送等,而物流是制约我国电子商务发展的瓶颈。对涉足电子商务的企业而言,不同的情况需要不同的物流决策,而在物流决策中,物流模式的选择是首先应当考虑的。     

电子商务推荐系统中协同过滤推荐方法的研究

论文分析了电子商务推荐系统所应用到的协同过滤技术,并针对传统的基于用户的协同过滤推荐系统中所存在的数据稀疏性、算法的可扩展性、冷启动等问题,提出了改进的LSI／SVD降维、特征加权、用户的筛选等协同过滤推荐方法。     

Pricing Experience Goods in Information Good Markets: The Case of eBusiness Service Providers

We study the pricing strategies of firms providing a service in experience good markets with switching costs. Using data on vendors providing “hosting and related services” at an early stage of the market, we test for pricing distortions that follow from oligopolistic competition with quality uncertainty and switching costs. We find that firms with a brand name charge a premium for their product – leveraging the reputation accumulated in closely related markets. As the theoretical literature suggests, we also find that the type of pricing distortions along the product line depends on consumers’ expectations about quality. If consumers underestimate the quality of the product, firms behave as if they discount introductory contracts in order to build trust, and later on markup upgraded contract. In contrast, firms that offer a quality level that is lower than consumers’ expectations markup initial contracts while discounting upgraded ones.