Push-button-autocracy in Tunisia: Analysing the role of Internet infrastructure,institutions and international markets in creating a Tunisian censorship regime

Internet censorship and control have been commonplace in Tunisia since the Internet became available to then public in 1996. It was not until the last days of the Jasmine revolution in January 2011 that the Tunisian government shut down the censorship regime, raising numerous questions about Internet censorship in Tunisia. This article will look at how former Tunisian president Ben Ali was able to shut down the Internet censorship regime within a matter of hours. In order to answer this question, it looks at the history of the Tunisian Internet and its Internet censorship regime, before analysing Internet architecture, Internet institutions, functional differentiation between elements of the regime and the role of international technology markets. Each of these factors contributes to the overall censorship regime and helps understand how former President Ben Ali was able to shutdown Internet censorship within a matter of hours. In conclusion, tracing the genesis of the Tunisian censorship regime may contribute to understanding the role of institutional, architectural and market-based factors in enabling other censorship regimes across the world.     

International trade and world food security : The role of developed countries since the World Food Conference

No mechanism is in place for the international coordination of grain stocks. World market stability is largely dependent upon the actions of major grain trading countries. These countries have avoided the exportation of their domestic supply variations onto world markets over the past decade, but have been reluctant to allow domestic consumption to respond to world shortages and surpluses. Improvement in the sensitivity of domestic storage and consumption to world conditions could increase their contribution to world food security.     

The growing complexity of content delivery networks: Challenges and implications for the Internet ecosystem

Since the commercialization of the Internet, content and related applications, including video streaming, news, advertisements, and social interaction have moved online. It is broadly recognized that the rise of all of these different types of content (static and dynamic, and increasingly multimedia) has been one of the main forces behind the phenomenal growth of the Internet, and its emergence as essential infrastructure for how individuals across the globe gain access to the content sources they want. To accelerate the delivery of diverse content in the Internet and to provide commercial-grade performance for video delivery and the Web, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) were introduced. This paper describes the current CDN ecosystem and the forces that have driven its evolution. We outline the different CDN architectures and consider their relative strengths and weaknesses. Our analysis highlights the role of location, the growing complexity of the CDN ecosystem, and their relationship to and implications for interconnection markets.     

模块化生产网络中的劳资关系嬗变:层级分化与协同治理

模块化生产网络的劳动过程不再局限于单个企业内部简单的分工协作,而采用跨组织边界的模块化作业方式,表现为由旗舰企业到外围供应商逐渐分化的复杂分工协作体系。该劳动体系使劳动力分化为核心劳动力和边缘劳动力两大群体,而劳动力的分化与资本权力的集中则使模块化生产网络形成"资强劳弱"的劳资关系格局。本文针对新劳资关系格局存在的各种弊病,指出未来劳资关系的治理必须摆脱经济人假设支配下的零和博弈逻辑,转而塑造合作共赢的新型劳资关系。合作型劳资关系的治理需要在技术、市场与社会价值观构成的开放环境中,由资方、劳方、政府和媒体共同在企业、产业、国家与社会四个层面围绕共享利益平台,建构均衡博弈、网络协同的治理机制。