September 24th, 1997 to September 30th, 1997

The Internet

A Beast in the East

by Andrew Davis

Although Asia lags behind Europe and the U.S. when it comes to the Internet, it is developing quickly in this region, home to many of the world's semiconductor and personal computer factories. Currently, there are about three million Internet users in Asia-and the total is increasing at a rate of about five percent a month. At that rate, Asia will be home to about 25 to 30 million users by the millennium. A lot of work has to be done to simplify the movement of information between Asian networks. One of the biggest changes over the last year involves the building of international Internet backbones. An international consortium called Asian Internet Holdings was formed to specifically set up an Asian Net backbone. AIH is a joint venture among the Hong Kong Supernet, Internet Initiative Japan, Singapore's Sembawang Media, and Sumitomo Corp. The company has created a backbone in which Singapore and Hong Kong are connected to Japan through a link, while Japan is connected to the U.S. by another connection. The largest backbones between Asia and the States are the lines coming out of Japan. With about 1.5 million users, Japan is the most connected on the continent. How huge the Net becomes in Japan depends on a number of factors such as content quality, inexpensive software, a large PC market, and low-cost network access. As a matter of fact, Japanese language interfaces now exist and the PC market in the country is booming after growing 70 percent. One remaining hurdle is the high cost of telephone connectivity. The local phone company charges about ten yen (90¢) per three minutes for local calls, which means users are paying nearly twice as much to the phone companies as to the network access providers themselves. A lot of Net users now wait until after midnight to take advantage of lower rates. Perhaps the most controversial development has been the decision by a number of countries to control the flow of info over their segments of the Internet. For example, Vietnam delayed allowing Net access until it figures how to keep it under control-although a few months ago the government decided to use the Net on a "trial basis." In China, the government has been controlling Net access. Even so, after a brief period in which Net growth stopped, the Chinese government pressed ahead with efforts to expand Internet use tenfold to 150,000 by the end of 1996 and even more in 1997. China's approach to controlling information access is to limit Net access to academics and to require packets to go through government-controlled gateways. It should be interesting to see how Net users in Hong Kong deal with this authority, now that the area is under Chinese rule.

Other countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand are working to reap the rewards the Net can bring to their economies. Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia have multiple Internet service providers. However, it is likely that Net development in these countries will be limited because of language barriers, low standards of living, and a lack of network technicians, among other things. Malaysia, on the other hand, has a high standard of living and large numbers of PCs. Moreover, English is the official language, so American software can be used without being customized. Thus, while Asia still trails other areas of the globe in Net usage and development, it is plain to see that there is incentive- and steady advancement.

ANDREW'S PICKS:
(This month, these picks go to the dogs-and gerbils and wombats...)
1. If you're like me and you like whacking balls (tennis ones, of course), you'll appreciate the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance Home Page (http://members.aol.com/gaytenis/index.htm), which contains a tournament schedule, club contacts, etc.

2. Do you always find yourself surrounded by dogs? I don't mean the kind that stood you up in Roscoe's-I mean the kind that pants, jumps all over you, and has a wagging tail. The four-legged variety. Anyway, check out Wonderful Canine World (http://www.gae.unican.es/general/dogs/dogs.html), a bilingual (English/Spanish) site. You can view the Dog Breeds Collection (Portuguese Water Dog, anyone?) or look at links to other dog sites.

3. Then, there's Gerbil - A Queer Culture Zine (http://www.multicom.org/gerbil/gerbil.com), otherwise known as the site Richard Gere avoids the most. Hip and interesting people are featured here (including Lucy Lawless/Xena, Quentin Crisp, and Pansy Division).

4. WomBAT: Women of Beauty & Temptation (http://drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu/~julie/.wombat.html) is an e-mail list that caters to bi women. There's a list of rules and info about other sites such as Anything That Moves, a site for "the classic bisexual."

My e-mail: gemini1@nwu.edu

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