Napster, The Internet, And Mp3s Essays - Metallica, File Sharing

Napster, The Internet, And Mp3s The Internet. It is a vast network of millions of users, surfing and sharing billions of files, all day, every day. This scares many copyright holders out of their minds. After all, there is virtually no one to protect these copyright holders from the misuse of their intellectual property certainly not the dinosaur that is our government. But, as Scott Sullivan, writer for The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin stated, as history has proven, freedom and technological and societal advances usually come with a price. The price society is paying for the Internet is a loss of copyright protection by laws for their intellectual material. Take Napster for instance. It is a simple program created by a young college student named Shawn Fanning that enables users to anonymously swap and share audio files known as MP3s. When it first came into existence, it only had 3,000 or so users. However, according to Chris Sherman, writer for the magazine Online, says Napster has become the most successful new Web technology ever, gaining more than 25 million registered users in just over a year or existence. At the beginning of its life, Napster could probably have easily been protected by the Audio Home Recording Act, which gives consumers the right to create and transfer digital music for noncommercial purposes. (Sherman) At this point, however, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) begs to differ. They believe the fact that millions of users can share songs with one another is an egregious violation of copyright and constitutes outright theft of intellectual property. (Sherman) They have won a lawsuit under this argument against Napster in early 2001, so the program may go offline unless a compromise is reached. Unfortunately, its a fairly simple job to shut down Napster permanently because of its centralized service. However file sharing, a mainstay of Web activity thats considered almost a right by many users, is too popular to stomp out in one fell swoop (Sherman) The technology under which Napster operates, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), has been in use since 1971. It would be as difficult to destroy this technology as it would music itself. But, thats what the RIAA insists on attempting to do. Instead of embracing and adapting FTP and MP3s, they mindlessly attempt to crush it, like they do to all new technology. Alex Torralbas, who has worked in the recording industry, states, in the 1980s they effectively killed the digital audio tape, and in the 70s, albums and tapes bore skull-and-crossbones stickers warning buyers against taping the music on cassettes. The MP3 is nothing new to the RIAA just another piece of technology to instinctively crush. The record industrys business model is pure Industrial Age; manufacturing and shipping pieces of plastic. MP3 and other forms of digital music threaten this model. (Torralbas) It doesnt matter that this technology would effectively allow RIAA to come into the Digital Age by letting users directly download music, bypassing the CD stage (for a small fee, of course). It doesnt matter that, if Napster does shut down, virtually millions of music fans will be wondering where they can download music. It doesnt matter that the majority of those same fans would be willing to pay money for downloadable music. Millions of people want easily accessible music, whether they pay for it or not, and if the RIAA doesnt realize that soon, no amount of lawsuits will prevent them from becoming extinct. The United States Supreme Court has made its ruling against Napster, but how will it hold up in reality, or more specifically, on the Internet? In some cases, the law is extremely inadequate protections, and the Internet is one such case. Simply put, the Internet is too expansive to be governed by conventional laws. The Web offers anonymity and a buffer from getting caught. (Sullivan) If a major crime has been committed, such as Vladimir Levins theft of $10 million dollars, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is competent enough to track down the criminal and put him or her behind bars. But what of the case of simple copyright violation? Is it really feasible to drag out some FBI agents to track down some high school child who

distinction between relation of ideas and matter of fact Essays

distinction between relation of ideas and matter of fact Essays distinction between relation of ideas and matter of fact Essay distinction between relation of ideas and matter of fact Essay Essay Topic: Ideas Hume makes a distinction between relation of ideas and matter of fact. Relation of ideas is a priori, meaning that it can be justified by reason. It does not depend on something else that exists in the universe. Denying, or trying to falsify the propositions is a contradiction or inconceivable. People gain this knowledge intuitively, or through demonstrative reasoning. Matters of fact are posteriori in that they are only justified through experience. They are possible, but they may not be necessary, and it is consequently necessary to deny them without contradiction. Denying such propositions is conceivable. People know and understand this knowledge through cause and effect, and this is based on their experiences; accordingly, it is not possible to demonstrate it. This makes it possible to infer an unobserved fact from an observed one. Since there is no contradiction made in denying matters of fact, then one cannot justify a causal inference. People are able to tell what will happen in the future because of what they have observed in the past. Reasoning by induction is based and justified on a universal principle, which explains with certainty that the future will resemble the past. It is not possible to determine a universal principle, through reason since denying such a reason would be possible and conceivable. Hume, further points out that reasoning by induction is not valid because of the impossibility of proving a universal principle. People’s acceptance of a universal principle is not rational since they have no reason for doing something in their own way, and not in another way. It is possible to get the intended results, but the results can also fail. People’s acceptance of a universal principle is based on customs rather than reason. There are two parts of the dilemma. If determinism is true, then there is no free will. If there is indeterminism, then there is no control of will, and consequently, no control of action. Determinism is the idea that all events are caused, and, as a result, there is no free will since all actions are pre determined. Determinists believe that having free will means acknowledging the idea of a supernatural. The existence of a supernatural enables them to make conscious decisions, and this separates them from the other natural world. This limits people in the decisions they make. A person who is worried and conscious about the alternative he chooses does not have free will when making that decision. Compatibilism posits that it is possible to have determinism and free will. Incompatibilism rejects the idea of free will in determinism. Compatibilism rejects the idea of someone or an agent determining a person’s actions because if this were the case, then there would be no free wi ll. Some compatibilists believe that a free willed action is one that a person does out of his own decision, without any force or compulsion from someone. The definition of free will or freedom is the main determinant in understanding compatibilism in such a case. Such compatibilists believe that freedom is lack of constraints by forces, which are beyond someone’s control. In such a case then, the person has both free will and determinism. Libertarians are incompatibilists, in that they do not believe that free will and determinism are compatible. They recognize that there may be some constraints limiting people’s actions, but these constraints do not determine people’s actions. People are rational and they are capable of choosing one choice from the possible alternatives freely. Compatibilism recognizes the presence of determinism, which in essence hinders free will. Libertarianism advocates the idea of people being free. Actions are free if they originate from the agent, and if there are alternatives. This gives the agent the freedom of the mind, in terms of the actions thought of and the freedom to choose from the alternatives. Agent-causation means that the agent has free will in determining the cause of the action. This differs from event causation, whereby the agent does not have any free will. A chain of caused events begins with the agents, and the agents do not act in response to the event, which would signify them having limited options.

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) - Essay Example However lending has an interest rate attached to it. In the open market, it is also assumed that traders have all relevant information rates of stocks and other co-variances. Traders in an open market are also assumed to be rationale about being risk averse and all investors have same assets to choose from given all information concerning the assets and same decision methods are applied (Burton, 1998). This brings us to the concept of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The model is very useful and is widely used in the industry, although it is based on very strong assumptions. This paper will focus on brief theory of arbitrage theory of the CAPM model, main theories behind this model and their critique. First, the model is quite useful as it focuses on determining the required rate of return appropriate for a company’s assets. The model requires various firms to have a portfolio that is well diversified, as long as the risks prone to the assets cannot be diversified (Brealey, et al 2009). Practically, most companies utilize CAPM model to determine the price of a security or a portfolio. In this case, a security market line that defines the relationship existing between the beta and expected rate of return of an asset is utilized. The line also enables firms to calculate a ratio that equates an asset’s rewards to its risks. It is also through the model that firms are able to determine the rate at which an asset’s cash inflows expected to be generated in future should be discounted. This takes into account the cash inflows in relation to the risks existing in the market. The arbitrage model was an alternative to the means variance capital asset pricing. Currently, the model has become a crucial tool in explaining the phenomenon mostly observed in the capital markets that deal with risky assets. One assumption of the capital asset pricing model is the assumption of normality in returns. It is from this assumption that the linear elation stipulated above originates. The assumption has had critique since theoretically, there does not exist guarantee to such efficiency. However, there is restrictiveness that underlie the mean variance model; therefore being the evidence of the existence of the linear relationship between risks and returns. This led to the popularity of the model. It was until later that Ross introduced a new model that would yield better results when pricing risky assets. The arbitrage model would hold both in equilibrium and all sorts of disequilibria unlike the mean variance analysis. However, there are some weaknesses in relation to this theory. For instance, when dealing with the number of assets, as assets increase, their r eturns are also expected to increase. This will result to an increase in risk aversion to investors. The arbitrage model has the law of large numbers where the noise term becomes negligible as the number of assets expands. Where the degree of risk aversion increases with the increase in the number of assets, the two effects cancels out, leaving the noise term to have a persistent effect on the pricing decision. In developing the arbitrage theory, several assumptions were put into consideration. First is the assumption of limitations on liability. It is assumed that there exists at least one asset which has a limited liability. This means that there are some bound per unit to the losses for which an investor is liable. The second assumption was based on the homogeneity of expectations. All the investors hold the same expectations, since all have the same assets, information and are risk averse. There also exists at least o

Management of Change - OPEN24 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Management of Change - OPEN24 - Essay Example Increasing competition in the marketplace combined with rather draconian cultural internal problems such as bureaucracy, poor communication, and perceived lack of personal job advancement possibilities has led our group to a reassessing process of the market demands and a reshuffling within the organization. OPEN 24 has two main aims: a- Increase the number of financial advisors to 300 and thus, even more aggressively gain a higher share of the Attica market, and b- expand to the provinces within the current year, establish itself to the major cities, i.e. Patras, Heraklio and Volos, and get a fare share of the local markets before the competition moves in. Change management is the process of developing a planned approach to change in an organization. The main objective is to maximize the collective benefits for all people involved in the change and minimize the risk of failure of implementing the change. Change management can be approached from a number of angles and applied to numerous organizational processes. (Worren, Ruddle and Moore, 1999) One The main problems that the department faces and can prevent from the above mentioned plans are the following: Strict Management that creates employee dissatisfaction thus, high employee turnover ratio. Bureaucracy which slows down procedures. Poor communication. Perceived lack of personal job advancement possibilities. Structuring the Department One of the first attempts to avoid conflicts among FAs was the creation of a Customer Database. It was a customized software that the operators could input all potential and existing customers. Then the following procedures were applied: Phone Calling Management- FAs were making phone calls for two hours every day, 9-11. Lists that were to be reached were inputted in the Data base. By logging into the system, the managers could get a report any time they wanted of how many phone calls each of the FAs have done, how many prospects have been contacted and how many appointments were fixed. Rendezvous Management- A call center team of 4 people was created to back up this procedure. Before an FA visits a prospect, the call center confirms the appointment with the customer and then calls and informs the FA to go to the appointment. After the appointment has been completed, FAs should call the call center and report back. The final stage is when the call center calls the visited customer and does a quality check of the visit. After that, a report with all above information is created and emailed to the Sales Manager. All the above procedures are taking place with the help of the above mentioned Data base. The idea of creating such software and the procedures

Creation Myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Creation Myths - Essay Example God then created a beautiful garden Eden so that Adam could live in it. God then brought animals into the garden so that Adam can name them. So it was Adam, who was the first human being, responsible for naming the animals. Since Adam was the sole human being on earth he was given the power to dominate the animals. However, seeing his loneliness and lack of company God created the first woman and named him Eve. Adam and Eve were given the power to control everything on earth that was created from dirt. There was a tree in the center of the garden. Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to touch it. One day a snake entered the garden and tempted Eve to eat a fruit from the tree. The tree was known as the knowledge tree and provided knowledge to distinguish between the good and the evil. By eating the fruit Adam and Eve committed the first sin of disobedience. They failed to obey the order of God and this instilled in their minds a sense of guilt. When God asked Adam if he has eaten the fr uit he put the blame on Eve. â€Å"And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate†. (Troyer, 2007, p.105) Similarly Eve blamed the snake for her own act of disobedience. â€Å"And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate†. ... The first living creature appeared when Ra who was the Egyptian sun god was born out of an egg. He had many names and they symbolize different positions of the sun. He was â€Å"Aten (sun disk), Khepri (the rising sun), Ra (supreme god of Heliopolis), and Atum (the setting sun)†. (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d., p.35) Egypt is a land of â€Å"eternal sunshine† and so it was natural for them to symbolize the sun god as the creator of the universe. The human beings were created from the eye of Ra. The eye got lost and Ra could not find it. His son Shu and daughter Tefnut went to fetch it but failed. There was a struggle between them which caused the eye to shed tears. Human beings were born from the tears. Therefore the eye of Ra symbolizes life. â€Å"The act of bringing the eye back to the creator was equivalent to healing the earth – the restoration of right and order†. (The Egyptian Religion and Creation Myth, n.d., p.33) Ra’s son S hu represented dry air while daughter Tefnut represented moisture. Together they are symbolized in the Egyptian culture as life and justice. In both the mythologies it was the male who first created. Adam and Ra were both representatives of the male. In both cases there is the event of sibling murder. In Egyptian mythology Set killed his brother Osiris while in the Genesis Cain killed his brother and in both cases the reason was jealousy. What role does sex play? After God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, God brought all the animals into the garden and authorized Adam to name them. So it was Adam who named the animals and not Eve. This authority was given to man by God and so it is more a man’s duty than a woman to fulfill the command of God. Since Adam was created before Eve and so

The economic globalization of football

The economic globalization of football Abstract Football is not only the most popular sport of the world, but also the most globalized one. With its popularity and passion, football attracts the support of billions of people and sponsorship of international companies almost every single corner of the world. This paper examines the globalization of football in accordance with the concepts consumption and empowerment with concrete examples. The paper addresses economic globalization of football by considering the worlds major clubs turning into multinational corporations (MNCs); and affirms the utility of football as an important strategy for the empowerment, particularly in less-developed and developing countries. There will be given place to the initiatives that are being carried out by FIFA, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) where football is the main strategy. Keywords Football, Globalization, Consumption, Empowerment, FIFA, UNICEF Introduction: Problem Description â€Å"I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.† says English novelist and essayist Nick Hornby in his worldwide famous book ‘Fever Pitch.[1] As it is looked at the popularity and passion of the football that surround billions of people from all around the world, Hornby was totally right. There is no other ‘thing which is more global than football. History of humanity witnessed tons of actors who were trying to establish huge empires: Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler. However, none of them even came close to the magnificence of this gigantic empire: Football In this research paper, firstly, I will give a place to the history of football briefly and then I will focus on the globalization process of football that started as a local phenomenon and then became a global passion. ‘Does the globalization of football encourag e people for the consumption? and ‘Is it possible to use football as a strategy for empowerment? will be the questions which are going to be answered with concrete examples. Background: History of Football There have been different types of games that were playing by ‘foot and ‘ball in different corners of the world. â€Å"There are claims that suggest ball games were played earliest in Ancient China, maybe as early as 2500 BCE.†[2] Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), world governing body of football, also declared that â€Å"football, with the name of ‘cuju, was born in the Shandong Province of Linzi during the West Han Dynasty. A primitive version of football existed in China centuries before it was modified and given rules by English scholars to become association football†[3]. The evaluation of football took place in Britain and football, with the type which is very close to the modern style, was first played in Britain in the late nineteenth century. As an inventor of modern football, British were also effective in the spreading of football to the continental Europe and overseas countries with the help of railways and sea ways. When the English sailors and merchants give a break in the harbors, they performed this game, and the indigenous people imitated them very easily. That is why, in the continental Europe, first football teams were established in the harbor cities such as: Le Havre Athletic Club (France), Genoa Football Club (Italy), Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona (Spain), Hamburg and Hannover 96 (Germany).[4] The spreading process of football to Africa and Asia took place in a different way; they met with football through colonial powers. For this reason, British colonies met with football earlier than the other nations.[5] Globalization of Football In the 1930s, the evolution of radio accelerated the spreading of football. However, football started to become more popular with the help of television. At the beginning, TV and football were not very good friends since those who were responsible from the football were blaming TV to unload the stadiums. In the following decades, the relation between football and television became better and latterly it started to base on bilateral benefit. The first football broadcasting on television, namely on BBC, was the final match of the English Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) in 1938. The 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland was the first world cup that was broadcasted on TV. Football- television partnership was conquering the world; however, â€Å"the most important factor that has reinforced the restructuring of football and football clubs has been the arrival of cable and satellite television†.[6] The 1966 FIFA World Cup in England was broadcasted via satellite and the fin al match of the tournament was watched by 400 million people from 36 different countries. The statistics of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France shows that, the final match of this tournament between Brazil and France attracted 2 billion viewers.[7] â€Å"Television coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was the most extensive to date with 376 channels showing the event. What is more, the 2006 event had TV coverage in 214 countries. The tournament had a total cumulative television audience of 26.29 billion.†[8] Another point, which came to the fore as a result of this football-television partnership, is the broadcasting right agreements between football federations, football clubs and television channels. In 1960, European Football Championships broadcasting rights were sold for only 8,000 pounds. As a natural result of globalization and industrialization of football, the broadcasting rights agreements, which cost billions of dollars/euros, started to be signed. For example, the br oadcasting rights of the English Premiere League were sold to the British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB) for a fee of 1, 65 billion pounds in 2000.[9] I believe that it is very helpful to look at the numbers again in order to understand the globalization process of football. The shift from 8000 pounds to 1, 65 billion pound proves that television has great influence on the globalization of football and there is a double-sided benefit between them. TV has helped to the ball to bounce in whole world, and the ball has helped to the successes of the TV.[10] Another indicator, that proofs the globalization of football, is the selection of rival teams. First international football matches were played between neighbor countries such as; England- Scotland (1872), Portugal- Spain (1923), Sweden- Norway (1908), Costa Rica- Salvador (1923) and Japan- China (1917).[11] However, nowadays, it is very common to see football matches between England- Brazil, Australia- Uruguay, Turkey- Costa Rica, or Leba non- Vietnam. Besides these, football shifted from bilateral concept to the multilateral one with the help of tournaments like World Cup, European Cup, and African Nations Cup. The passing of football from local to the international arena firstly took place in the World Cup in Uruguay, where 13 national teams attended, in 1930. At this point, it is very helpful to look at the statistical datas of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, in order to see evolution of football better. For the last world cup in Germany, 198 national teams attempted to qualify, and 32 of them from six different continents competed in Germany.[12] Football and Consumption[13] Within the framework of globalization process, another important concept is the marketing, promotion, and as a natural result of these, consumption of football. Football is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular (probably the first one) sports in the world, and the marketing of football has become an increasingly significant issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs started to become multinational companies (MNCs) in parallel to the globalization, and they perform like a company in order to increase their revenues with the help of different marketing techniques and financial strategies. Football clubs from all around the world use the mass media as an important tool not only attracting the people into the role of football spectator but also to associate football with the consumption of products through commercials.[14] Moreover, most of the major football teams have their own TV channel, radio or magazine in order to market their ac tivities, organizations and licensed products; and to increase their brand value. For example, the official Manchester United magazine, ‘Inside United is sold in China with a circulation of 50,000 copies.[15] Examples can be increased; Italian football club Juventus has 1200 fan clubs in all over the world. The TV channel of worldwide famous Spanish team Real Madrid ‘Real is watched in 40 different countries.[16] Another strategy, which is popularly used by big clubs, is to increase their visibility in Asia, North America and Middle East. Football clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, arrange training camps or friendly games in China, Japan, the USA, and United Arab Emirates; thus they aim to enlarge their market and to increase the number of potential customers. Major football clubs open stores in various cities where their Asian, American, Middle Eastern fans can find official products of their European clubs, such as jersey, cap, scarf, shirt, flag etc. Football clubs are trying to reach their overseas fans not only by arranging camps or opening merchandising stores; but also by developing interactive services where fans follow their team all year long. For example Manchester United and FC Barcelonas webpage has Chinese, Japanese and Arabic version. At this point, it is remarkable to remember the declaration of former president of Italian football club Lazio , Sergio Cragnotti: â€Å"In the era of globalization, when people have more leisure time, football is the most global business of the lot. You tell me another product that is bought off the shelf by three billion consumers. Not even Coca- Cola comes close†.[17] In the same manner, transfer of David Beckham from Manchester United to Real Madrid can be a good example how globalized football icons affect the balance sheets of football clubs and encourage supporters to buy official products of their clubs. â€Å"Apart from benefiting from his football ability, this transfer gives the Spanish club an opportunity to profit from merchandising, especially in the Far East, where Beckham is enormously popular.†[18] Real Madrid paid $50 million for David Beckham in 2003. But, later â€Å"Real had put some hard numbers on the players off-the-field impact in his four years at the club. The club sold à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬440 million ($600 million) worth of shirts and other soccer mercha ndise during that time, increasing merchandising profits by 137%†[19], according to the Real Madrids marketing director Jose Sanchez. Football is getting more industrialized day by day and accordingly; businessmen, Russian oligarchs, Arabian oil barons, old prime ministers started to perceive football as a business and invest on football clubs in order to gain their profit, to get prestige or for some other reasons. Former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatras purchasing of English football club Manchester City and latterly selling it to the Emirati businessman Sulaiman Al-Fahim can be a good example how this football thing perceived as an income channel by business world. The same relation between business world and football can be seen in the examples such as; Russian businessman Roman Abramovich- English football club Chelsea; Russian-born Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov- Scottish football club Hearts and American businessman Malcolm Glazer- English football club Manchester United. Another dimension of football-consumption concept is the usage of football clubs and players as an icon, product or service by international brands. The broadcasting rights agreements which cost billions of dollars/euros with television channels (Eurosport, Fox, BskyB, etc.), sponsorship agreements with sports equipments suppliers (Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, etc.), transportation agreements with automobile and airline companies (Audi, Mercedes, Fly Emirates, Thomas Cook, Turkish Airlines, etc.), communication agreements with electronic companies and GSM operators (Samsung, Vodafone, Philips, etc.) are all big income channels for both football clubs and those multinational companies themselves. In the world economy, football is an important and popular tool, especially for the companies in the consumption and service sector, to promote themselves and their products. Until the beginning of 21st century, only interaction between companies and football clubs was mostly based on simple a greements such as jersey advertisements. However, especially in the last years, international companies sign more comprehensive and significant amounted sponsorship agreements with the football clubs. Football clubs stadiums (Commerzbank Arena, Emirates Stadium, Philips Stadion, Bolton Reebok Stadium), names (FC Red Bull Salzburg), even their leagues (Ireland Eircom Premier League, Romania Liga I Gamebookers.com, Turkey Turkcell Super League, Portugal Carlsberg Cup) where they are competing have begun to be known with the name of international brands. These kinds of agreements are not only take place between global companies and football clubs but also between global companies and football players. Many football stars such as David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic earn large sums of money not only for their sporting abilities but also through sponsorship agreements. The gain is mutual; while football players make a lot of money thanks to those sponsorship agreements; international brands have chance to expand their markets and increase the number of their potential customers with the help of football icons. Moreover, these kinds of agreements among football players and companies may affect players professional career as well. â€Å"Pepsi and Adidas played a big role in forcing David Beckham to move to Real Madrid. For Pepsi, it would be more profitable for them to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid because Real Madrid has three other players that have sponsorship deals with Pepsi. But the biggest influen ce came from Adidas, which is the main sponsor to David Beckham. Manchester Untied is sponsored by Nike, Adidas biggest competition in the industry and Real Madrid is sponsored by Adidas, so it would be so much better for Adidas to have David Beckham to play in Real Madrid instead of Manchester United.†[20] Another remarkable example is the transfer of worldwide famous Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, from Manchester United to Real Madrid that is sponsored by Adidas. Nike, which is the personal sponsor of the player, sent him to the official unveiling in Madrid with a T-shirt where a big Nike logo on it. Football and Empowerment Football is one of the most globalized concepts of the era that has tons of followers in all around the world. They play this game in stadiums, dusty streets, beaches, deserts, in the middle of war zones; in the rainy, snowy, windy weather. On the other hand, the same people are suffering as a result of armed conflicts, ethnic and religious disputes, poverty and HIV/AIDS in almost every corner of the world, especially in less developed and developing countries. But even in dreadful situations, children played/are playing/will play football in every chance that they have. Football is a universal language for all those children from all around the world. â€Å"Football is more than ‘just a game, it is a positive lifestyle. It teaches children to trust each other, lures them away from drugs and violence and provides them with a protective environment where they can grow up healthy, fit and self-confident.†[21] It is obvious that those people (especially children) in the pr oblematic areas of the world should be empowered. The question is that is it possible to use football as a tool for empowerment? The World Bank defines empowerment as â€Å"the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.†[22] When it is looked at the social economical and cultural effects of the football, yes it is possible to claim that football can be used as a tool for the empowerment of people who live in the problematic areas of the world. By those, who noticed the importance of sports as a tool for development in the last years; sport, particularly football, has been started to use as a strategy for the empowerment of people (especially children) worldwide. International, regional and local organizations, governments, NGOs and individual activists launched and are still launching programs and campaigns, where football is the main strategy, for the empowerment of children and woman especially from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world. All those organizations have their own techniques, methods and ways of working; but they all have one purpose: to improve the lives of children and women by fostering empowerment. With its popularity and passion; football surrounds billions of people and â€Å"reaches more youth than any other recreational activity in the world.†[23] According to the UNESCO report, related with the variety of sports activities in 48 less developed countries which are located in Af rica, America and Asia-Pacific region, only three sports are practiced in all of those countries: athletics, football and basketball.[24] And football is the only sport that is being performed in every single corner of all those countries. As a result of an idea â€Å"Harnessing the power of football, a universal language that all children understand, can translate into an effective tool to combat violence and conflict, enabling children to grow up in more peaceful societies.†[25], football is being used as an important empowerment strategy by many international organizations such as UNICEF, FIFA or football clubs. Since 1999, UNICEF and FIFA have many collective campaigns under the framework of â€Å"Unite for Children†[26] for the rehabilitation and development of children especially in problematic areas of the world by using football as a strategy. The main purposes of those programs are to â€Å"prevent children from being recruited as child soldiers, inform them about the dangers of HIV/AIDS through education and discussion, and promote educations for girls, among many other objectives.†[27] To reduce the damage of HIV/AIDS is one of the priorities of campaigns which held by UNICEF and FIFA. According to the 1998 numbers, 2.2 million people died from AIDS just in Sub- Saharan Africa.[28] The diseases like malaria or HIV/AIDS are serious threats to economic, social development and stability of developing countries both in Africa and in some other regions of the world. In January 2000, the former secretary- general of UN Kofi Annan stressed the seriousness of health problems, particularly AIDS, for African countries with these words: â€Å"The impact of AIDS in Africa was no less destructive than that of warfare itself. By overwhelming the continents health and social services, by creating millions of orphans, and by decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises which in turn threaten political stab ility In already unstable societies, this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict. And conflict, in turn, provides fertile ground for further infections.†[29] Yes, that is obvious that football can not eliminate those health problems by itself, it can not realize the development by itself; but it is again obvious that it can help the empowerment of people in those less- developed and developing countries by using its popularity and attractiveness. Another campaign that was launched by UNICEF and supported by FIFA is ‘Say Yes for Children, that â€Å"urges people to pledge their commitment to improve and protect childrens lives.†[30] Recently, the campaign has more than 94 million supporters from all around the world. The 2002 World Cup, which was organized by Japan and the Republic of Korea, was dedicated to the children of the world by FIFA in order to support ‘Say Yes for Children campaign and attract the attention of world to this humanitarian cause: children. â€Å"Girls and women face a disproportionate number of life challenges, which reduce their ability to achieve their full potential. Recent studies show that despite formal guarantees of equality, the overall rate of progress for women, particularly those from the poorest and most marginalized regions of the world has been slow.†[31] In this manner, the campaign â€Å"‘Go Girls! Education for Every Child is UNICEFs public outreach campaign to raise awareness, generate public support and mobilize resources for girls education in countries around the world.†[32] Accordingly, FIFA dedicated ‘Womens World Cup 2003 to this campaign. During the tournament, a lot of advertisements and promotions were held about the campaign, and at the same time â€Å"FIFA has also donated more than 600 ‘sport-in-a-box kits to support UNICEF programmes around the world.†[33] Those kits which contain equipments to play football, aim to attract girls to the school and en courage them to do sport. â€Å"In Guinea and Djibouti, for example, UNICEF is using the sports kits as a way of improving girls attendance in schools, empowering girls and changing attitudes towards girls.†[34] Football takes a very significant place at UNICEFs agenda and the cooperation between UNICEF country offices and FIFA national associations is held in more than 75 countries. Campaigns such as in Fà ºtbol para la Vida (Football for Life) in Honduras and Fà ºtbol para la Paz (Football for Peace) in Colombia are two other examples where football is being used as an empowerment strategy. Both during and after the conflicts in Balkans, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Georgia or Sudan, football was used as an important tool to decrease the trauma of conflict. There are also some education programmes, where football is used as a tool, in Kenya, Liberia and Honduras tosupportHIV/AIDS preventioncampaigns. Apart from UNICEF and FIFA campaigns, there are various empowerment initiatives to provide a better and safe environment for the children and women of countries which are affected by war, poverty and HIV/AIDS particularly in Africa and Latin America. ‘Womens Soccer Unity in Rwanda is a project which aims â€Å"to empower girls and women through football in all regions of Rwanda and to create a solid womens football federation.†[35] After the education program in Kigali, participants return to their hometowns; found and develop their own female football teams on a volunteer basis. â€Å"They also take on the development of peace and reconciliation and the eradication of gender based violence by using football as a platform for outreach and education.†[36] ‘AFESCO; a campaign that deals with teenage girls and women who were displaced from their homes and live in refugee camps in Democratic Republic of Congo, has â€Å"initiated a project in 2008 with approxim ately 50 girls and women learning football skills and partaking in education about womens rights, overcoming trauma and peace and reconciliation.†[37] ‘Moving the Goalposts (MTG), a community based organization in Kenya, is helping more than 3000 girls and women (between the ages 9 and 25), who are participating in football tournaments and ongoing leagues. â€Å"Participants are encouraged to be active in leadership roles such as: committee membership, coaching, refereeing, first aid, peer educating and counseling. Moreover, MTG has used football projects successfully to address reproductive rights and economic empowerment, for in school and out of school girls.†[38] ‘Family in Need Trust organization is â€Å"dedicated to reducing poverty and empowering girls and women†[39] who are suffering and can not participate actively in the social life as a result of political situation in Zimbabwe. The organization is supporting sport activities, particularly football, as well as professional education for 300 girls and women. ‘Kroobay Women and Girls Sport in Sierra Leone is a womens rights organization, that aims sustainable development and gender equality through sport movement for girls and women who were affected negatively from the war between 1991 and 2004. The organization â€Å"uses different sports (running, football, volleyball) to reach 200 girls and young women in the Kroobay community in order to increase their physical endurance, learn conflict management, develop their leadership skills, and develop a higher self-esteem and pride in themselves.†[40] ‘Associacià ³n Bogota Colombia is another community based NGO which â€Å"develops projects for homeless and excluded people facing problems of social disparities, poverty, discrimination, violence, insecurity and conflicts.†[41] The method of the association is using street football as a uniting element for the girls between the ages 15 and 19. Tha nks to the campaign, participants are also being engaged to the income generation projects, community service, and education programmes. The Homeless World Cup, which aims the empowerment of children in all around the world, has been held annually since 2003. The Homeless World Cup is an international football tournament that aims to combine young homeless people from all around the world and to give them a chance to represent their country and meet other young people from different countries. â€Å"It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 70 nations working with over 30,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year. The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.†[42] The organizations such as UEFA, UN; football clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid and football players such as Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand a re some of the supporters of the initiative. Another contribution to the empowerment of children, in problematic areas of the world has come from football clubs. Manchester United is one of the first football clubs that started to work with UNICEF to support children which were affected by HIV/ AIDS. â€Å"The club that has been working with UNICEF since 1999 under the name of the ‘United for UNICEF â€Å"has raised over 2 million for UNICEF programmes and has benefited over 1.5 million children worldwide.†[43] Another football club that supports UNICEF is Barcelona FC. For the first time in the clubs 107 years history, they signed an alliance with UNICEF in 2006, â€Å"which included an annual contribution of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5m to the charity for the right to wear the UNICEF logo on the Barcelona jersey. Barcelona and UNICEFs global partnership has supported more than 100,000 children, notably in sub-Saharan Africa.†[44] For example, in the first year of this agreement, the donation was canalized for the rehabilitation of children affected by AIDS in Swaziland. As a result of education and sport programmes there was a remarkable improvement in the better protection, support and care of orphans and vulnerable children. Besides, the public awareness to the AIDS has risen as well. Another Spanish football club Real Madrid launched a partnership with UNICEF in 2004, to work for childrens right. â€Å"The club works to improve the lives of children by harnessing the power of football and the global influence of the team and drawing attention to childrens issues.†[45] Real Madrid FC also welcomed four Somali youth in 2004 under the framework of an education programme jointly held with the UNICEF Somalia, and provided them two week summer football camp. Conclusion Football has always been a popular sport, but especially after the globalization process it has become a business as well. The marketing of football has become an important issue, as clubs and product owners want to provide more profit from this sport. Football clubs have started to act like MNCs. They follow strategies which aim to increase loyalty of fans to their teams and to encourage them for more consumption. Even if globalized football triggers the consumption, amateur spirit in football should be kept in order to maintain its passion that attracts billions from all around the world. I believe that ‘Football Empire will never collapse unlike the previous ones which were established by Atilla, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon or Hitler; since it grew and spread up by acceptance not by force. â€Å"Football is Old Europe and New Europe. It is Brazil and the rest of Latin America, along with Africa, Asia, Australia, and the United States. It is the Islamic world. Every World Cup is a celebration of a happier globalization than the one we all know. The nations of the world come together for a contest between peers, with no single party calling the shots. Football can be our role model for a just world order.†[46] Football should not be extremely overestimated or underestimated. Football, by itself, can not cause a tension or a war between two countries that have good relations. Football can not stop a conflict without the political will of actors. However, it can be used in one of these fields. In its own measure, football can be effective to increase or help the detente of violence. Football can be an important tool for the empowerment of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America; it is obvious that it can not finish the poverty, malaria or HIV/AIDS; it can not provide economic stability or political order by itself; but it can help to create a more secure and peaceful environment within its own concept. Bibliography Books Boniface, Pascal, Futbol ve Kà ¼resellesme, NTV Yayinlari, 2007. Boyle, R. Haynes R., Football in the New Media Age, Routledge, 2004. Hornby, Nick, Fever Pitch, England: Clays Ltd, 1992. Snarr M. T. Snarr D. N., Introducing Global Issues. UK: Lynne Rienner Publication, 2008. Articles Internet Resources Andelman, B., Bud Bowling for Dollars, http://www.whymenwatchfootball.com/ch19.html, [2009-12-23] Bilgià §, A. U., ‘Top Artik Dikdà ¶rtgen, http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2haberno=7008, [2009-12-28] Croci, O. and Ammirante, J, 1999, ‘Soccer in the Age of Globalization In: Peace Review Volume 11 Issue 4 David Beckham, http://www.123football.com/players/b/david-beckham/index.htm, [2009-12-28] Dolles, H. Sà ¶derman, S., Globalization of Sports- The Case of Professional Football and its International Management Challenges, German Institute for Japanese Studies, 2005, http://www.dijtokyo.org/doc/WP05_1GlobalizationOfSportsProfessionalFootballDollesSoederman.pdf, [2009-12-26] Empowering Girls and Women through Sport and Physical Activity, Woman Win, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/EmpoweringGirlsandWomenthroughSportandPhysicalActivityFinal.pdf, [2010-01-06] Family in Need Trust, http://www.womenwin.org/documents/FamilyinNeedTrust.pdf, [2010-01-05] FIFA and UNICEF join forces to â€Å"Say Yes for Children†, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/news/newsid=80114.html, [2010-01-03] Fourie, P Schà ¶nteich, M (2002) ‘Die, the Beloved Countries: Human Security and HIV/AIDS in Africa In: Politeia Girls education campaigns- FIFA Womens World Cup 2003, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_fifa.html, [2010-01-05] Girls education campaigns- Go Girls!, http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/campaign_gogirls.html, [2010-01-04] Headline Figures at a Glance, http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/ffprojects/ip-401_06e_tv_2658.pdf, [2009-12-27] Host Country, http://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/destination/hostcountry/index.html, [2009-12-20] Kroobay Women and Girls Sport, www.womenwin.org/Kroobay.doc, [2010-01-06] Kurbjuweit D., What Football Says about our Wo

Womens Role in Society Compared to that of Men Essay -- Women Rights

Are women and men equal in our society? Why or why not? Women’s Rights establish the same social and economic status for women as for men. Women’s rights guarantee that women will not face discrimination on the basis of their sex. Until the second half of the 20th century, women in most societies were denied some of the legal and political rights according to men. Although women in much of the world have gained significant legal rights, many people believe that women still do not have equality with men. This is evident in the home, workplace, and society in general. Look no further than the home to see the first sign that men and women are not equal. The traditional role of man was to work and make the money, which would be used by all in the household. The traditional role of the woman was to stay home, take care of the children, clean the house, and cook. Because society has always associated money with power, the person bringing home the money had the power. The man often makes the final decision on all household matters because he has the money. The workplace is another place where men and women are not equal. Men are often applauded for being assertive and giving orders. By giving orders, men are taking a leadership role. Demonstrating leadership ability is a quality that employers often look Slava 2 for. On the other hand, women who are assertive and give orders are not well liked in th...