ABSTRACT
The Internet is a major symbol of the contemporary world that is predominated by two interwoven tendencies, namely globalization and the rapid growth of information. It is now widely accepted that the world is moving fast towards a digital and information age and the Internet is a major channel in this historical transformation. Arguably, no technological progress in the last several decades can match the advent of the Internet in terms of its profound and extensive influences. Since the early 1990s, when most users were a few government sponsored or university sponsored researchers (Hamill, 1997), the spread of the Internet has been incredibly fast. From 1990 to 1998, the Internet hosts (domains) increased by more than 100 times and in 1999 there were over 290 million Internet users in the world. The increasingly wide use of the Internet is causing fundamental changes in the daily lives of people, and hence, probably in the entire socio-economic system of the world. In particular, the Internet makes the propaganda of information and knowledge much easier and faster than ever. The explosion of electronic business/ commerce (e-com) on the Internet implies vast, rapidly growing information and knowledge flows. In this context, the development of the Internet as an industry is not only the core of the so-called 'new economy' but also an accelerator of the development of the entire economic system.
