With the proliferation of social networks, video-sharing sites, and online games, there are increasing opportunities to engage in “net escapism,” that is, using a web service to escape from a depressed mood and stress, which has particularly increased in adolescents. Net escapism contributes to Internet addiction, and is believed to lead to harmful consequences in everyday life. However, the relationship between net escapism and harmful consequences has not been adequately studied. In the present study, a questionnaire survey was carried out with metropolitan high school students (n=15,191) to ex-amine whether depression led to the harmful consequences, and if this effect was mediated by net es-capism and Internet addiction. Additionally, the path structure of this influence was verified.
Covariance structure analysis revealed the following model: Depression-Escapism-Addiction-Harmful consequences. Depression influenced net escapism (.23) and potential Internet addiction (.04), net es-capism influenced potential Internet addiction (.66) and harmful consequences (.06), and potential In-ternet addiction influenced harmful consequences (.72). This model suggested that net escapism is strongly linked to harmful consequences through Internet addiction. Thus, with reference to psycho-logical stress factors such as depression, it is important to find effective coping strategies as substitutes for net escapism.

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Through bilateral FTA negotiations in the Asia and Pacific regions, there has been an increase in the number of FTAs containing ICT provisions stipulating regulations for ICT markets. The United States has been aggressively promoting FTAs ICT provisions reflecting its domestic rules. As a result, U.S. and other industrialized countries have different bilateral FTA ICT provisions. It has been argued that diver-sification of bilateral FTA provisions should block many countries’ sharing of common FTA rules and they should come to need modifications of already concluded bilateral FTA provisions. However, the U.S. has succeeded to conclude FTAs with other industrialized countries omitting the rule options that are beneficial only to one of the parties. That has been possible because the U.S. has had many mutually beneficial rule options. As far as industrialized countries could leave such kind of differences, the U.S. approach would not block but even promote many countries’ sharing of common FTA rules.

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Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which have now become the world's leading countries with high Cable TV penetration, shares similarities in terms of technological development of Cable business. However, there are sharp differences in business strategy direction and government-business relation-ship of Cable TV operators. This study conducted an international comparative analysis of the three countries to examine the impact of the government-business relationship on the business strategy developing process of Cable TV operators. As a result, it was found that Japanese Cable TV operators were able to subsist as a "local media" by depending on their tight government-business relationship. On the other hand, in South Korea and Taiwan, where the government-business relationship is tenuous, the regionality of Cable TV operators disappeared at an early stage, and the operators tend to adopt a more profit-conscious business strategy.

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