Email and voice services provided by 3G/LTE mobile network operators are mutually utilized be-cause they are provided through the same equipment such as smart phones and email and voice serv-ices provided by fixed network operators are also mutually utilized because they are provided notthrough the equipment but through bundle services. It turns out that within OTT services which can beused only by installing applications in smart phones or PCs, free chat service is easily bridged fromemail or voice services. In addition, once applications are installed and the free chat service starts to beused, there can be a path for users from free chat to free voice service. Therefore if this trend contin-ues, each function such as free chat or free voice is expected to continue to be used interactively. Italso turns out that starting to use free chat and free voice services such as LINE or Skype is positivelycorrelated with the recent increase in subscription rate of the free chat service provided by LINE. Thisis the network effect which is based not on an application itself but on individual services provided bythe application. This enables us to grasp the OTT’s market power through providing its application it-self.

This article presents an analysis of a case study to determine the degree, if any, to which digitalstartup news outlets in the U.S. contribute to the diversity of social and political discourse. Viewingthese outlets as the successor of alternative media (AM), the study examines their journalistic practicesand considers how they contribute to creating the “alternative public sphere” that is essential to a pluralistic democracy. The article posits that journalistic practices shared by traditional AM and startup digital outlets provide evidence that both contribute to diversity of discourse. The author selected outletsrandomly from the U.S. East Coast and collected data via questionnaires and open-ended interviews.The data show some practices duplicate those of AM and suggest a measurable contribution to the diversity of civic discourse. The study also indicates traditional AM and digital outlets are not necessarilyantagonistic and highlights several common trends.

This study analyzes Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices in Japan using Google Transparency Reports and Lumen data for the first half of 2015. It is found that the use of DMCA takedown notices in Japan is active primarily owing to adult content and doujin copyright holders. However, the process of notice and take down has been found to be abused as there are many URLs against which no action has been taken yet. Based on these facts, this paper proposes that society uses these notices carefully and facilitates appropriate issuance of such notices.

In the United States, localism in broadcasting has long been an important part of the broadcasting policy agenda, and a variety of measures have been implemented to ensure that localism is maintained while minimizing regulations on programming in order to ensure freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Among them, requirements imposed by the FCC on certain acts of broadcasting stations in granting licenses are particularly remarkable especially after the creation of low-power FM radio station licenses in 2000. While these requirements encompass various types of norms, those on information disclosure by broadcasters with regards to the treatment of local needs and interests in programming through “public inspection files” have been an integral part of this policy in recent years, so that communities can measure the amount and types of local programming. This information disclosure is supposed to be implemented by posting the public inspection files to the FCC’s online database. The requirement has recently been intensified with wider applications not only to broadcasters but also to relevant entities such as cable operators and satellite TV providers.

In Japan, use of filtering is specified in the Act on Development of an Environment that Provides Safe and Secure Internet Use for Young People, as a measure to counter some of the risks for young people when using the Internet. However, dissemination of filtering is not progressing. Under the law, filtering is regulated on the basis of a default opt-out system. Although the behavioral economics opt-out system has been discussed as an effective policy instrument, in Japan, it is not fully functional. In this paper, consider the problems with current filtering dissemination policies and attempt a theoretical analysis of the default rule. Based on the results of the analysis showed the following as measures that can be taken to improve the situation regarding the default rule 1) awareness raising of parents and 2) the effectiveness of the “Smart Default”, as a strategy to improve the default rule.