Collective Bargaining

Accessing information and interactive resources available around the globe via the Internet is a pretty simple task. In a carefree Internet world, the dynamics of connecting to resources are transparent, and we expect resources we want to access are available through our local Internet service provider. Technical details of connecting to Internet resources are an abstract concept for most, and whatever mechanics happen behind the scenes are not relevant to our everyday use of the network.

Because the Internet is made up of a complex matrix of physical, business and international relationships, how these systems interact and collaborate is actually very important to the end user, as well as to those providing Internet services and content. Of the greatest concern impacting online resources from eBay to the Bank of America is the potential financial pressure brought on by the largest Tier 1 networks. As the only networks in the world having global Internet visibility, these few companies, including AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Level 3, and Cable and Wireless, facilitate access to the global Internet – a function which people and companies worldwide depend on to ensure small networks and content providers are available through their local service providers.

The Tier 1 world was born at the demise of NSFNet (National Science Foundation Network). In the early days of Internet development, the NSF supported development of a large publicaly funded academic and research network throughout the United States, and connecting many foreign academic networks to the US as a hub through the International Connections Manager (ICM Network). As commercial Internet development grew in the early 1990s, the NSF realized it was time to back away from publicaly funding the “Internet” and grant contracts to large US carriers to take over responsibility for the former US Domestic backbone and ICM portions of the NSFNet.

Small Internet exchange points (IXPs) were also funded, allowing the large networks taking over NSFNet assets, as well as their own commercial Internets to connect and share Internet traffic. Those network access points (NAPs) were also contracted to the large US carriers, who managed policies for US and International network exchange. The large US carriers ultimately had control of the networks, and were the original Tier 1 Internet providers.

Roadblocks in the Internet Community

Debates around net neutrality highlight some underlying issues. The goal of net neutrality is to preserve the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet. But whether the largest networks use their control to hinder growth and innovation within the Internet-connect business community or impede free access to Internet-connected content sources, they have the power and control which could present challenges to an open Internet environment.

A Tier 1 network, for example, has the power to charge a major content delivery network (CDN) a premium to access its network. This is because the CDN may deliver a very large amount of content traffic into a network, and the Tier 1 network believes they should receive additional compensation to fund additional capacity needed to support content distribution. This premium may be more money than the CDN is willing or able to pay. In turn, if the CDN doesn’t comply, the Tier 1 can ultimately refuse the CDN access to its network and cut its consumers access to the CDN’s content. This applies whether consumers access the Tier 1 directly or if the Tier 1 is the middle-network between consumers and their Tier 2 or 3 networks.

A voice over Internet Protocol Company underscores another potential conflict of interest. Let’s say you’re a consumer of a Tier 1 network that’s also a telephone company and you want to use a VoIP company, such as Vonage. But the Tier 1 doesn’t want the VoIP company to compete with its network and would rather that you use its own telephone product, so the Tier 1 may prevent you from using your VoIP company. In other words, a Tier 1, in developing its own commercial VoIP product, can prevent non-owned VoIP traffic from passing through its network.

While Tier 1 networks hold value for much of the Internet world, they also impose many political and financial barriers on smaller networks, content delivery networks, emerging VoIP companies, online gaming businesses, B2B and online commerce, and entertainment web sites. It is evident that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), CDNs, VoIPs, and many others need an alternative method of communicating with each other – one providing tools to redesign how relationships and interconnections bond the US Internet content and access communities.

Breaking Down Barriers

One objective in building efficiency and the performance needed to deliver content resources to end users is to flatten existing Internet architecture. Whenever possible, you eliminate the Tier 1 Internet networks from participating in the delivery of content resources to end users.

How do we accomplish this task? One option is through development and use of commercial Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), a location where many Internet-enabled networks and content resources meet to interconnect with each other as peers.

According to Wikipedia, an IXP is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers to exchange Internet traffic between their networks (autonomous systems) by means of mutual peering agreements, which allows traffic to be exchanged without cost. An IXP is essentially a physical switch in a carrier hotel or data center with the capacity to connect thousands of networks together, whether content providers or network providers.

Today at the Any2 Exchange, an IXP built within One Wilshire, on a single switch 125 different networks interconnect and are freely able to pass traffic amongst each other without having to go to a Tier 1 for routing. Members pay a small annual fee to the Any2 Exchange for the one-time connection and then benefit from the “peering” relationships among members of the Internet exchange.

Akamai, for example, a large content distribution network company that delivers streaming media and movies on demand, can connect to American Internet Services, a Tier 3 ISP in San Diego, Calif., through a local or regional Internet exchange point such as the Any2 Exchange, the Palo Alto Internet Exchange (PAIX), or other large exchange points operated by data centers and carrier hotels.

When an American Internet Services user wants to watch a movie that’s available on Akamai’s content delivery network, the data is passed directly from Akamai to American Internet Services – and subsequently to the end user – without transiting any other network. Not only has the goal of being less reliant on a Tier 1 been achieved, but the performance is superior because there are no “hops” between the CSP and ISP. Anytime you’re able to cut out the transit network, you increase the end user experience. Plus, it’s more economical, as in moist cases the CDN and ISP have no financial settlement for data exchanged.

The European IXP model, which is more mature and robust than the US model, highlights the important function of IXPs and how an exchange point alone can help influence the net neutrality debate. In Europe, Internet service providers and content delivery networks look to the IXP as their first connection point and if the IXP doesn’t have what they’re looking for, only then will they go to a Tier 1 or large Tier 2. Americans on the other hand, partially due to geographic size

Overall European IXP traffic grew at a rate of 11.05%, compared to America’s rate of 7.44%, according to the European Internet Exchange Association in August 2007. This can be attributed in part to greater member density in Europe – the London Internet Exchange/LINX has more than 275 members – where the larger the addressable community, the larger the traffic exchanged and the more the members want to get involved. After all, network effect (exponential growth of a community) and the “Law of Plentitude” (the idea that once an addressable or social community reaches participation by 15% or greater of a total community, it becomes a risk to not participate in the emerging community) motivate European companies to use IXPs. Additionally, Europeans generally have lower entry costs for participation, giving companies every reason why to participate in the IXP-enabled peering community. If one were to buy access to 275 networks through a Tier 1, the cost would be astronomical, but through a single connection to LINX, one can access 275 networks for a nominal fee. This is why European companies rely on IXPs 60% of the time, and only look to Tier 1 or 2 networks 40% of the time.

In contrast, American ISPs normally look to larger wholesale and Internet transit providers first and then consider reducing their operational expenses via an IXP as a second priority. American ISPs companies use IXPs at a more meager 15% rate, looking to larger wholesale and transit Tier 1 or Tier 2 networks 85% of the time. Still, recent American IXP traffic growth does exceed other regions, such as Japan (+5.85% in August) and the rest of Asia (+4.3% in August), which we believe is a result of increased price pressure on the American IXP industry. Newer IXPs, such as the Any2 Exchange, have lowered entry costs significantly, forcing others to follow suit and encouraging more networks to participate. As the cost of entry to IXPs continues to fall, participation in IXPs will become more common and attractive to all access and CDN networks.

What can we learn from the European model? Participation in an IXP can increase performance, lower operational costs and expenses, as well as bring an additional layer of redundancy and disaster recovery capacity to even the smallest networks. But most important, companies’ independence from Tier 1s through the collective bargaining of the exchange points puts them in a stronger position to deal with large networks than our position allows for in the US, where the vast majority of people have their primary Internet connections through a large Tier 2 or Tier 1 network provider.

Adding to the Cause

Today’s content-rich Internet is just a prelude to the future content, media, applications and services soon to be developed and deployed. It’s no wonder that in large IXPs, such as the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), there are already several content delivery networks using bundled 10Gbps ports, clearly showing end users’ insatiable demand for high bandwidth applications and services. High Definition Internet TV (IPTV), massive online interactive gaming, video on demand (VOD), and feature-rich communications (video conferencing) are just a few examples of Internet-enabled applications contributing to the heightened demand.

For American ISPs that pay anywhere from $20-to-$40/Mbps when connecting to Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks, the cost of delivering applications and services to end users who require much larger network and bandwidth resources is one of the obstacles that needs to be overcome. But without broad participation in IXPs, access networks have a difficult future, as do content providers who will find that the cost of delivery to end users becomes much more expensive if Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks increase the cost of delivering both wholesale and end user Internet traffic.

What Can the American Internet-Connected Community Do?

Whether through price increases or monopolistic practices, the largest networks are currently writing the rules for a global Internet product. They are gradually merging and acquiring competition, reinforcing their influence in wholesale and transit network share and presence. Opportunities for network peering decrease with each merger.

Carrier hotels and large data centers in the US can support positive change in the Internet peering community by creating or supporting open and low cost Internet Exchange points promoting network peering and content delivery to all networks.

Reducing barriers to entry and the cost of wholesale or transit networks will allow Internet network and content companies to focus on delivering network access and services, with the ultimate winner being end users who will enjoy a lower cost, higher performance Internet experience.

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Sidebar

Networking professionals describe Internet tiers as:

Tier 1 – A network with visibility of every other network and route on the Internet. Tier 1 networks have a unique position within the Internet, as the custodians of global routing. Tier 1 networks attempt to maintain their status by setting high barriers to entry for other large networks attempting to gain similar status. Tier 1 networks rarely peer with other networks, keeping their settlement-free interconnection community restricted to other Tier 1 networks.

Tier 2 – A regional network peering with other regional networks, but still relies on Tier 1 networks to reach at least routes and networks. Tier 2 Internet networks frequently peer at public Internet exchanges to connect to other Tier 2 networks, as well as large content delivery networks. In some cases regional Tier 2 and global Tier 2 networks are actually larger than their Tier 1 networks, with the only limitation being their global network visibility.

Tier 3 – An access network purchasing wholesale Internet access or transit from other larger networks to reach the global Internet. Tier 3s frequently participate in public Internet exchange points to try an minimize the costs associates with buying wholesale and transit routes or access from larger Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks. Tier 3 networks make up the majority of the global Internet, as the Internet access providers whom actually connect with end users.

Content Delivery Networks (CDN) – Suppliers of information, entertainment, applications, and other interactive resources available to end users of the Internet. CDNs can either supply their own content, or act as a cache or distributor of other company’s content.

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Special tax rules are in place for income received by those less than 18 years of age (minors). The main intention of these rules is to discourage parents from diverting their income to their children.

Minors who are residents of Australia but do not earn more than $1,667 in 2007-08 do not have to lodge a tax return. This is because the low income tax offset of $750 offsets the tax payable on income less than $1,667. If the minor’s taxable income is less than $48,750, they will get the low income tax offset. The maximum tax offset of $750 applies if their taxable income is $30,000 or less. This amount is reduced by four cents for each dollar over $30,000.

For those that do need to lodge a return, under the special rules for minors, there are 3 possible scenarios that may apply:

1. the child has only excepted income

2. the child has both excepted and eligible income

3. the child has only eligible income

Excepted income refers to income that is generated through the minor’s own efforts and includes income from sources such as employment, Centrelink benefits, compensation, income from deceased estates, their own business or partnership that they were involved in and any income that is generated from the investment of these and other excepted income. Excepted income should be reported at Item A1 on your tax return.

Eligible income is defined as income that is received by the minor but not as a result of their personal efforts. It could be interest that is earned on birthday money that was invested or proceeds from a family trust distribution.

Any excepted income that is earned by a minor is taxed at the same marginal rates as all other Australian taxpayers. However, eligible income is taxed at a higher rate.

Where a minor has both excepted and eligible income the amounts are reported separately and the tax owing on those amounts is calculated separately.

At The Quinn Group, our team of professional accountants is able to provide advice to businesses and individuals on a range of accounting and tax related issues. To speak with one of our professionals regarding this or any other tax query that you may have please contact The Quinn Group on 1300 QUINNS or click here to submit an online enquiry.

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Role play on Collective Bargaining

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In simple terms, E-business (doing business on the Internet) can enable small scale businesses in emerging markets gain greater bargaining power in the global economic exchange despite their limited capital, and mobility. The world economy is moving online. Today people are meeting online and eventually getting married, people who do not have the capital to establish physical stores are getting rich maintaining only online shops, small musicians who find it difficult getting producers are uploading their tracks on ‘Napster’ to be downloaded by millions of people around the world, even politicians are using video-sharing tools like ‘Youtube’ to reach potential voters, etc. Therefore, the action or inaction of African businesses to take advantage of e-business will determine how much they grow in the coming years.

E-readiness Ranking

Every year Economist come up with a table of e-readiness ranking from a selected number of countries. It is not surprising that African countries often rank lowest in most e-readiness reports. That is not very promising considering that most investors today will be interested not only on the investment climate and infrastructure in a country but also on e-readiness indices such as national connectivity, e-leadership, information security, human capital, and e-business climate.

Interpreting E-readiness Indices

There are many indices used to measure e-readiness. The most common ones are:

o Connectivity: Addresses the ability to exchange information, goods and services with the rest of the world.

o E-leadership: Addresses the commitment of a national government to partner with industry leaders to create conditions favorable to electronic transactions.

o Information security: Addresses issues concerning the protection of personal data, intellectual property, and effective privacy laws.

o Human Capital: Emphasis on developing competent manpower including IT managers who can manage complex technology tasks, policy analysts who can make informed inputs on government policies and regulations that are capable of stifling technology growth; local content creators who can either customize or adapt global technologies to the specific business needs in the country, software and hardware engineers.

Beyond the indices, e-business also requires a larger population of end-users or consumers who don’t have to understand how the technology works, but can use the technology.

How Small Businesses In Africa Can Benefit From E-business:

Individual Action:

Even in challenging environments such as Africa, small businesses can still benefit from e-business. Simple information websites with product and contact information, as a first step can open new doors for small businesses locally and internationally. Hospitality industries stand to gain more exposure and market through e-business. Tourists and people in the Diaspora are excellent target customers for hotel and tourism information for online reservations.

Group Action:

Business associations, Chambers Of Commerce, Cooperative societies, and NGOs in Africa can bridge the economy of scale on the technology required for e-business by setting up online malls showcasing a pool of their members’ sites, products and services. Through the online mall people in the Diaspora may order local goods for friends or family. These associations can also help to guarantee the quality of products advertised on the site, as well as the credibility of its members to ensure fraudulent people do not seize the opportunity. Only certified members and certified products will make it on the site. ‘Ghana Mall’, for instance, sells goods made by Ghanaian artisans internationally. It also rakes in some $500 million a year in goods and cash that are sent to the country from abroad. Funds to develop such malls can be sort as grants from multilateral agencies as the World Bank Group’s Small and Medium Enterprise Department.

Payment:

No doubt, credit card acceptance is the heart of e-commerce, but technological hindrances and doing business in local currency can drive up transaction costs. There are rules and protocols to gain access to international card association systems, which currently do not favor African countries. The amounts of online transactions originating from most African countries hardly meet the rules required by the international card associations. So there must be a way around it. Therefore, banks in Africa need to establish special ‘Merchant Accounts’ for small businesses to enable them accept secured payments in foreign currencies processed in the same way as credit cards. Online payments will still have to go through SWIFT, encryptions, or other secured sites, as PayPal to ensure adequate security.

Shipping:

Most national and international courier services are currently equipped to handle shipping to any location in the world. Business organizations can enter into partnership agreements with these postal and shipping agencies to either enjoy special shipping rates or develop more efficient shipping methods that can guarantee delivery. In addition, the Customs department should make available list of prohibited items, duties and fees to the business organizations. One workable model is to post their personnel at the post offices to facilitate the inspection of goods.

Government’s Role

As a private-sector crusader, I dislike prescribing any solution that will depend on governments. But E-commerce requires vendor credibility. Apart from technology, the greatest impediment African businesses face in embracing e-business is fraud. This is where the governments should play important role. Law-makers should strengthen existing laws to stem out corruption in their countries. People who thrive on advance fee fraud should be put out of business. It is possible! Anything that works through technology can be stopped through technology. It’s simply a digital war amongst programmers (it’s like the virus and anti-virus battle among programmers). Moreover, the world wants to see trials, prosecutions and convictions to believe that African countries are serious in their war against corruption.

How This Will Work

For this to work it must exist as one bundle. A customer does not want to be bothered by the backend technology and how it works. They want an easy-to-use, time-saving, front-end screen. As for now, cross-continental partnerships will play a major role in helping businesses in Africa cross the e-commerce threshold, as African businesses will still need international partnerships to help complete orders. PeopLink offers such a partnership. They have developed free, downloadable tools to help small businesses build virtual product catalogs, which they then upload to a searchable catalog on their database, thereby offering small businesses the opportunity to benefit from collective marketing power.

One Stop Tech Support Centers:

Technology investors should also consider going into one-stop tech support centers. For instance, in Ghana BusyInternet is such a one-stop IT center with a cyber café, call booths, video conferencing services, document services, web hosting, space rental and other tech support for e-businesses.

Exploring E-business will help small businesses in Africa increase their market share in the global marketplace? There should be a concerted effort to make this happen. The World Bank developed a collection of free tools called ‘SMEToolkit’ to help small business develop such potentials.

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If you think you have been fired illegally from work, you may file a wrongful termination claim against your former employers. To do this, you may have to hire a lawyer who has the skills and resources to pursue your claim.

When does termination become “wrongful”?

In legal terms, wrongful termination happens when an employer fires an employee for illegal reasons, which include:

o In violation of federal and state anti-discrimination law

o As a form of sexual harassment

o In violation of oral and written employment agreements

o In violation of labor laws, including collective bargaining laws

o In retaliation for the employee’s having filed a complaint against his employer

These violations entail statutory penalties and could result in the payment of damages to you based on computed lost wages and other expenses. Some violations may also result in punitive damages against the company.

How to Improve Your Position

Recovering from the loss of a job is difficult. The following steps may help you improve your position after being fired:

o Do not think negatively or badly about your employer.

o Consult an employment lawyer for advice and representation.

o Review your employment contract and the provisions of the agreement.

o Know the reasons and causes of your termination.

o Request to view your personal file.

o Try to request and negotiate for severance package.

o Confirm agreements of your termination and severance in writing.

o Turn-over company property and follow post-employment procedures.

If you decide to negotiate for a severance package, instead of pursuing legal claims, the following advice may help and further relieve you of burden:

o Receive the news of your termination calmly.

o Take time to think about the offer from your employer.

o Confirm the employer’s terms in writing.

o Negotiate for the continued dental and medical coverage while you are receiving your severance pay.

o Try to stay on the payroll as long as long as possible.

o Ensure that the severance package is not contingent on new employment.

Legal Help

An employer is not required to give severance package to a dismissed employee unless expressed in the employment contract or the employees’ manual. However, an employee may negotiate a severance package in exchange for a promise to waive legal claims against his employer.

In this case, you will need the help of an attorney who can explain your options and which option to take. An employment lawyer who specializes in wrongful termination cases can help you fight for your right to severance pay, damages, or unemployment compensation. His skills and experience will increase your chances of compensation for your illegal termination.

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Collective bargaining at TSA would resolve many of the problems TSO and ensure a fair payment. AFGE TSA has struggled to eliminate GST PASS and placed under the General Program, where they belong.

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Noel Hatch – Compass Youth Development Officer Pav Akhtar asks for his idea for Compass, "" Like in the 21 Century "Live" competition – a campaign for the cross-border agreements. If you want Compass campaign on the issue that is important to you, please let us know your ideas and we will be filed for the most popular ideas for our country competitive. Send your idea of www.howtoliveinthe21stcentury.org.uk film when you look at how you tell your idea, now, contact us at mailtoCheck out www.compassyouth.org

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The chairman of the first century BC, the United Steelworkers' Wood Council requests a temporary Canfor with "unprecedented" in the history of collective bargaining in the BC forest sector. A Prince George, today announced a just agreement and Bob Matters says: "Despite the fact, the wood processing industry has experienced its worst financial crisis in history have reached an agreement that I would like to characterize unique and innovative." Matters said that for the first time, the supply ofthe package on the theme: security services, security, safety and employment, general.For more can be found at: www.dealwithsteel.ca

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