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OCLC has developed a CD‐ROM‐based system for the storage, distribution, and retrieval of documents. The system stores an ASCII copy of the text of the original document. It also stores page make‐up and font definition codes. These codes are used to control an inexpensive laser printer in the production of copies that closely resemble the original document. The authors discuss trends in the information equipment and printing industries that will govern the future application of this technology.

The prospect that technological and social innovation in the use of communication and information technologies are bringing about an end to sovereignty has been a source of optimism, pessimism and ambivalence. It has captured the popular imagination and it can be found in the anxieties of national leaders about the mingling and collision of cultures and cultural products within and across their borders, and about growing awareness that environmental threats bow to no flag. According to much of this discourse, national governments are becoming increasingly powerless in their battles against real or imagined plights of cultural imperialism (and sub‐imperialism, that is, cultural imperialism within states) and capital mobility, as well as in their efforts to effectively exercise political control through surveillance and censorship. The end of sovereignty is a theme in political discussions about new pressures brought on by global regimes of trade and investment, and by unprecedented levels of global criminal networks for drug trafficking, money laundering and trade in human flesh. Social movements and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) have reflected this by recognizing the need to match the scale of the problems they confront with appropriately scaled collective action. This article examines the discourse about the end of sovereignty and therise of new institutions of global governance. Particular emphasis is given to how advancements in the means of communication have produced the ambivalent outcomes of threatening the democratic governance of sovereign states, and serving as foundations for the assertion of democratic rights and popular sovereignty on a global scale.

This paper provides a brief historical sketch of cable and telephone regulation in the USA, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the legacy that precedes contemporary debates over competing models of digital networks, and to question the justifications offered for regulating such networks as private property with no corresponding public service obligations.

The paper relies on historical research to examine the rationales that have been used for cable and telephone regulation, based on the use of legal documents (statutes, regulations, court rulings).

The historic justifications that have been used to protect telecommunications from competition amounts to what is known as “corporate welfare”. Today's cable and telephone networks, and the accumulated wealth of the corporations that own them, would not have been possible without the willingness of regulators to favor particular firms and business models, and to protect these firms from competition under the rationale that these networks are “natural monopolies”.

Today's digital networks have been built on the wealth and market dominance that was made possible by protection from competition and the guaranteed rates of return that regulation permitted. Consequently, the property rights that have been afforded to network owners should be accompanied by responsibilities, namely, in the form of public service obligations.

Research on the social determinants of health demonstrates that workers who feel insecure in their jobs suffer poorer health as a result. However, relatively few studies have examined the relationship between job insecurity and illegal substance use, which is closely related to health. In this study, we develop a theoretical model focusing on two intervening mechanisms: health and life satisfaction. Additionally, we examine differences in this relationship between women and men. We test this model using logistic regression models of substance use for women and men based on longitudinal data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. The results indicate that job insecurity is associated with a significantly higher probability of illegal substance use among women but not men. We interpret this as further evidence of the gendering of precarious employment. This relationship is not channeled through health or life satisfaction, but there is evidence that job insecurity has a stronger association with illegal substance use for women with poorer overall health.

Nonprofit organizations rely on earned income, government funding, charitable donations and investment income to support numerous programs and services for the public good. During times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, some nonprofits become even more critical to provide for those in need, but the funding streams to support activities may be even more stressed. The purpose of this article is to understand how COVID-19 might affect the financial stability of nonprofits in the US.

The article reviews historical financing patterns for US nonprofits and then uses reports and secondary data to understand how COVID-19 might change nonprofit financing in the US.

Earned revenues, the largest source of revenues for nonprofits historically, are down significantly as venues remain closed or at reduced capacity. Federal government grants and contracts have not been aimed specifically at the nonprofit sector and state and local budgets are stressed, suggesting government funding may be at risk. Charitable contributions from large foundations, corporations, and individual givers have increased, with some added flexibility, but this may not be a viable source for many smaller or community-based organizations. Nonprofit leaders may need to find new ways to collaborate to overcome the pandemic and researchers should seek to understand the impacts on different types of nonprofits and their revenues.

The value of this article lies in understanding COVID-19's early financial impacts on nonprofits to suggest research and operating paths for academics and practitioners.

Nonviolent civil disobedience is a vital and protected form of political communication in modern constitutional democracies. Reviews the idea of both demonstrating its continued relevance, and providing a basis for considering its uses as an information‐age strategy of radical activism. The novelty of the forms of speech and action possible in cyberspace make it difficult to compare these new methods of expression easily. Whether in cyberspace or the real world, civil disobedience has historically specific connotations that should be sustained because the concept has special relevance to the political theory and practice of constitutional democracy. Civil disobedience is a unique means of political expression that is used to provoke democratic deliberation about important questions of just law and policy. Among the significant problems that new forms of radical political practice in cyberspace introduce is that their practitioners and advocates neglect the need to distinguish between violence and nonviolence. Examines that problem and others that are central to considering theoretical and political implications of radical activism in general, and civil disobedience in particular, in cyberspace.

Recent developments in media technology have led some within the communications policy field to question traditional approaches to localism and its continued viability as a meaningful policy principle. In response to this potential turning point, this paper explores the underlying rationales for localism and examines the principle’s relevance in an era when media technologies are less restrained by geographic barriers. In terms of its underlying rationales, it is clear that the principle need not be entirely abandoned. The traditional “spatial” conceptualizations and applications of the localism principle still have relevance. If it can be expanded to account for alternative definitions of community, the principle will remain an important principle for communications policymakers and policy analysts.

Discusses the telecommunications infrastructure of the USA and issues surrounding its restructuring. Describes the role and impact of broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) in applications development and the societal implications of this change. Points out that global development of broadband technologies makes personal access to multimedia applications possible and promotes new information‐sharing partnerships. Argues for an holistic, ethical approach to future development of ISDN.

Principles of epigenesis that provide a foundation for research into chronic medical disorders are increasingly being applied in the context of mental health. The purpose of this paper is to consider recent research evidence for epigenetic influences in the pathogenesis of depression, and the putative links with stress biology during exposure to chronic stress, with the aim of placing this into a context of potential new therapeutics.

Substantive reviews published during the last ten years were identified in a search of the Pubmed database in September 2010 using the terms “epigenetics” or “epigenesis” with “mental health”, “mood disorder”, “depression”, stress', “chronic stress” or “environment”, supplemented by hand‐searching of citations in the reviews.

Epigenetic mechanisms are both heritable and acquired, and their impact on the underlying genome helps explain individual vulnerability and patterns of occurrence of depression.

The paper shows that this relatively new field of research is in its infancy, and the influence of adverse environments (i.e. stressors) on genetic/epigenetic predisposition has promise for the advent of novel therapeutics based on epigenetic manipulation.