Journal articles on the topic 'Vanuatu Investment Promotion Authority'

Except for emergencies and for technical assistance for raising skills and institution building, foreign aid to Pacific island countries (PICs) for budgetary support has been phased out since the late 1990s. Because of the small sized domestic markets, foreign direct investment (FDI) is small and is confined to development of tourism infrastructure. On the other hand, inward remittances received from the rising number of islanders migrating overseas for work are increasing, far exceeding aid and FDI. However, influence of remittances on economic growth depends on financial sector development (FSD) for mobilizing the savings from the remittance receipts for domestic investment. This paper assesses the role of FSD in the nexus between remittances and economic growth through a panel study of five major PICs, namely Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The study findings show that the ongoing efforts for strengthening FSD have to be stepped up by focusing on financial inclusion through spread of branchless banking and promotion of information and communication technology.

This paper studies how local non-oil Omani products could reach global markets by attracting local and international investors and improving the integrated logistics system in Oman. Therefore, the scope of this research is investment agencies in Oman, which are the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion and the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development. This study targets the leading logistics companies in Oman, such as Asyad Group. The study used an online survey and direct interview targeting specialists and experts in investment agencies and logistics companies. The results of the research showed that challenges are facing attracting local and international investors in local industries. Those challenges are the lengthy, complicated and costly procedures to obtain permits and licenses for investors, weak promotion of investment opportunities and local products at the international level, weakness of the local market, cumbersome regulations of the government, and so on. All these challenges constitute an obstacle to attracting investments. Findings also vindicate that weaknesses in logistical performance represented by the complex export and import procedures, complications in customs clearance operations, and the weak performance of land, sea, and air transport, which constitutes a barrier to exporting local products to global markets. The primary limitations that the researchers faced in conducting this research. First, there were many complications in collecting information through interviews. Some companies refused to conduct interviews due to preventive measures for the spread of the Coronavirus, which may affect the results.

Background and context: “Through the manufacture, sale and promotion of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink (unhealthy commodities), transnational corporations are major drivers of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)” (Moodie et al., 2013). Furthermore, the impact of trade and investment liberalization has been correlated with the rapidly increasing prevalence of some cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in developing countries. Reaching the SDG targets is a challenging task for governments of low- and middle-income countries who face constraints in regulating the commercial determinants of NCDs due to the increasing influence of unhealthy commodity industries in policy making. Although the literature recommends various approaches to maintain or strengthen the regulatory power of governments, the impact of these strategies on the governance of commercial determinants of NCDs remains unclear. Aim: Identifying the strategies which have been successfully applied in strengthening the governance of commercial determinants of NCDs in regard to tobacco. Strategy/Tactics: The strategies for strengthening the governance of unhealthy commodities recommended by the literature mostly target the issues of fragmentation of governments and the constraints on regulatory capacity. This research examines the way the governments of Fiji and Vanuatu applied these strategies for the sake of implementing tobacco control policies. The methods involve literature review, document analysis and in-depth interviews with key informants across government departments, NGOs and development agencies in these countries. The document analysis and in-depth interviews are currently ongoing in Fiji and Vanuatu. The results and conclusions will be available by early September.

Purpose The law development, especially in the field of investment, is not only directed to achieve the vision of Indonesia 2030, but it is directed to make Indonesia a great nation, protect the potential and plurality of Indonesia and realize the welfare of the nation, both economically independent and having qualified human resources. Based on the description, the purpose of this paper is to examine and find forms of refinement in the investment law development of Indonesia in accordance with the global order. Design/method This paper is qualitative research. This paper examines and finds forms of refinement in the investment law development of Indonesia in accordance with the global order. Findings The refinement form of investment law development in Indonesia in accordance with the global order begins with Law Number 1 of 1967 on Foreign Investment (PMA) and Law Number 6 of 1968 concerning Domestic Investment (PMDN), which is then followed by the issuance of Presidential Decree Number 29 of 2004 concerning the Implementation of Investment in Foreign Capital Investment (PMA) and Domestic Investment (PMDN) through One Stop Service System. The reconstruction form of the capital investment law is by the issuance of Law Number 25 of 2007 regarding Investment which regulates the domestic investment and foreign investment. The authorized official to coordinate the implementation of investment in Indonesia is the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). The consideration of BKPM appointment as the only government agency that handles investment activities of PMA and PMDN is to increase the effectiveness in attracting investors to invest in Indonesia. Therefore, by one stop service, it is expected that the service to the investors will be faster than the previous implementation. One Stop Service System means that the implementation of investment consists of policies and planning of investment development, promotion and investment cooperation, approval services, licensing and investment facilities, control of investment implementation and management of investment information system. Approval services, licensing and investment facilities on PMA and PMDN shall be implemented by BKPM, based on the delegation of authority from the Minister/Head of Non-Department Institution which handle the relevant investment business fields through one stop service system. Originality/value This paper only focuses on the investment law development in Indonesia that has never been done before (originality).

This paper examines the influence that the reputation of Zimbabwe’s human capital has as an antecedent of FDI market entry opportunities in the country. By synthesizing nation branding, behavioural finance and foreign direct investment theory, this paper contributes to the growing body of knowledge in human capital as a determinant influencing foreign investor behaviour within an African economic context. Empirical data was generated from a self-administered online survey of a purposively sampled population of 305 foreign investors within the Zimbabwean context. Exploratory factor analysis extracted the items that constituted the Zimbabwean human capital construct, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients being utilized to measure the reliability of the measuring instrument. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment coefficients and multiple regression analysis were employed to further analyze the data. The results revealed that foreign investors considered the availability of a sustainable, highly productive, skilled, retainable and inexpensive workforce, as the influential human capital attributes they considered for FDI to Zimbabwe. The empirical evidence further affirmed that the reputation of Zimbabwe’s human capital is an antecedent for resource- and efficiency-seeking FDI typologies to Zimbabwe. As a result, practical guidelines are provided for the Government of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Investment Authority on the potential development and promotion of Zimbabwe’s human capital for the purpose of positively influencing investor behaviour, thereby attracting FDI to the country.

Opinion leaders often play key roles in online knowledge-sharing communities, which has intrigued a lot of researchers and practitioners worldwide. However, it is not clear how various characteristics of opinion leaders may affect different online groups’ knowledge-sharing engagement. This paper aims to answer this question by building upon social capital theory to examine the differential influences of opinion leaders’ characteristics (interactivity, authority, and activity) on online groups. In-groups and out-groups were distinguished, and the study used the context of an investment-oriented online knowledge-sharing community. By leveraging a unique aggregated group-level secondhand dataset collected from Snowball.com, we conducted log-linear and Poisson regression models. The results revealed that the intensity of online group knowledge-sharing engagement was heavily contingent upon the types of characteristics of opinion leaders. We found that in-group knowledge-sharing engagement (generating new knowledge) was driven by an opinion leader’s interactivity and authority, whereas out-group knowledge-sharing engagement (developing new members) could not be facilitated by these types of characteristics. Instead, the opinion leader’s activity hindered out-group users from joining in-groups. The study also identified a “mutual promotion” issue, which was generated from the association between in-group and out-group knowledge-sharing engagement.

Using panel data of 30 provinces and regions in Mainland China (excluding Tibet) from 2006 to 2016, the Spatial Durbin Model was employed for the empirical research, and the spatial impact of fiscal decentralization and environmental decentralization on regional carbon emissions were analyzed from the perspective of promotion pressure of officials. The empirical study concludes: ① Fiscal decentralization, both within the region and in its neighborhood, will contribute to carbon emissions in the region; ② Environmental decentralization will help reduce carbon emissions, while environmental decentralization in neighboring regions will increase carbon emissions in the region; ③ The promotion pressure of officials plays a positive role in moderating the impact of fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions, and at the same time weakens the suppression of carbon emissions by environmental decentralization; ④ From a regional point of view, there is a positive relationship between fiscal decentralization and carbon emissions in various regions; but environmental decentralization has obvious spatial heterogeneity. The research suggests that reducing the degree of local fiscal decentralization, investment in major infrastructure projects involving high carbon emissions should be relatively centralized; appropriately increase the environmental management authority of local environmental protection agencies, fully use the advantages of local environmental protection departments to protect the environment according to local conditions; gradually improve the assessment system for local officials, moderately reduce the proportion of fiscal revenue and GDP assessment in areas with fragile ecological environment, and increase incentives for ecological performance assessment, put the development of low-carbon economy into practice.

The Ministry of Tourism has made East Java province a national halal tourism development area. This is supported by the existence of various religious tourism objects, natural and artificial tourism objects, organizing annual cultural events and adequate infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to review the potential and formulate halal tourism development strategies in East Java. This study uses secondary data with qualitative methods and SWOT analysis techniques. Internal analysis shows the strengths and weaknesses as well as external analysis shows the opportunities and challenges of weakness in the development of halal tourism in East Java. Strength factors include the diversity of tourist destinations, infrastructure supporting tourist mobility, and the level of tourist visits. Weakness factors include promotion and branding, experts who are experts and means of supporting halal tourism. Opportunity factors include the support of government policies, the existence of supporting institutions, the international reputation of Indonesian halal tourism. Threat factors include economic stability, security stability and competition for the halal tourism industry. Based on the analysis of internal and external factors, the formulation of halal tourism development strategies in East Java include: a) S-O strategy: encouraging domestic and foreign investment in halal tourism development in East Java; b) W-O strategy: development of East Java halal tourism multiplatform information based on IoT; c) S-T strategy: build a halal pariwistaa halal in East Java entitled "Khazanah East Java"; d) W-T strategy: Establishment of a Special Economic Zone for Halal Tourism which is supported by the establishment of an institution of the Halal Tourism Management Authority of East Java Province Keywords: Halal Tourism, Opportunities, Challenges, East Java

Purpose It has been a decade, as the collaboration between the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) to extend information and communication technology (ICT) and library services to rural deprived, unserved and underserved communities in Ghana dubbed the library connectivity project. This paper aims to evaluate this initiative from the perspective of relevant key stakeholders and through the lens of the digital inclusion model. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a qualitative approach to evaluate the library connectivity project offered to deprived communities in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Interviews were conducted with the head librarians, ICT teachers and school librarians. Focus group discussions were held with pupils from four beneficiary schools of the project. The researchers also witnessed four of the outreach programmes and training sessions and observed the mode of instruction. Findings The study brought to fore the enormous benefits of the library connectivity project as it aided school pupils to acquire practical ICT skills, which were found to be useful towards their final exam. Despite the enormous benefit of the project, it was bereft with a lot of challenges such as inadequate logistics and personnel thereby restricting the project to very few schools. Low staff motivation and unmotorable roads were also found to be a challenge, which could all be as a result of lack of funds. Research limitations/implications The paper underscores the importance of computer and information literacy and reveals how the GhLA is using innovative mobile library services to bridge the digital divide through the library connectivity project. Originality/value This paper makes a further contribution to the paucity of literature on the role of mobile libraries in the promotion of computer and information literacy.

In the world practice, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is recognized an important component of sustainable development strategy, for which reason governments of many countries pay considerable attention to the promotion of CSR ideas at the national level, creating favourable conditions for socially responsible behaviour of national and foreign enterprises. The author aims to analyse the experience of regulation of corporate social responsibility policy in the EU Member States, to show the practice of national governments of the EU Member States in the field of CSR, and to determine prospects of corporate social responsibility at the modern development stage in view of implementing the concept of sustainable development. Summarizing approaches to the definition of CSR, it can be emphasized that CSR should positively influence society, in which the enterprise operates. It is a free choice in favour of increasing the welfare and moral and ethical values of society through appropriate approaches to doing business. Relations between enterprises both in the European Union and in other countries are increasingly based on the principles of CSR. Compliance with these principles becomes an important prerequisite for attracting foreign investment and obtaining government orders. In the international context, CSR is an efficient instrument to develop partnership and cooperation of countries in the context of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to control the negative influence of the industrial sector on ecology, to prevent social crises, as a consequence, to ensure sustainable development of the world civilisation. Among the European institutions, the European Commission’s committees play a key role in disseminating the idea of CSR. One of the main factors in strengthening the EU economy is considered precisely the stable growth based on the rational use of resources, ecology, and competition. Plans of the Strategy for 2012–2015–2020 clearly show that the European Union intends to strengthen control over economic management and “voluntarily oblige” the business to follow the rules of CSR. The goal of a new CSR Strategy is to create conditions favourable for sustainable development, responsible business conduct, and permanent employment in the medium and long term. Key changes in comparison with the policy for 2010 – definition of corporate social responsibility as “Responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society” and rejection of the principle of voluntariness: “the European Commission recognizes that some regulations stimulate CSR, therefore, public authorities should support the CSR development by applying a mix of voluntary and regulatory policies”. As the study showed, the governments of the EU countries are actively engaged in the development and promotion of corporate social responsibility. The role of the state is manifested in the implementation of the following key functions: the state as a legislator and a controlling authority; the state as an employer; the state as a consumer and a buyer; the state as a partner; the state as an institutional investor; the state as a participant in international relations. The most significant results have been achieved by those EU Member States that use the systemic approach to CSR development. In these countries, responsible state structures have been formed that coordinate work in all areas. The approach to the choice of instruments is individual and is selected taking into account the priorities of the country’s socio-economic development and the importance of economic, environmental, and social aspects. An example of Great Britain, France, Belgium, Estonia, and Spain shows the possibility of successful CSR development.

The article outlines the preconditions for the formation of a positive image of a tourist product, which influences the increase of the authority of the state on the international level, increase of tourist flows, promotion of investment inflow, development of tourist and recreational infrastructure, increase of the general level of economic development and welfare of the population. It is revealed that in order to determine the "tourist magnet" for visitors it is necessary to take into account the completeness of the tourist product filling, which reflects the state, content and structure of the tourist and recreational potential of the country. It is also noted that the image affects the formation and attractiveness of the tourist destination for recreation, namely: health improvement, treatment, travel, etc. To cover the main provisions of the article, complex and historical approaches are used with the use of general scientific research methods: empirical (observation, experiment, description, comparison), empirical-theoretical (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, approach), theoretical (formalization, definition, description, etc). It was established that the perception of the tourist image is influenced by rational requirements, interests, stereotypes, socio-cultural features of mass consciousness. In addition, by its nature, tourism has a figurative character - it's memories, associations, representations that are caused by mentioning a certain country as a tourist object. The image exists autonomously from state or other structures that are interested in its positive formation. The main difference between the image of the vision is that the image is constructed purposefully and consciously, while the vision is formed independently, naturally. It is proved that the formed positive image of the national tourist product, is associated with a high level of attractiveness, aesthetics, comfort, safety, the possibility of implementing a variety of tourist practices. To objectively assess the level of attractiveness of the image, it is necessary to establish the estimated indicators, of which the main groups are: psychophysical, social, reputation, cultural-aesthetic, and economic. Taking into account the particularities of the tourism industry, namely: the priority of the wishes of the consumers, the primacy and uniqueness of the tourist service, the extremely important role of marketing in the industry, as well as the integrated structure of the national tourist product on the basis of the WTO classification and the concept of the territorial tourism product. Such a structure should include the following components: tourist and recreational resources and services, including goods; related products and services; organizational, legal and socio-political environment of tourism; personnel potential of the country; infrastructure; marketing.

Abstract This article analyses the investor-centeredness in the regulatory and operative framework of political risk insurance arrangements. The dominant approach to the concept of political risk is profoundly market oriented and the operation of political risk arrangements, based on this approach, involves mechanisms of investment climate surveillance and supervision that further foster investor-centered values. This article argues that the authority of the agents that provide political risk insurance is dependent on the continued promotion of such values. In order to maintain their underwriting business, investment insurers are responsive to investors’ demand for a favorable investment climate in the host country and financial securities in the event of loss or damage – even when these demands are not legitimate. This is illustrated with reference to the operation of a major political risk insurance provider, the US government agency Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Abstract Since the 1990s, following similar reforms to its general politico-administrative systems, Uganda has decentralized its public healthcare system by shifting decision-making power away from its central Ministry of Health and towards more distal administrative levels. Previous research has used decision space—the decision-making autonomy demonstrated by entities in an administrative hierarchy—to measure overall health system decentralization. This study aimed to determine how the decision-making autonomy reported by managers of Ugandan healthcare facilities (de facto decision space) differs from that which they are allocated by official policies (de jure decision space). Additionally, it sought to determine associations between decision space and indicators of managerial performance. Using quantitative primary healthcare data from Ugandan healthcare facilities, our study determined the decision space expressed by facility managers and the performance of their facilities on measures of essential drug availability, quality improvement and performance management. We found managers reported greater facility-level autonomy than expected in disciplining staff compared with recruitment and promotion, suggesting that managerial functions that require less financial or logistical investment (i.e. discipline) may be more susceptible to differences in de jure and de facto decision space than those that necessitate greater investment (i.e. recruitment and promotion). Additionally, we found larger public health facilities expressed significantly greater facility-level autonomy in drug ordering compared with smaller facilities, which indicates ongoing changes in the Ugandan medical supply chain to a hybrid ‘push-pull’ system. Finally, we found increased decision space was significantly positively associated with some managerial performance indicators, such as essential drug availability, but not others, such as our performance management and quality improvement measures. We conclude that increasing managerial autonomy alone is not sufficient for improving overall health facility performance and that many factors, specific to individual managerial functions, mediate relationships between decision space and performance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the changes in the risk spillover effects between the copper spot and futures markets before and after the issuance of copper options, analyze the risk spillover effects between the three markets after the issuance of the options and can provide effective suggestions for regulators and investors who hedge risks. Design/methodology/approach The MV-CAViaR model is an extended form of the vector autoregressive model (VAR) to the quantile model, and it is also a special form of the MVMQ-CAViaR model. Based on the VAR quantile model, this model has undergone continuous promotion of the Conditional Autoregressive Value-at-Risk Model (CAViaR) and the Multi-quantile Conditional Autoregressive Value-at-Risk Model (MQ-CAViaR), and finally got the current form of the model. Findings The issuance of options has led to certain changes in the risk spillover effect between the copper spot and its derivative markets, and the risk aggregation effect in the futures market has always been significant. Therefore, when supervising the copper product market and investors using copper derivatives to avoid market risks, they need to pay attention to the impact of futures on the spot market, the impact of options on the futures market and the risk spillover effects of spot and futures on the options market. Practical implications The empirical results of this paper can be used to hedge market risk investment strategies, and the changes in market relationships also provide an effective basis for the supervision of the copper product market by the supervisory authority. Originality/value It is the first literature research to discuss the risk and the impact of spillover effects of copper options on China copper market and its derivative markets. The MV-CAViaR model can capture the mutual risk influence between markets by modeling multiple markets simultaneously.

The main objective behind the establishment of Nepal Rastra Bank in 1956, as per the then Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2012 B.S. (Now Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 1955), was to maintain macro-economic stability, by adopting sound and effective monetary, foreign exchange and financial sector policies. Institutional Development and Legal Development are the main underlying components to achieve the objectives of macroeconomic stability along with the development of Regulatory Authority and market mechanism subject to Institutional Development. Ministry of Finance, Nepal Rastra Bank, Securities Board of Nepal, Insurance Board, etc. form Regulatory Authorities whereas banks and financial institutions, securities brokers, merchant bankers, insurance companies form the Market Mechanism. This article, does not give much attention to institutional development, aims mainly to emphasize on the impacts of legal input in the development of financial sectors of Nepal, especially, the promotion of Banks and Financial Institutions and its impacts in the financial sector and the impacts of Banks and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) in the development of Banks and Financial Institutions, respectively. The history of modern banking in Nepal is yet to complete 100 years as it is evident from the establishment of Nepal Bank Limited in 1937. Prior to the establishment of Nepal Bank Limited, limited amount of bank transactions used to be done by Tejarath Adda which was established in 1880. Tejarath Adda did not collect deposit but it used to disburse loan. However, it did not provide loan to general people, rather it used to provide loan to government employees and land-lords only. Nevertheless, the government had provided loan to general people through Tejarath Adda to build house after the great earthquake of 1934. The modern banking history of Nepal commenced after the establishment of Nepal Bank Limited in 1937. Subsequently, Nepal Industrial Development Corporation, Agricultural Development Bank, Rastriya Bannijjya Bank, Nepal Arab Bank Limited, Nepal Indosuez Bank Limited (which later became Nepal Investment Bank Limited), Nepal Grindlays Bank Limited (which later became Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited), Himalayan Bank Limited, and the youngest bank Mega Bank Limited have been established in series. Now, Nepal Rastra Bank has stopped licensing process of Banks and Financial Institutions except Infrastructure Bank.

A common criticism of the rhythm video games genre — including series like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, is that playing musical simulation games is a waste of time when you could be playing an actual guitar and learning a real skill. A more serious criticism of games cultures draws attention to the degree of e-waste they produce. E-waste or electronic waste includes mobiles phones, computers, televisions and other electronic devices, containing toxic chemicals and metals whose landfill, recycling and salvaging all produce distinct environmental and social problems. The e-waste produced by games like Guitar Hero is obvious in the regular flow of merchandise transforming computer and video games stores into simulation music stores, filled with replica guitars, drum kits, microphones and other products whose half-lives are short and whose obsolescence is anticipated in the annual cycles of consumption and disposal. This paper explores the connection between e-waste and obsolescence in the games industry, and argues for the further consideration of consumers as part of the solution to the problem of e-waste. It uses a case study of the PC digital distribution software platform, Steam, to suggest that the digital distribution of games may offer an alternative model to market driven software and hardware obsolescence, and more generally, that such software platforms might be a place to support cultures of consumption that delay rather than promote hardware obsolescence and its inevitability as e-waste. The question is whether there exists a potential for digital distribution to be a means of not only eliminating the need to physically transport commodities (its current 'green' benefit), but also for supporting consumer practices that further reduce e-waste. The games industry relies on a rapid production and innovation cycle, one that actively enforces hardware obsolescence. Current video game consoles, including the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, are the seventh generation of home gaming consoles to appear within forty years, and each generation is accompanied by an immense international transportation of games hardware, software (in various storage formats) and peripherals. Obsolescence also occurs at the software or content level and is significant because the games industry as a creative industry is dependent on the extensive management of multiple intellectual properties. The computing and video games software industry operates a close partnership with the hardware industry, and as such, software obsolescence directly contributes to hardware obsolescence. The obsolescence of content and the redundancy of the methods of policing its scarcity in the marketplace has been accelerated and altered by the processes of disintermediation with a range of outcomes (Flew). The music industry is perhaps the most advanced in terms of disintermediation with digital distribution at the center of the conflict between the legitimate and unauthorised access to intellectual property. This points to one issue with the hypothesis that digital distribution can lead to a reduction in hardware obsolescence, as the marketplace leader and key online distributor of music, Apple, is also the major producer of new media technologies and devices that are the paragon of stylistic obsolescence. Stylistic obsolescence, in which fashion changes products across seasons of consumption, has long been observed as the dominant form of scaled industrial innovation (Slade). Stylistic obsolescence is differentiated from mechanical or technological obsolescence as the deliberate supersedence of products by more advanced designs, better production techniques and other minor innovations. The line between the stylistic and technological obsolescence is not always clear, especially as reduced durability has become a powerful market strategy (Fitzpatrick). This occurs where the design of technologies is subsumed within the discourses of manufacturing, consumption and the logic of planned obsolescence in which the product or parts are intended to fail, degrade or under perform over time. It is especially the case with signature new media technologies such as laptop computers, mobile phones and portable games devices. Gamers are as guilty as other consumer groups in contributing to e-waste as participants in the industry's cycles of planned obsolescence, but some of them complicate discussions over the future of obsolescence and e-waste. Many gamers actively work to forestall the obsolescence of their games: they invest time in the play of older games (“retrogaming”) they donate labor and creative energy to the production of user-generated content as a means of sustaining involvement in gaming communities; and they produce entirely new game experiences for other users, based on existing software and hardware modifications known as 'mods'. With Guitar Hero and other 'rhythm' games it would be easy to argue that the hardware components of this genre have only one future: as waste. Alternatively, we could consider the actual lifespan of these objects (including their impact as e-waste) and the roles they play in the performances and practices of communities of gamers. For example, the Elmo Guitar Hero controller mod, the Tesla coil Guitar Hero controller interface, the Rock Band Speak n' Spellbinder mashup, the multiple and almost sacrilegious Fender guitar hero mods, the Guitar Hero Portable Turntable Mod and MAKE magazine's Trumpet Hero all indicate a significant diversity of user innovation, community formation and individual investment in the post-retail life of computer and video game hardware. Obsolescence is not just a problem for the games industry but for the computing and electronics industries more broadly as direct contributors to the social and environmental cost of electrical waste and obsolete electrical equipment. Planned obsolescence has long been the experience of gamers and computer users, as the basis of a utopian mythology of upgrades (Dovey and Kennedy). For PC users the upgrade pathway is traversed by the consumption of further hardware and software post initial purchase in a cycle of endless consumption, acquisition and waste (as older parts are replaced and eventually discarded). The accumulation and disposal of these cultural artefacts does not devalue or accrue in space or time at the same rate (Straw) and many users will persist for years, gradually upgrading and delaying obsolescence and even perpetuate the circulation of older cultural commodities. Flea markets and secondhand fairs are popular sites for the purchase of new, recent, old, and recycled computer hardware, and peripherals. Such practices and parallel markets support the strategies of 'making do' described by De Certeau, but they also continue the cycle of upgrade and obsolescence, and they are still consumed as part of the promise of the 'new', and the desire of a purchase that will finally 'fix' the users' computer in a state of completion (29). The planned obsolescence of new media technologies is common, but its success is mixed; for example, support for Microsoft's operating system Windows XP was officially withdrawn in April 2009 (Robinson), but due to the popularity in low cost PC 'netbooks' outfitted with an optimised XP operating system and a less than enthusiastic response to the 'next generation' Windows Vista, XP continues to be popular. Digital Distribution: A Solution? Gamers may be able to reduce the accumulation of e-waste by supporting the disintermediation of the games retail sector by means of online distribution. Disintermediation is the establishment of a direct relationship between the creators of content and their consumers through products and services offered by content producers (Flew 201). The move to digital distribution has already begun to reduce the need to physically handle commodities, but this currently signals only further support of planned, stylistic and technological obsolescence, increasing the rate at which the commodities for recording, storing, distributing and exhibiting digital content become e-waste. Digital distribution is sometimes overlooked as a potential means for promoting communities of user practice dedicated to e-waste reduction, at the same time it is actively employed to reduce the potential for the unregulated appropriation of content and restrict post-purchase sales through Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies. Distributors like Amazon.com continue to pursue commercial opportunities in linking the user to digital distribution of content via exclusive hardware and software technologies. The Amazon e-book reader, the Kindle, operates via a proprietary mobile network using a commercially run version of the wireless 3G protocols. The e-book reader is heavily encrypted with Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies and exclusive digital book formats designed to enforce current copyright restrictions and eliminate second-hand sales, lending, and further post-purchase distribution. The success of this mode of distribution is connected to Amazon's ability to tap both the mainstream market and the consumer demand for the less-than-popular; those books, movies, music and television series that may not have been 'hits' at the time of release. The desire to revisit forgotten niches, such as B-sides, comics, books, and older video games, suggests Chris Anderson, linked with so-called “long tail” economics. Recently Webb has queried the economic impact of the Long Tail as a business strategy, but does not deny the underlying dynamics, which suggest that content does not obsolesce in any straightforward way. Niche markets for older content are nourished by participatory cultures and Web 2.0 style online services. A good example of the Long Tail phenomenon is the recent case of the 1971 book A Lion Called Christian, by Anthony Burke and John Rendall, republished after the author's film of a visit to a resettled Christian in Africa was popularised on YouTube in 2008. Anderson's Long Tail theory suggests that over time a large number of items, each with unique rather than mass histories, will be subsumed as part of a larger community of consumers, including fans, collectors and everyday users with a long term interest in their use and preservation. If digital distribution platforms can reduce e-waste, they can perhaps be fostered by to ensuring digital consumers have access to morally and ethically aware consumer decisions, but also that they enjoy traditional consumer freedoms, such as the right to sell on and change or modify their property. For it is not only the fixation on the 'next generation' that contributes to obsolescence, but also technologies like DRM systems that discourage second hand sales and restrict modification. The legislative upgrades, patches and amendments to copyright law that have attempted to maintain the law's effectiveness in competing with peer-to-peer networks have supported DRM and other intellectual property enforcement technologies, despite the difficulties that owners of intellectual property have encountered with the effectiveness of DRM systems (Moore, Creative). The games industry continues to experiment with DRM, however, this industry also stands out as one of the few to have significantly incorporated the user within the official modes of production (Moore, Commonising). Is the games industry capable (or willing) of supporting a digital delivery system that attempts to minimise or even reverse software and hardware obsolescence? We can try to answer this question by looking in detail at the biggest digital distributor of PC games, Steam. Steam Figure 1: The Steam Application user interface retail section Steam is a digital distribution system designed for the Microsoft Windows operating system and operated by American video game development company and publisher, Valve Corporation. Steam combines online games retail, DRM technologies and internet-based distribution services with social networking and multiplayer features (in-game voice and text chat, user profiles, etc) and direct support for major games publishers, independent producers, and communities of user-contributors (modders). Steam, like the iTunes games store, Xbox Live and other digital distributors, provides consumers with direct digital downloads of new, recent and classic titles that can be accessed remotely by the user from any (internet equipped) location. Steam was first packaged with the physical distribution of Half Life 2 in 2004, and the platform's eventual popularity is tied to the success of that game franchise. Steam was not an optional component of the game's installation and many gamers protested in various online forums, while the platform was treated with suspicion by the global PC games press. It did not help that Steam was at launch everything that gamers take objection to: a persistent and initially 'buggy' piece of software that sits in the PC's operating system and occupies limited memory resources at the cost of hardware performance. Regular updates to the Steam software platform introduced social network features just as mainstream sites like MySpace and Facebook were emerging, and its popularity has undergone rapid subsequent growth. Steam now eclipses competitors with more than 20 million user accounts (Leahy) and Valve Corporation makes it publicly known that Steam collects large amounts of data about its users. This information is available via the public player profile in the community section of the Steam application. It includes the average number of hours the user plays per week, and can even indicate the difficulty the user has in navigating game obstacles. Valve reports on the number of users on Steam every two hours via its web site, with a population on average between one and two million simultaneous users (Valve, Steam). We know these users’ hardware profiles because Valve Corporation makes the results of its surveillance public knowledge via the Steam Hardware Survey. Valve’s hardware survey itself conceptualises obsolescence in two ways. First, it uses the results to define the 'cutting edge' of PC technologies and publishing the standards of its own high end production hardware on the companies blog. Second, the effect of the Survey is to subsequently define obsolescent hardware: for example, in the Survey results for April 2009, we can see that the slight majority of users maintain computers with two central processing units while a significant proportion (almost one third) of users still maintained much older PCs with a single CPU. Both effects of the Survey appear to be well understood by Valve: the Steam Hardware Survey automatically collects information about the community's computer hardware configurations and presents an aggregate picture of the stats on our web site. The survey helps us make better engineering and gameplay decisions, because it makes sure we're targeting machines our customers actually use, rather than measuring only against the hardware we've got in the office. We often get asked about the configuration of the machines we build around the office to do both game and Steam development. We also tend to turn over machines in the office pretty rapidly, at roughly every 18 months. (Valve, Team Fortress) Valve’s support of older hardware might counter perceptions that older PCs have no use and begins to reverse decades of opinion regarding planned and stylistic obsolescence in the PC hardware and software industries. Equally significant to the extension of the lives of older PCs is Steam's support for mods and its promotion of user generated content. By providing software for mod creation and distribution, Steam maximises what Postigo calls the development potential of fan-programmers. One of the 'payoffs' in the information/access exchange for the user with Steam is the degree to which Valve's End-User Licence Agreement (EULA) permits individuals and communities of 'modders' to appropriate its proprietary game content for use in the creation of new games and games materials for redistribution via Steam. These mods extend the play of the older games, by requiring their purchase via Steam in order for the individual user to participate in the modded experience. If Steam is able to encourage this kind of appropriation and community support for older content, then the potential exists for it to support cultures of consumption and practice of use that collaboratively maintain, extend, and prolong the life and use of games. Further, Steam incorporates the insights of “long tail” economics in a purely digital distribution model, in which the obsolescence of 'non-hit' game titles can be dramatically overturned. Published in November 2007, Unreal Tournament 3 (UT3) by Epic Games, was unappreciated in a market saturated with games in the first-person shooter genre. Epic republished UT3 on Steam 18 months later, making the game available to play for free for one weekend, followed by discounted access to new content. The 2000 per cent increase in players over the game's 'free' trial weekend, has translated into enough sales of the game for Epic to no longer consider the release a commercial failure: It’s an incredible precedent to set: making a game a success almost 18 months after a poor launch. It’s something that could only have happened now, and with a system like Steam...Something that silently updates a purchase with patches and extra content automatically, so you don’t have to make the decision to seek out some exciting new feature: it’s just there anyway. Something that, if you don’t already own it, advertises that game to you at an agreeably reduced price whenever it loads. Something that enjoys a vast community who are in turn plugged into a sea of smaller relevant communities. It’s incredibly sinister. It’s also incredibly exciting... (Meer) Clearly concerns exist about Steam's user privacy policy, but this also invites us to the think about the economic relationship between gamers and games companies as it is reconfigured through the private contractual relationship established by the EULA which accompanies the digital distribution model. The games industry has established contractual and licensing arrangements with its consumer base in order to support and reincorporate emerging trends in user generated cultures and other cultural formations within its official modes of production (Moore, "Commonising"). When we consider that Valve gets to tax sales of its virtual goods and can further sell the information farmed from its users to hardware manufacturers, it is reasonable to consider the relationship between the corporation and its gamers as exploitative. Gabe Newell, the Valve co-founder and managing director, conversely believes that people are willing to give up personal information if they feel it is being used to get better services (Leahy). If that sentiment is correct then consumers may be willing to further trade for services that can reduce obsolescence and begin to address the problems of e-waste from the ground up. Conclusion Clearly, there is a potential for digital distribution to be a means of not only eliminating the need to physically transport commodities but also supporting consumer practices that further reduce e-waste. For an industry where only a small proportion of the games made break even, the successful relaunch of older games content indicates Steam's capacity to ameliorate software obsolescence. Digital distribution extends the use of commercially released games by providing disintermediated access to older and user-generated content. For Valve, this occurs within a network of exchange as access to user-generated content, social networking services, and support for the organisation and coordination of communities of gamers is traded for user-information and repeat business. Evidence for whether this will actively translate to an equivalent decrease in the obsolescence of game hardware might be observed with indicators like the Steam Hardware Survey in the future. The degree of potential offered by digital distribution is disrupted by a range of technical, commercial and legal hurdles, primary of which is the deployment of DRM, as part of a range of techniques designed to limit consumer behaviour post purchase. While intervention in the form of legislation and radical change to the insidious nature of electronics production is crucial in order to achieve long term reduction in e-waste, the user is currently considered only in terms of 'ethical' consumption and ultimately divested of responsibility through participation in corporate, state and civil recycling and e-waste management operations. The message is either 'careful what you purchase' or 'careful how you throw it away' and, like DRM, ignores the connections between product, producer and user and the consumer support for environmentally, ethically and socially positive production, distribrution, disposal and recycling. This article, has adopted a different strategy, one that sees digital distribution platforms like Steam, as capable, if not currently active, in supporting community practices that should be seriously considered in conjunction with a range of approaches to the challenge of obsolescence and e-waste. 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