The Hindu Business Line : Dubious commerce thriving on the Net

Can you name an industry that is among the top five groups buying state-of-the-art computer equipment, and which was the first to buy and use expensive T3 phone lines that transmit compressed, high-resolution images? Not IT (services) or the BPO (business process outsourcing) companies, but the sex industry, as Samir Dasgupta informs in one of the essays included in Politics of Globalization, a book that he has co-edited with Jan Nederveen Pieterse ( www.sagepublications.com).

“One of the largest Internet companies in the world, Digex, whose largest customer is Microsoft Corporation, has a sex industry site as its second-largest customer. A website designer, who works at a large sex industry website, described his work as a ‘dream job’ because any new technology was available for the asking.”

Most of the owners of sex industry sites with live-sex shows moved to the Internet from the phone-sex operations, the author observes. “One advantage they had was money for the capital investment. For example, the Internet Entertainment Group (IEG), owned by Seth Warshavsky who had a phone-sex business, invested $3 million in computers and communication equipment to start up his website.”

Dasgupta rues that the speedy growth of the global Internet sex industry has deepened the harm to the victims and globalised women’s victimisation and exploitation. He bemoans the lack of regulation of the Internet and the prevailing uncritical views on the sex industry, which are contributing to the escalation of the global sexual exploitation of women and children through global advertising of prostitution tours and online marketing.

“Globalisation makes women ‘sexy’ and uses them as the sex-commodities. … Under the shadow of globalisation, women empowerment is measured as sex-consumerism which has clouded the global sky.”

Different adult Internet sites, increasing sex crime, expansion and growth of sex-tour trade across the globe, the uncontrolled global sex trafficking, selling of distressed women in the Third World, free sex trade, and so on, identify the female body as a global sex commodity, notes Dasgupta. Is this the image of women’s empowerment, he asks, poignantly.

“The Internet as a medium of communication would exist without the sex industry, but the Internet industry would not be growing and expanding at its present rate without the sex industry. The Internet industry does not like to admit how much it is being supported by the sex industry…”

Important insights.

Combat-management systems

Research in defence is moving from tactical electronic support measure (ESM) to more strategic electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems, which can track ships and aircraft passively, informs Jyotirmoy Banerjee in one of the essays included in India’s Foreign Policy ( www.pearsoned.co.in). The book — edited by Anjali Ghosh, Tridib Chakraborti, Anindyo Jyoti Majumdar, and Shibashis Chatterjee — has a wealth of content for the defence- and policy-avid.

Among the detailed accounts of international defence expertise, in Banerjee’s essay, is the one about stealth frigate, La Lafayette of France, showcased in India, in May 2001. Reportedly the world’s first stealth surface combatant, the 3,600-tonne frigate has its equipment (including four 5,000 hp engines) suspended from poles to minimise sonar-detectable vibration, the author narrates.

“The frigate has advanced automated information and combat-management systems… The Lafayette-class has 3D multi-function and 2D long-range radars. The frigate reportedly can take direct hits, yet remain combat-capable. Highly automated, it can speed at 25 knots, with a range of 9,000 km… Paris insisted that while the vessels may be built in India, its weapons and sub-systems must be bought from France.”

Recommended read.

Group vs Team

In recent years, most organisations have replaced the concept of groups with the concept of teams, finds Sarma V. S. Veluri in Organisational Behaviour: An interactive learning approach ( www.jaicobooks.com). He says that while teams offer a number of benefits that groups also offer — such as, increased productivity, rapid decision-making, diversity in thinking, enhanced employee motivation and morale, satisfaction of social, esteem and actualisation needs, training ground for members, loyalty and commitment towards goals — teams have a cutting edge over groups.

For instance, a team’s members may each have unique skills, in contrast to a group, where every member tries to acquire all the skills necessary to undertake a task, the author explains. “In a sales group, every member uses skills of attracting customers, explaining the product, making visits, attending customer queries, and finalising the deal. Thus, if a member does not possess a particular skill, such as analysing information, he may not achieve the goal, even though he possesses other skills.”

Another edge of teams is synergy, says Veluri. “Synergy means that the outcome of a combined activity is greater than the sum of individual sub-activities. In the case of a group, the outcome of group activity is simply the sum of the performance of the individual members.” Why are teams able to reap the advantages of synergy? Because of positive motivation and coordinated efforts of the team members, he reasons.

Useful addition to the managers’ shelf.

Stress warning signs

Check if you experience one or more of these: A decreased quality and output of work; carelessness leading to sudden increase of errors or accidents; difficulty in taking decisions; isolation and aloofness from colleagues and friends; working late; missing appointments and deadlines; taking the path of least resistance; loss in sense of humour; anger, frequent outbursts of temper; constant harping on failures; mistrusting colleagues, family, and friends; headache, fatigue, insomnia, backache, loss of appetite or overeating…

These are some of the stress warning signs listed in Effective Yoga for Health and Happiness by B. K. Trehan and Indu Trehan ( www.macmillanpublishersindia.com). Stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the demands of life, and our ability to cope with the same, the authors explain. They fret that fast-paced life, work pressures, tight deadlines, cut-throat competition and prolonged sitting in wrong postures, and so on, have made the work environment very stressful, forcing people to lead an erratic lifestyle, where health is the last priority.

“No doubt, the mind and body do need some amount of stress, to perform at their best. But, if it is activated too often, stress turns chronic, and breaks down the systems of the body.”

Healthy study.

dmurali@thehindu.co.in

Tailpiece

“Until recently, she used to say ‘Cho Chweet’…”

“And now?”

“Tho Tweet!”