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Advertising Tax There is no advertising tax in the United Kingdom and the United States today. However, media reform movements have repeatedly attempted to introduce an advertising levy. The American media economist Robert McChesney believes that the monopolistic power of the large media corporations poses a threat to democracy, the freedom of opinion and the freedom of the media. He suggests a system in which every citizen is given an annual voucher of 200 US dollars that can be donated to a non-profit news or media organization (McChesney & Nichols 2010, 201; McChesney 2012, 212–214). McChesney anticipates an increase in the plurality of the media system if this citizens’ news voucher is put into practice. McChesney and Nichols (2010, 209–211) suggest a 2% advertising tax as one of the measures for financing this citizens’ voucher. Due to the strong commercialism of the media system in the USA, public service media have traditionally been weak. The path towards the establishment of public service media was a tough one, full of obstacles, and it took until 1967 until the passing of the Public Broadcasting Act that led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). PBS has existed since 1970. Local stations that are more or less public in nature also play an important role. PBS is structured as a network of local, non-commercial, educational broadcasting stations. In 2013 41% of public television’s budget came from taxes, 25% from individuals (donations, membership fees), it is important to note that tax law is organised nationally while the Internet, Internet economy and online advertising operate on a global level. legislative change is needed before Google and Facebook’s online advertising can be taxed Google and Facebook’s tax avoidance is possible precisely because these global companies operate in the global Internet and their tax avoidance is supported by the tax legislation of rival nation states that compete against one another through tax dumping and liberal business regulations. It is important to recognise that while many people certainly regard Google and Facebook’s tax avoidance strategies as immoral, these strategies are not in fact illegal in many countries. For this reason, legislative change is needed before Google and Facebook’s online advertising can be taxed.17% from businesses, 4% from universities and 17% from other sources.15 The US media reform group Free Press (2010) proposed the introduction of an advertising tax in the USA to provide better funding for public service media, which would strengthen these media and enhance media diversity. It envisages two possibilities: a direct advertising tax would tax the media’s advertising income at a certain rate (Free Press suggests a 2% rate). The second kind of advertising tax is an advertising sales tax to be borne by those buying advertising time or advertising space that is added to the price of the advertisement. The third kind is an indirect advertising tax. In the USA, companies are able to deduct 100% of their advertising costs from tax. Free Press suggested that the deductible percentage be reduced and certain industries (e.g. alcohol, tobacco) excluded from this deductibility, which would lead to increased tax revenue. In Free Press’s proposal, the revenue generated through the advertising tax should be used to strengthen public media in the USA. In the United Kingdom, the Media Reform Coalition advocates a similar concept (Co-ordinating Committee for Media Reform 2011). It suggests introducing a tax on the turnover or profit of certain media industry sectors, such as Internet advertising, Internet service providers, mobile phone providers and hardware producers. The income generated through this measure should be used to finance public journalism and local media cooperatives.

Managing problems encountered before, during and after the segmentation activity

Any strategy initiative inevitably is never trouble‐free. Rarely is a segmentation project without its impediments. Generally, there are problems before the project, during the creation of market segments and afterwards when implementing the resulting segmentation (Dibb and Simkin, 2001, 2008, 2009; Dibb et al., 2008). This project was no different.

We have proposed a method to reduce the risk of blackouts in electrical power transmission networks by controlling the power flowing through certain lines. These lines can be the existing HVDC lines interconnecting different synchronous areas or new HVDC lines replacing AC lines connecting different zones within the same synchronous area, thus segmenting the power system.

We have used the OPA model to evaluate the changes in the risk of blackouts as a result of the segmentation. The HVDC lines and converters are modeled in this study as lines with controllable impedance. Changing the impedance is a way to control the power flowing through a line in our model. In a cascading failure the control method consist in choosing an appropriate value of the impedance, i.e. the power flow, for each HVDC line to minimize the load shed of the subsequent blackouts. This is done at dispatch by simulating a priory the cascade many times, each with different impedance values, in a Monte Carlo fashion, and selecting the configuration that minimizes the load shed. Our results show that: (i) this method can reduce the risk of blackouts of a homogeneous balanced segmented grid up to 60% with respect to the original full AC network; (ii) the method is particularly efficient in suppressing blackouts affecting more than one zone; (iii) in unbalanced or heterogeneous networks the global effectiveness is reduced, as the risk is determined mainly by the blackouts in the largest zone, however a substantial reduction of the local risk is still obtained in the smaller sub-networks; and (iv) this method is able to decrease the risk of blackouts without increasing its frequency, a counter effect typically found in other control methods.

Abstract—Network segmentation of a power grid’s communication system is one way to make the grid more resilient to cyber attacks. We develop a novel trilevel programming model to optimally segment a grid communication system, taking into account the actions of an information technolology (IT) administrator, attacker, and grid operator. The IT administrator is given an allowance to segment existing networks, and the attacker is given a fixed budget to attack the segmented communication system in an attempt to inflict damage on the grid. Finally, the grid operator is allowed to redispatch the grid after the attack in order to minimize damage. The resulting problem is a trilevel interdiction problem, which we solve by leveraging current research in bilevel branch and bound. We demonstrate the benefits of optimal network segmentation through case studies on the 9-bus WSCC system and the 30-bus IEEE system. These examples illustrate that network segmentation can significantly reduce the threat posed by a cyber attacker with perfect knowledge of the grid.

INTRODUCTION The electric grid, like many infrastructure systems, historically relied on air-gapped and specialized control networks for security. For convenience and cost savings, grid/utility owners are increasingly integrating traditional information technologies (IT) into their control systems. This shift has increased the attack surface for electric grids and has made them more vulnerable to cyber attacks. This was illustrated in the December 2015 cyber attack against the Ukrainian power grid [1]. According to [2], nation-state actors in particular pose a significant threat to cyber-physical systems and also possess the ability to gather the necessary information in advance of attacks. Criminal organizations, terrorists, hackers, and hackivists may also pose a threat to these systems [3].

Some legislators have also raised concerns over utilities’ use of energy storage batteries made in China. They suggest the Chinese government could hypothetically influence battery companies to install malware, per CSO Online. And some cyber experts also say battery energy storage systems must be defended against manipulations that could overcharge batteries to cause fires or a blackout, per the outlet.

Energy system cybersecurity is also a moving target. This is all to say that as the U.S. shifts to use more renewable energy, officials are thinking about how cybersecurity approaches may need to adjust.

To assist real time operators in our control rooms, in this emerging context and maintain a robust power supply with high electrical energy quality, new solutions must be devised. They must adapt to decentralized intermittent production and allow for sufficient fast response to manage rapid flow changes.

Autonomous controllers are widely used in the grid, especially for power balance using frequency regulation or voltage/reactive power control [4]. Their use will progressively extend to other fields since they have a crucial role in meeting the challenge of efficiency, ensuring reliable operation, lowering costs, and reducing environmental impacts [4], [5]. In this study, we are interested in power flow control. Operators frequently use topological actions as remedial action for power flow control because they are less expensive than redispatching. Hence we are interested in topological autonomous controller. Topological closed-loop control that consists of controlling the grid topology (powerline and busbar breakers’ statutes) based on grid state monitoring can efficiently maintain a reliable power supply. For highly meshed grid, the number of actions that the agent can perform at each time step is dramatically high for the entire grid. We must therefore think about a more suitable design.

There are multiple challenges that come in the way of ensuring maritime cybersecurity in the Indo-Pacific. While some of these challenges are specific to the Indo-Pacific, a number of them are applicable more universally. The Indo-Pacific is a geopolitically fraught region home to half of the world’s population with a 60 per cent share of global maritime trade. It has a long coastline and massive (but complex) maritime landscape with major powers (India, China, United States), unstable states (Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea), contested maritime boundaries and islands (South China Sea and the East China Sea), and chokepoints (Malacca Strait and Lombok Strait). Along with this, piracy threats (Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia) as well as the presence of emerging/ambitious (Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran), established (India, China, US) and extra-regional (UK, France, Russia) navies makes the region volatile in nature. Hopcraft and Martin (2018) highlight why the Indo-Pacific stands out as compared to other regions:

While full digitalization of ships and related systems is a global risk-management issue, it is of high significance to the Indo-Pacific region, which incorporates the third largest of the world’s oceans and acts as the gateway to many of the major shipping lanes, straits and canals, including the Suez Canal (Hopcraft & Martin, 2018, para. 3).

Cooperation among middle powers in the Indo-Region is not an endeavor that is exclusive to states alone, as practitioners and institutions have the potential to play a meaningful role in establishing cooperation among like-minded partners at a non-state level. In order to effectively address the challenges the region faces, it is imperative to consider ways to engage non-state actors through new avenues. One promising area for cooperation among both practitioners and institutions on this front is through the establishment of university consortiums within the Indo-Pacific aimed at addressing regional cybersecurity issues. These collaborations can provide a unique platform to facilitate discourse between experts in academia throughout the region and beyond, allowing for a deeper level of cooperation between like-minded countries like those mentioned in this paper, as well as political entities such as Taiwan.

University consortiums, once established, can serve a myriad of purposes that are beneficial to all involved. Ones such as this could allow those involved to identify challenges facing the region in regard to cybersecurity, as well as identifying and sharing methods and best practices to mitigate said challenges. Moreover, such initiatives can help foster a cyber-aware culture among their members through focusing on critical areas such as education and literacy. Cooperation on identification, mitigation, defense, response and educational initiatives can serve an even greater purpose in reaching the public — vaccinating citizens in open societies against disinformation through awareness programs in schools, as well as through public awareness programs in the media. Initiatives such as this could even be grouped as minilateral engagement groups under the umbrella of larger frameworks, such as G7, or looking within the Indo-Pacific, the QUAD, with the goal of leveraging the strengths of practitioners to develop robust and collective responses to cyber issues.

To take things a step further, governments should modernize procurement rules for data security that privilege legacy systems without improving safety. They should also partner more closely with industry to reduce the stigma of reporting cyber intrusions so hackers cannot repeat the same tactics with impunity. Governments can also nudge -- or if need be, require -- companies to adopt cyber best practices.

For its part, the U.S. should continue expanding cybersecurity partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region. New initiatives, like the trilateral working group formed with South Korea and Japan on North Korean cyberthreats, are promising. So is the recently concluded agreement with the European Union to establish a "cybertrust mark" to help consumers identify products that meet minimum cybersecurity standards. If it proves effective, Washington should expand the initiative to the Indo-Pacific.

To confront the threat to critical infrastructure posed by Volt Typhoon and other state-sponsored Chinese cyber actors, the United States should launch an expansive new multilateral cyber threat intelligence sharing coalition in the Indo-Pacific. This coalition should utilize some of the lessons learned from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, and it would incorporate members of the Five Eyes alliance, US Indo-Pacific partners, and even some European states. The expanded reach and resources of such a coalition would help disrupt cyber threats, signal to the world that the United States and its partners are committed to protecting both cyber and physical infrastructure from malicious actors, and ideally help deter future cyber threats from China.

Meeting the threat

At the heart of environmental impacts lies the concerns regarding energy consumption associated with the blockchain operation. Traditional verification methods rely on trusted central authorities. Although blockchain technology adopts decentralization where a group of computers verify the transactions. This verification processes known as mining is where the energy intensiveness comes in.

Energy Consumption

A decentralized, tamper-proof repository sounds like a great way to audit where your mango comes from, how fresh it is, and whether it has been sprayed with pesticides or not. But actually, laws on food labeling, nonprofit or government inspectors, an independent, trusted free press, empowered workers who trust whistleblower protections, credible grocery stores, your local nonprofit farmer’s market, and so on, do a way better job. People who actually care about food safety do not adopt blockchain because trusted is better than trustless. Blockchain’s technology mess exposes its metaphor mess — a software engineer pointing out that storing the data a sequence of small hashed files won’t get the mango-pickers to accurately report whether they sprayed pesticides is also pointing out why peer-to-peer interaction with no regulations, norms, middlemen, or trusted parties is actually a bad way to empower people.

Like the farmer’s market or the organic labeling standard, so many real ideas are hiding in plain sight. Do you wish there was a type of financial institution that was secure and well-regulated in all the traditional ways, but also has the integrity of being people-powered? A credit union’s members elect its directors, and the transaction-processing revenue is divided up among the members. Move your money! Prefer a deflationary monetary policy? Central bankers are appointed by elected leaders. Want to make elections more secure and democratic? Help write open source voting software, go out and register voters, or volunteer as an election observer here or abroad! Wish there was a trusted e-book delivery service that charged lower transaction fees and distributed more of the earnings to the authors? You can already consider stated payout rates when you buy music or books, buy directly from the authors, or start your own e-book site that’s even better than what’s out there!

Blockchain networks can be slow and inefficient due to the high computational requirements needed to validate transactions. As the number of users, transactions, and applications increases, the ability of blockchain networks to process and validate them in a timely way becomes strained. This makes blockchain networks difficult to use in applications that require fast transaction processing speeds.

Traditional blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum rely on consensus algorithms like proof-of-work and proof-of-stake, which can be slow and resource-intensive. As a result, these networks face limitations in transaction throughput, often leading to congestion and high transaction fees.

Reducing carbon emissions in the blockchain space requires a multifaceted approach that addresses various aspects of the technology and its operations. One effective strategy is to integrate renewable energy sources into blockchain mining operations. This involves powering the mining facilities with solar, wind, geothermal, or hydropower. As a result, blockchain operations can significantly reduce their carbon footprint by shifting away from fossil fuel-based energy. In addition, establishing partnerships with renewable energy providers or investing in on-site renewable energy infrastructure can ensure a greener energy supply for blockchain operations. Improving the energy efficiency of blockchain mining equipment and infrastructure is another important step toward reducing carbon emissions. Research and development efforts can focus on designing more energy-efficient mining hardware, such as ASIC miners or GPUs. Data centers and mining facilities can also implement energy-efficient cooling systems, server management techniques, and hardware optimizations to minimize energy waste. Transitioning from the traditional Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to Proof of Stake (PoS) can also significantly reduce carbon emissions in the blockchain space. PoW algorithms, like the one used by Bitcoin, are highly energy-intensive as they require miners to solve complex mathematical puzzles. Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, told Nasdaq, "The main advantages of transitioning from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) are reduced energy consumption, scalability and efficiency, and including small validators," continuing, "Reduced energy consumption is relatively simple and mostly related to PoS algorithms. Scalability and efficiency are also significantly increased through PoS networks. This decentralization can lead to increased network security and resilience." In contrast, PoS algorithms, such as Ethereum's planned upgrade to Ethereum 2.0, eliminate the need for resource-intensive mining. Instead, validators are chosen to create new blocks based on the number of coins they hold and are willing to "stake" as collateral. This approach drastically reduces the computational energy requirements of maintaining the blockchain. Sun said, "Energy-efficient blockchain designs are another way to reduce the carbon footprint of blockchain technology. Optimizing the design and architecture of blockchain networks can improve energy efficiency. This includes reducing computational requirements, minimizing data storage, and optimizing network protocols." He added, "Also, taking transactions off-chain can help. Implementing off-chain transactions or layer-two scaling solutions can alleviate the burden on the leading blockchain network, reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Another step that can be taken is around carbon offsetting initiatives. Blockchain projects can participate in carbon offset programs to neutralize their emissions. They can invest in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable energy projects or reforestation initiatives." Blockchain projects can proactively offset their carbon emissions by participating in carbon offset initiatives. This involves investing in renewable energy projects or supporting initiatives that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere. Blockchain platforms can contribute to overall emissions reduction efforts by neutralizing their carbon footprint through offsetting. Promoting decentralization and scalability is essential to reduce blockchain networks' energy consumption and carbon emissions. By encouraging a distributed network infrastructure, blockchain platforms can avoid the concentration of mining power in a few energy-intensive locations. This allows more participants to engage in mining, reducing the overall energy consumption per participant and the associated carbon emissions. Continued research and innovation are critical to finding new solutions that reduce the carbon footprint of blockchain technology. This includes exploring alternative consensus algorithms, developing more efficient mining techniques, and optimizing blockchain protocols to minimize energy requirements while maintaining security and decentralization. Governments and regulatory bodies can play a vital role in reducing carbon emissions in the blockchain space. By introducing policies that incentivize or enforce renewable energy, promote energy efficiency, or provide tax benefits for sustainable blockchain operations, regulators can encourage environmentally conscious practices within the industry. In conclusion, reducing carbon emissions in the blockchain space requires integrating renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency, transitioning to PoS consensus algorithms, offsetting carbon emissions, promoting decentralization and scalability, investing in research and innovation, and implementing supportive regulatory frameworks. The blockchain industry can minimize its environmental impact and contribute to global sustainability goals by implementing these strategies.

In the current digital landscape, data integrity and security have taken center stage, especially as businesses and institutions continue to depend on digital data. This reliance, however, brings its own set of challenges, as the ever-growing volume of digital data is accompanied by a rise in sophisticated cyber threats. These threats pose significant risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data, which are the cornerstones of information security.

Blockchain technology can be a potential solution. To enhance data protection, blockchain introduces a new privacy model as an overlay network. It employs cryptographic hashes for robust data verification and operates on a distributed, public and permissionless network framework. These features collectively ensure the immutability, reliability and transparency of data, fostering a secure digital environment where data manipulation becomes nearly impossible and trust in digital records is significantly bolstered.

Cybersecurity spending has increased exponentially in the past decade, with no signs of slowing. Worldwide, organizations plan to allocate more than $1 trillion between 2017 and 2021 to protect themselves from online threats, according to one industry report.1

Despite that staggering investment, criminal hackers are still exploiting both publicly known and unknown vulnerabilities, and intercepting device, application, and network communications. CB Insights calculated that about 6 billion confidential files were stolen between 2017 and 2018. Other industry research shows that the number and cost of cyberattacks have increased.

In the search for a sustainable and efficient energy future, the traditional centralized model of energy distribution is facing formidable challenges. Rising energy demand, coupled with the increasing penetration of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, requires a shift towards more flexible and resilient energy grids. Introducing blockchain technology – a disruptive force poised to revolutionize the energy sector by enabling decentralized energy grids. Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, is gaining traction as a transformative solution for energy distribution. At its core, blockchain allows for secure, transparent, and immutable transactions without the need for intermediaries. This inherent decentralization makes it an ideal match for the energy sector, where the transition towards decentralized grids holds immense promise. One of the key ways blockchain is reshaping the future of energy distribution is through the facilitation of peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading. Traditionally, energy flows in a one-way direction from centralized power plants to consumers. However, with the advent of blockchain-enabled P2P energy trading platforms, consumers can now directly buy and sell excess energy to their neighbors. This not only empowers consumers by providing them with greater control over their energy usage but also incentivizes the adoption of renewable energy generation at the local level. Moreover, blockchain enhances the efficiency and transparency of energy transactions through the use of smart contracts. These self-executing contracts automatically enforce the terms of agreements between energy producers and consumers, eliminating the need for intermediaries and reducing transaction costs. By leveraging smart contracts, energy trading becomes more seamless, secure, and cost-effective, thereby accelerating the transition toward decentralized energy grids. Another significant application of blockchain in energy distribution is the tokenization of energy assets. Blockchain-based tokens represent ownership or access rights to energy assets such as solar panels, wind turbines, or energy storage systems. Through tokenization, individuals and communities can invest in renewable energy projects, share ownership of energy assets, and receive dividends or discounts on their energy bills. This democratization of energy ownership not only fosters greater community engagement but also accelerates the deployment of renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, blockchain enhances the resilience and reliability of energy grids by enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of energy flows. By recording energy transactions on a transparent and tamper-proof ledger, blockchain provides grid operators with valuable insights into energy supply and demand dynamics. This enables more efficient grid management, reduces the risk of energy fraud or tampering, and enhances grid stability in the face of disruptions or cyberattacks. Despite its immense potential, the widespread adoption of blockchain in energy distribution faces several challenges, including regulatory hurdles, interoperability issues, and scalability concerns. However, ongoing pilot projects and collaborations between energy companies, startups, and policymakers are driving innovation and paving the way for a decentralized energy future. In conclusion, blockchain technology is poised to reshape the future of energy distribution by enabling decentralized grids that are more efficient, resilient, and sustainable. Through P2P energy trading, smart contracts, tokenization, and real-time grid optimization, blockchain holds the promise of transforming the energy sector and empowering consumers to take control of their energy future. As we navigate the transition towards a renewable energy-driven economy, blockchain stands as a beacon of hope for a more decentralized, democratic, and equitable energy system.

As the United States transitions to a more modern and dynamic energy infrastructure, new challenges arise. Greater integration of distributed energy generation resources and grid-connected smart devices leads to an unprecedented volume, speed, and complexity of data transfers and transactions. These new developments present a major security challenge for utilities and put an already vulnerable power grid at increased risk of cyberattacks. To overcome these challenges, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is evaluating and testing the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) such as blockchains to support the security, reliability, and resilience of the nation’s power grid.

Blockchain technology, like many DLTs, has three high-level attributes:

Biobanking began with a relatively grass-roots approach. Researchers began collecting and storing sample materials and developing their own methods as they amassed their respective inventories.

“It was like the Wild West,” says Erik. “People were collecting, labelling, and categorising samples however they saw fit.”

The value of wild animal biobanks and reproductive biotechnologies

Understanding and sustaining a biodiverse planet is a critical task. Historically, genetically diverse species have been preserved by protecting large-size natural habitats, a strategy that, while ideal, is insufficient given our growing global human population that now exceeds 7 billion people. Resource demands by humans doom the idea that all species can survive sustainably and undisturbed in nature. Zoos and aquaria are not the answer due to severely limited spaces in their restricted urban environments - too few acres to manage enough animals. This is now fact as most structured breeding programs in zoos are failing to meet demographic and genetic goals, including retaining at least 90% of existing gene diversity (Monfort, 2014). Thus, while governments determine how to protect and restore habitat, and zoos explore alternative conservation approaches (for example, the advantages of large breeding centers; Wildt et al., 2012), there is a crucial unfilled gap - protecting the extant genomes of living species that already are under threat, or are likely to be so soon.