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We all know, that global information networks and relationship associated with them are 'super-state', 'beyond-the-state', etc. Is the Information Society the same? Probably not. So, does this mean, that the State -- exclusively due to the instinct of self-preservation - is an enemy of global informatization?

Yes, and no. It's true, that the Information Society is global by its nature and it does not recognise borders. But it is also true that before rightfully calling any society 'informatized' - that is being an integral part of the Global Information Society - there will be a lot to change, improve, create or eliminate.

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Paradoxically though it may seem, it should be the state institutions such as government, economy, education, social security systems, etc., to carry out this task. And this is no longer a paradox, when a central paradigm presented by a principle 'the state for people, not people for the state'. Information technology simplifies, enables to reduce, optimizes state agencies and its functions, bringing it closer to a citizen. IT makes it unnecessary for citizens to delegate a considerable part of their authority to bureaucrats or elected officials. Yes, it is not convenient and not beneficial for 'apparatus'. But, on the other hand, it will force many people to look for self-realization in deeds more significant than exchanging pieces of paper, filling them up and moving them around.

The society has matured to be fully responsible for consequences and to require the state system similar to a catalyst. A system directing and stimulating an action, not the system, that attempts to do everything on its own. The system should belong to the society - to entitle with authorities, not servicing. And it should be directed by the result-oriented objectives, turned to a client [52].

As for today, unfortunately, quite right is Bob Woods, a Head of Public Agency Communication Systems, who said recently: 'The State is something like a restaurant, that closes its doors exactly during lunch-time or dinner-time.'

So, democratic institutions in today's society are developed enough to move to higher forms in line with the Information Society. But without the state, this process will not be completed - it will not be even started.

What exactly should be the functions of the state? The French government determined it as follows: The role of the State is three-fold. Acting as a catalyst, it should favour formation of companies and encourage citizens who would have already been a part of the Information Society. As a regulator, the State should guarantee respect to the rules of the Network operation. And, as a major player in the field, the State can update its operation methods as well as relations between public services and the public [46].

The Ukrainian State has to overcome considerable economic problems, including structural ones, before it moves to informatized partnership relations with business and citizens. So, the State actions in this sector should be ultimately directed to selective support to the scientific research oriented to qualitative breakthrough (e g multiprocessing computer system architecture, artificial intelligence systems, etc) and getting practical results of the global standard (neuro-computing, open systems) [53].

Despite popularity of maximum liberalism in the industry, it is not feasible to carry the idea of the Information Society into practice without the state participation. History of implementation of the French local network 'Minitel' obviously denies prejudices of 'anti-state'- minded proponents of Californian ideology or Bangemann Committee. The digital future will necessarily be a hybrid of the state intervention market regulation and demands of digital consumer culture.

It is true that information technology is developing and expanding due to economic organisations' activities. However, anarchism in further development and implementation would be a choice too thoughtless, from the strategic point of view. Instead, a government should openly confirm inevitability of a specific form of mixed economy: creative and antagonistic combination of the state, corporate and individual customer initiative.

One of the instances of such combined initiative are technopark projects. From the point of view of purely economical interests, a technopark would be an ideal solution for a country with low-level investment and the rest of the problems of this 'bouquet'. Let us take a look at the mechanism of the technopark functioning. In technoparks, potential investors or owners of so-called venture capital learn about technology or software developments and purchase intellectual property rights (or author's rights and the like) with an objective to later reselling them to relevant international industrial and financial groups.

These latter are continuously interested in manufacturing new goods and services; they trust to expertise of the investors as their long-term business partners. Such purchase and sale of innovations can be performed several times until artificial overpricing of implementation results reaches the actual limits of their value.

In all such transactions (even up to alienation of property rights), technoparks take share financial participation, that is priced in shares or direct profits. This means, that we need to reach out to high-tech stock market in order to analyse and monitor technoparks' activities [54]. And here it comes to the area of the state policy, government contracts, guarantees, etc.

However, functions of the state are not limited to just economic development and regulatory activities in information sector. Its ultimate task should be customer education aimed to achieve social activity and literacy. This job can be handled by no one but by the state.

Thus, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aiming at increasing French-language content of Internet, established an open web-site for ex-pat French teachers, providing each of them with e-mail address.

Informatization of administrative activity, even with a small number of Internet users was not only a strategic goal, but a tactic one as well, to solve today's problems. Because a small number of people, having Internet access, can make a workload easier for non-virtual state and municipal agencies with regard to accomplishing elementary tasks. This, in turn, allows the agencies' workers to devote time to the citizens, who do not have access to information technologies.

The same regards promotion of cultural heritage both nationally and world-wide. The French government facilitated issuance of compact disk, devoted to Louvre. Almost 500,000 copies of these CDs were immediately sold out. These CDs creation is aimed to promote educational values, despite of their game-oriented character, such as 'Versailles' CD [46].

In this way, citizens were provided with conditions, needed to form and realize new social demands, related to possibilities of information technologies. But when people get accustomed to new demands, they will require a new organization of interaction between citizens and the state, as well as a new self-organization of the governing bodies.

As the Canadian Foreign Minister, Marcelle Masse stated in his speech with regard to the state agencies - as for today, there have no longer been state agencies with limited functions or decisions that would not involve several traditional areas of government activity. Accordingly, the demand for a new approach has increased; it is the approach directed at exploring new challenges and finding solutions, the approach to be based on models with horizontal structures able to co-operate effectively, to exchange data and to combine functions. Co-ordination of the horizontal is one of the most important challenges today, and it calls for new mechanisms and a new approach to systems [4, p.202].

Our view can be objected by a statement, that economically unstable country should think about something completely different. What to do then with an instance of Chile, where the government attempted to accomplish a number of large-scale projects. The first one, CyberSyn, which stands for Cybernetic Synergism, provided for introduction of a new system of information and regulation in industry. This system included CyberNet, a network, operating on the base of requisitioned telex network and on radio communication in a super high frequency (of cm waves) band.

Within four month, CyberNet covered 70% of nationalized enterprises. This network allowed every enterprise, included to the national socio-economic system, to contact any user any time through a computer system, located in Santiago, the capital of the country. A socio-economic objective of the CyberNet was to provide enterprises' worker committees with computer capacities. These operations were used mainly for processing and transmitting economic indices.

CyberSyn tools also incorporated Cyberstride -- a set of cybernetic programs for information flow processing and forecasting. Back then, nearly 10 thousand economic indices a day were collected and processed in the Chilean National Computing Centre. Besides that, research programme CHEco (Chilean Economy) was conducted. Within the programme framework, multisector economic model on macro-level was elaborated; first and foremost, the model was necessary for the economy to get free out of the trap.

There would not be any harm at all for Ukraine in case of introduction of such methods of economy functioning; especially, considering the persistent problem of misallocating, non-purposeful utilisation of budget funds practically in all the sectors. With regard to IT-based long-term projects targeted at preservation and development of the nation's scientific potential, one should look at the experience of the Russian Federation, which is no more prosperous either.

Today, the Russian Flight Control Centre (FCC) is working on a project The Global Information System 'Rus', with the planning level for 50 years. The GlobIS Rus project is deemed by the UN as one of the main factors of stable development of the world community for the nearest five decades. The FCC is also developing solutions of super-reliable and super-large information archiving. The current project is forty terabyte information bunker with planning level of 200 years. (Prefix 'tera-' means 10¹²; deca- -- 10; hecto- --10²; kilo- -- 10³, mega- -- 10⁶, giga- --10⁹ , tera- -- 10¹²). So, the point of growth is obviously in place [7].

Is Ukrainian potential smaller? Don't we need perspectives? Yet all these - informatization of economy along with fundamental scientific research are the particles of mosaic, without which it will not be possible to form the Information Society.

Besides that, it is always necessary to take into consideration a global character of the new social structure. We can not stay as a blank space on the Network map for long. If transformations do not come out from inside, they will be made from outside. But then a term 'Ukrainian' with regard to anything will make virtually no sense.

So, efforts to be made by the government should be aimed to preserve scientific, linguistic, national, political identity rather than to keep pace with other countries. To preserve what would be interesting for a global community, what can enrich it, what can give a real value to such notion as 'Ukraine' - a cultural, intellectual, national organization, not just a territorial or economic organization. It is important for any country. And the most provident of them have already taken care of what they have to bring to the global co-living of the Information Society.

Thus, in Asia, Singapore has already been working on accomplishing a far-reaching strategy of 'The Intellectual Island'. In Sweden a previous government had developed a large-scale project called 'Wings for Human Ability'.

Denmark cares about 'the very Danish advantages' in entering the Global Society, what should become the foundation for the national policy in the area of informatization. The government is positive about the Denmark greatest value, that is human resources: 'our labour force is well-educated and our educational system provides children and teenagers with the chance to develop curiosity, independence and initiative - characteristics that are incredibly important in the use of IT ' [55].

Well, we seem to agree as to whether we have to deal with informatization issues, and whether it is time to do that. So, what shall we begin with? Before the economic sector of the network starts working, before scientific projects or educational programmes are introduced, it is necessary to define a legal field, on which everything will be based.

Therefore, first, it is necessary to move ahead a process of institutional development of information and telecommunication industry. It should be made with one important notice: the legislative activity itself has to be informatized. 'A construction site' of legislation and different regulations and recommendation acts should be open, so that anyone who is interested could add their 'brick' and see where and how precisely it is used.

We completely agree with an opinion of the technical science doctor Sergiy Azarov, who believes that chaotic and unsystematic accumulation of laws, even the ones appearing the most 'advanced', has no prospects. A systematic development of the President's Decree No 928 of 31 July 2000 'On measures of development of national component of the global information network Internet and providing the broad access to the network in Ukraine' is necessary. So, it is necessary to develop a Concept on the base of the Decree; the Concept should be rather a business plan than a dust powdered document. This issue is being thoroughly worked out in the Cabinet of Ministries now. And only afterwards may we move further to legislative activity - creating a system of laws for the entire industry of information and telecommunication technologies and areas of their application [54].

Then the following issue is arising : the Concept should be in line both with today's and tomorrow realities of informatization and suit users' needs as much as possible. Here, we think, relevant and useful for Ukraine and other countries will be an advice from 'the Internet father' Vint Cerf, WorldCom vice-president and a laureate of many awards in science and technology. We believe so, because an age of PC users, and, in particular, Internet users is under thirty; with the prevailing share of teenagers and young people.

Cerf says: 'if you are interested in where the Internet is going it is useful to spend some time talking to kids in the 11 to 20 year-old range, because they are the ones for whom the Net is a normal, everyday occurrence. They did not live through its creation. They just know it is there and they use it. It is the medium through which these young people interact with each other. Talking to them about what they do, what they anticipate, what they might want would be very helpful and more accurate than asking some of the older members of the Internet population where they think the Internet is headed' [16].

However, general outline as to a character of the required legislation have already been made by the relevant committees of the European Commission. As a country with European mentality, Ukraine should consider the following recommendations, especially as our government adheres to a stable course directed at co-operation with the EU.

So, the future legislation shall:

• Be based on clearly defined policy objectives.
• Be as concise as possible with minimum provisions necessary to comply with the above mentioned objectives; eliminating no longer necessary provisions from the existing legal structure; incorporating to the new structure mechanisms to allow further reduction of regulatory activity where the state policy objectives may be accomplished by competition.
• Strengthen a legal mechanism in a dynamic market. It is important to ensure sufficient stability of legislation in order to allow companies to make investment decisions with confidence, on one hand, as well as to ensure sufficient flexibility of the legislation to respond to market changes timely.
• Aim at technological neutrality. So that, not to require or prohibit a specific type of technology, but rather ensure that the same service is regulated in the same way, regardless of a tool with which it was provided.
• Come in effect as close to an activity to be regulated as really possible, regardless of a level on which the legislation was approved, be it global, regional or national level.

In addition to the above, the legislation structure should be uniform both to telecommunication infrastructure and to accompanying services. Today, to the contrary, different rules are employed to regulate telecommunications and accompanying services depending of the infrastructure's type.

Convergence of the rules means, that the same services might be provided in any transmission network (fixed or moving, telecommunication or cable TV network satellite or ground). Therefore, using separate regulating structures for different communication infrastructures and accompanying services might lead to confusion and to violation of competition.

A new legal framework should cover the entire infrastructure of communications and accompanying services, so that equivalent rules would be applied to these networks. In practice, this means, that a new legislation will be applied to telecommunication networks (stationary or mobile), satellite networks, cable TV networks, ground radio broadcasting networks, as well as to application software interfaces, devised to manage access to the services.

It will have important consequences. As an example, national legislators will be able to apply the same licensing principles (transparency, non-discriminatory character, proportionality and objectivity) while licensing the entire infrastructure of communications and accompanying services. It is necessary to notice, that additional regulation might be necessary where such services are related to providing content.

As for the global Internet functioning, a new legal structure should deem the Internet transmission services in the same manner as other transmission services. The existing structure for telecommunication relations has already covered such Internet transmission services as those allowing to use e-mail and wander in the world web. In this stage, there is no provisions for Internet-specific measures. Other measures might apply only to the field of electronic commerce through Internet, in particular, documents, relating to legal aspects of e-commerce in internal and external markets.

As to such an issue as preservation of public consensus in Ukraine, it is extremely important to adhere to the universal service principle. The key priority for the State is still to ensure the broadest public access to communication services, affordable to everyone, that is necessary to participate in the Information Society.

The advantages of Informatization will be comprehended only when everyone would have an opportunity to take part in it. It is necessary to avoid arising "a digital watershed' i.e. a barrier. The existing legal structure determines a set of services, making up universal servicing.

These services might even be financed in line with the schemes compensating expenses of a universal service provider with contributions made by the provider's competitors -- in case if it is found that universal service providing is an unfair load for an operator assigned to provide these services.

Additionally to financing of a public access from the budget (e g for schools and libraries), there is a broad range of universal access financing to choose from. However, a type of a service to be financed according to these schemes should be thoroughly assessed. Expanding of responsibilities to provide universal service should be approved on the base of analysing demand for such service with appraisal of its social and economic significance. Otherwise, there is a risk of competitiveness violation and unfair cross-subsidising [56].

Again, we would like to emphasise importance of implementation of just minimum legal regulation necessary. European agencies have already realized, that, for example, audio-visual industry (one of the TIMES sector) has been already overburdened with instructions; and some of the instructions that are not working today, with new technology introduction will soon become outdated. And all this burden hinders European market development.

The Bangemann group expressed in this respect a belief, that a technological progress and market development in Europe provide for rejection of policy based on the principles belonging to the time before information technology began to spread.

According to the Group Report, the key issue for creating new markets (i. e. in Ukraine as well) is a demand for the new competitiveness-based regulatory environment. It will as well become a prerequisite for mobilising private capital, needed for innovations, growth and development.

The Bangemann group even predicts, that provided an appropriate legal framework is available, there will be no need for public subsidies. It is so because sufficient confidence will have been established to attract the required investment from private sources. Public investment will assume a role, but not by any increase in the general level of public spending - rather by a refocusing existing expenditure. Productivity gains and an improvement in the quality of services, optimization of public services with informatization will lead to savings. And the funds will be directed to technology development in areas of public and social interests [15].

Now, let us say a few more words regarding the issue of the legal regulation of activities in the Network. As we are getting convinced, the regulation, because of its low efficiency, is not the most necessary element for the Network existence. It would be much more advantageous to delegate responsibility for the rules development - the rules for using the Network along with its additional services, as well as different software products -- to a party, that has the direct interest, i.e. to corporations. Let us explain our thought.

Application of organisational norms and technical standards in the Internet is characterised by extremely high (almost absolute) efficiency level. Indeed, adherence to the legal norm is conditioned by numerous factors including the ones of purely subjective character. For instance, observing a legal rule, prohibiting an action, is ensured (among other means) by a prospect of criminal (or other) persecution and punishment. It is easy to see, how often these prohibitions are either bypassed or directly violated despite possible sanctions.

In contrast, failure to obey organisational norms and technical standards makes it impossible to achieve a goal for the sake of which such regulations are violated. As an example: providing communication services without a proper licence might not necessarily imply negative consequences (until the first visit of an overseeing agency's officer); but attempting to connect Internet provider while using inappropriate equipment or software would make a desirable connection impossible, irrespective of availability of any related legal acts.

Internet technology allows to carry out information exchange within the shortest time regardless of geographic borders and distances. Therefore, a lot of rules and regulations aimed to restrict usage of one or another kind of information, just do not make sense any longer, when applied to Internet (e. g. copyright laws or rules designed to protect confidential data).

It happens so, not just because the laws are no longer in effect or because it is impossible to enforce the laws with methods of the state control. It happens rather because expenditures for such control and enforcement might be just incomparable with the dimension of the goals to be achieved (quite average, routine goals on the level of common perception).

Continuously expanding 'Network Society' has developed its own rules of conduct in the network. Overwhelming majority of Network users observes them without any powerful influence of the state authorities. The rules and code of conduct are obviously set up as a result of self-regulation of 'information communities'. They could be criticised or praised, clarified or generalised. After all, a legal effect might be given to these rules (e.g. to be deemed as a source of a legal custom when considering controversial cases). However, it would be absurd to attempt to abolish the rules at the state level or to substitute them with other legal acts developed earlier.

Traditional law institutions will not lose their significance in terms of putting in order different processes of the Information Society. Another matter is, that the institutions will often have to direct their activity to completely new kinds of legal relationship. It obviously will be accompanied by some delay in 'mastering' relevant legal techniques and specific mechanisms of law enforcement.

Take, for example, an issue of obtrusive e-mail - sending out unsolicited information without getting a permission of an addressee, who receives such information. This problem of an 'electronic garbage' has already taken up features of 'a common disaster'. It would be quite possible to apply norms of civil and administrative law (at least by analogy) designated to protect privacy and to punish, say, hooligan behaviour. There are no legal obstacles for that; but how much more difficult a process of psychological changes might be for those working in law enforcement institutions! [57].

If an 'electronic garbage' may be just annoying , and it takes time to delete it, a problem of illegal intrusion means intruding into private affairs of a person or a company, even if an intruder wanted 'just to have a look'. And it is the case when legal provisions are inadequate and are not in compliance with user interests.

By law, non-sanctioned intrusion to someone else's information system (e.g. via Internet) is not deemed as an illegal action and not a subject for persecution unless it caused some consequences. Only when it is proved, that electronically stored information has been destroyed, changed or copied, it is possible to seek legal action and to prosecute an intruder. Statistics show, that mainly private companies and banks fall pray of computer criminals. And private companies and banks are reluctant to advertise their problems (especially, to talk about them with appropriate state bodies) out of fear to ruin their business reputation.

Considering urgency of the issue, large computer firms organize special groups of 'ethical hackers'. These groups get legal access to computer systems of different firms, examine how well protected they are and give recommendations on how to make fragile areas stronger and improve protection of the systems.

After all, some recommendations could be borrowed from Russian colleagues. They advice to take the following measures:

• To include a sufficient number of well-educated professionals, provided with proper equipment, to law-enforcement agencies personnel, in order to combat the crime in hi-tech field.
• To develop ways to trace computer attacks and detect hackers in the shortest possible time.
• To develop measures to be taken to secure storage of important information in computer networks and to prevent attacks.
• To design new ways of computer crimes detection and preventive measures.

It is equally important to change personnel policy of enterprises and institutions. It is precisely these temporary or laid off employees, possessing rights to access to corporate networks, knowing their structures and guarding positions, it is these former employees, not hackers, who commit most of the registered computer crimes. This trend was noticed at least with regard to American companies, according to Dan Nielsen, FBI specialist in the area of computer crimes, who presented this data at the RSA Data Security conference.

It is security, controlled access, user privacy protection and increasing trust to network transactions, that are the subjects of most perspective technology and software developments. For example, Cyber Patrol computer program (www.microsys.com) is used to control and block access to the information, that can have negative psycological and behavioural influence on certain age groups. This kind of software includes Net Nanny (www.netnanny.com, Littlebrother www.kansmen.com) and the like [59].

Talking about general issues of access restriction, one should mention the Internet Content Selection Standard (PICS), developed by the Consortia of computer scientists and the industry representatives. It allows to restrict an access to Internet information selectively. The Standard may be considered as an actual alternative to purely legal restriction to certain kinds of content propagation via Internet.

The proposed standards for basic solutions are focused on choosing topics to be restricted, criteria for filtering, and then masking, filtering and labelling them (according to Fordham University Law Professor Joel Reidenberg, Cyberspace Law expert). Now, it is urgently required to restrict access to private database. The best technology solution aimed to protect private data is believed to be introduction of 'electronic discolorating ink'. Research in this direction is underway.

And what about protecting user rights in court? Today, user activity in the Network is largely regulated with general acts, effective in 'non-virtual' environment. Even in America with its Information superhighway, disputable cases are solved with guidance of ADA (the Act for rights of Americans with limited working abilities, EEO - Equal Employment Opportunities, FLSA - Fair Labour Standard Act, LMRA - Labour-Management Relationship Act, SOHO - Small Office Home Office regulations as well as the other acts and regulations [61].

Getting back to the general issues of activity regulation in Cyberspace, let us cite the words of G. A. Keyworth, who believes, that the protections that we develop will rely far more on ethic than on law [18].

However, sometimes despite all the independence of those making virtual transactions, the State can not withstand such pressure of free air from inside and seeks to regulate behaviour of 'hyperspace draughts' in its territory.

Dan Siao Pin once said: 'If the door is widely open, flies will surely get in'. Following Chinese wisdom, the China Republic government requires compulsory registration for all the Internet fans - in order not to let in any waste. Special browsing teams in Beijing and Shanghai filter data flow getting in and from China.

This is a scary story of 'their life', as to us, our dear readers. However, it is not only the state apparatus alone, who suffers from such claustrophobia complicated with paranoia. For example, some Russian informatization experts make statements like 'it is time to consider an issue on establishing national State committee to protect society, its culture and spiritual heritage in information networks. The Committee should be entrusted with determining and monitoring a level of data morality (as if it were one of the data's properties), circulating in electronic information networks and in systems of common use.

We are talking about establishing a threshold or sieve in or near the Network; these filters are to prevent non-moral or immoral information which affecting our psychics, corrupts our culture and fundamentals of human society in general.

Therefore we believe it is necessary to adopt the Federal Law regulating activity, defining responsibility of all interested agencies and private companies in this field, including this Committee, on one hand. On the other hand, the structure to be created should be independent of the most branches of power. It is desirable to subordinate the Committee to the President of the Russian Federation personally (and this is along with requirement of division of horizontal ties and possibilities of 'virtual Agora'! - authors' remark); the Committee should annually report to the president and to the Parliament on quality of information circulating in computer networks and systems [62]. This is what is called paradoxical reaction in medicine: in response of proposing global-scale freedom someone wants to close all the doors and to plug up all slots. So that - no nothing.

Obviously paranoid indications can be observed in the same place. The future picture performed in black colour by some of our Northern neighbours: essential expansion of possibility to manipulate by human consciousness through forming 'virtual information space' around people, as well as possibility of technological influence on human psychic activity.

Complexity of procedures, realised in modern technologies of access to required information resources crucially increases dependence of a person from other people, carrying out IT development, defining algorithms of seeking required information, its pre-processing, presenting it in a form, convenient for acceptance, bringing it to a customer.

Essentially, these people largely form information background of a person's life, define a subjective assessment of conditions for individuals to live in and to act, to solve live issues. This is why it is extremely important to guarantee secure interaction of a person with information infrastructure. [How is it - to plug ears, to close eyes, mouth and nose, so that - God forbid - nothing wrong could get in? - authors remark].

'Another hazardous source threatening individuals' interests is harmful use of their personal data, accumulated by state agencies. Besides that, there is a danger of hidden collection of confidential private, personal or family information. In our opinion, this is caused by difficulties in realization of mechanisms of the data protection as well as growing successful miniaturisation of tools for hidden information collection and transmission.

'One more source of threats to the society interests in information sphere is continuous sophistication of information systems and telecommunication networks of critically important survival infrastructures. These threats may appear as accidental or deliberate mistakes, hardware failures and software errors, malfunction, harmful actions of criminal structures and individuals negatively affecting survival system infrastructure.

'A dangerous source of threats may be possible concentration of mass media in ownership of small group of proprietors, ultimately, of foreign ones. [And it's when Europe is discussing demand for large companies to provide investment - authors]. These threats can be manifested as manipulation of public opinion with regard to socially significant events or as destruction of the society moral fundamentals by way of obtruding foreign values.

'Aggravation of competition in the area of intellectual products in domestic and foreign markets seems to be another source of danger. This danger may be manifested as expanding unfair competition, violation of intellectual property rights.

'Finally, a dangerous source of threats is expanding of domestic and international computer criminality. Sources, most dangerous for the state interests in information sphere are uncontrolled proliferation of 'information weapons' and expanding armaments race in this area, attempts to implement concept of conducting 'information wars'. Information weapon is aggregate of means, methods and technologies, which provide possibility of forced influence on an enemy's information sphere targeted at destruction of its information infrastructure, state governance systems, decline of defensive capacity.

Destructive effect of 'information weapon' in the Information Society may turn out more powerful and effective than it seems now. It is especially dangerous under conditions when there is almost monopoly of a few countries' companies in the information products market. It is dangerous because it can prove to be a desire to use the existing advantage to achieve political goals. These dangers may be also manifested as gaining illegal access to information making up the state secret, to other confidential information, discussion of which can be harmful for the State interests' [63].

This quotation was cited not as a topic for further discussion on 'how they are doing'. Rather, it is a ground to make conclusions as for Ukraine's position in areas of information security, protection and co-operation. We believe that Ukraine should prefer moderately liberal approach to solving these issues. It means that application tasks should be left for interested parties to solve - for corporations, institutes, even to unions of 'civilised' hackers, programmers and developers. The objective of the State is to create a legal environment, pointing out a 'general direction for Ukrainian society to advance in the process of informatization and what are reference-points on this way', rather than stating 'what must not be and should not be done'

As to exaggerated fears, the very definition of the Information Society as Global one leaves no sense for any theories of wars or armaments race. Think about it - it will be a sort of fight of an arm with a leg or with a whole body. Right, it's nonsense. And it is not idealism. Market is also becoming global, and it's going faster than anything else. And let us assure you: those formidable corporations - almost monopolists - will vote with their money against an aggressor, that is a fool, because he can ruin or make it more difficult to access markets and labour force. What do you think, will this aggression last for a long time?

The State should facilitate solving the issue of security, rather than actually be solving it. It should become a part of social and educational policy - to teach to protect personal data, to respect a decision of data's owner, who restricts or closes access to the data. The State should rather care about Keyworth's 'ethical component'. When the society respects the State, the society has no intention to harm the State.

The same is true with regard to non-sanctioned accumulation and using of personal data. Since one of the first steps of informatization is to transfer administrative, service, legislative and other kinds of activities of the State into hyperspace with giving citizens the full rights to be aware of the State bodies' activities - how would the State manage to do something wrong without public knowledge? Again, this is respect of citizens to their State and conscious protection of the State interests, including information security.

The fundamental paradigm of the State activity with regard to providing its own security as well as citizens security, along with user rights and interests, should become open and accessible co-operation with society - with its specialised institutions and individuals. This approach, besides all the rest, eliminates tension between the elite and the general public and promotes fast and natural acceptance of new rules by society. This aspect deserves more detailed consideration; let us do this together with Artem Shadrin, co-ordinator of the Russian Network of the Information Society.

The compulsory requirement of general secondary education has become a prerequisite for working capacity of electoral systems, based upon the general suffrage. Expanding a group of people having higher education allows to speak about possible increase of a number of issues to be approved by direct voting. Further informatization will undoubtedly contribute to better education of people even if it is no longer going to be called 'getting higher education'. Therefore, an average level of public education will most closely approximate a level of 'the elect' (except special expertise) who are delegated with authority to make decisions on destiny of the society and the State.

Therefore, a direct participation of a large number of people in governing the State will not threaten to turn to ochlocrathy (the rule of the crowd). It could be called 'a public seminar' where quite knowledgeable people would conduct a discussion through which they would outline a solution. The latter might not necessarily be the final one, but these could be the main trends to be covered by the decision. For the first time in history of industrial societies with liberal regimes, new information technologies made possible to reproduce perfect information sphere, the Agora of Ancient Greece - a place for meetings, where citizens could get information and to participate directly in police governance [64].

When educated citizens have a feeling that it is impossible to influence policy of the State or of local government, the level of social tension increases significantly. Furthermore, when a right to grade issues by their significance and urgency is completely delegated to impersonalised 'state machinery', it puts aside global issues everyone cares about, but which are not very important for the 'apparatus', and moves these issues to a backyard of local or international politics.

In contrast, reducing expenditures for telecommunications, caused by expansion of electronic communication means, creates conditions for dramatic increase of number and influence of transnational non-commercial organizations like Greenpeace or Urgewalt (German environmental organization). These are precisely the organizations who will probably take care about numerous global issues. Solutions of such issues on the intergovernmental level are restrained because of peculiarities of political systems of national states.

In particular, international organisations can act as extremely effective social institution. Created by people, united with a common goal, such international organisations prove to be considerably more effective representatives of public interests in the area of solving global problems, than existing national government organizations, whose actions in many ways are determined by short-time interests of a political cycle.

Electronic communications development allows to discuss not only prospects for future democratisation of national states' political systems, but also establishing workable mechanisms for solving global issues; the mechanisms to be alternative to the ones run by the state. Until recently, the leadership in 'social engineering' with regard to establishing different social institutions used to belong to business corporations and the state, able to cover expenses needed to establish and provide communications for the institutions. Due to reducing communication costs, with electronic technologies development, the power of social institution demiurgs in practical dimension are potentially transferred to everyone, connected to the Internet [65].

Global Informatization brings about striking changes, as we can see. Nevertheless, Ukraine should take care about thoughtful comprehensive approach to the process -- in order for expected advantages of the Information Society to change life of the citizens for better, as well as being of the State as a whole.

We welcome policy, so far conducted by our State. The laws, legal acts and documents carry out systematic scheduling for future development of information and telecommunications and implementation of information technology into the most important spheres of the society's vital activity. Without too much rush, not losing ties with strategic line for establishing the Information Society in Ukraine, the government and parliament structures contribute to advancement of Digital Age in Ukrainian territory.

It is obviously just outline yet; the positive effect of informatization is just beginning to be perceived. Nevertheless, with continual efforts made by the State and public and businesses structures, the process, that has been launched, will embrace the entire society and will bring about qualitative transformations. We emphasise again: the role of the State is to facilitate society development, to clear the way for creative potential of citizens to work fruitfully enough so that results come quickly and be advantageous for the entire society.

The most recent example as to effects of thoughtful economic policy for society's prosperity: due to liberalisation of telecommunications in Estonia in 1997, there has been more Internet users than in most African countries altogether (according to 'Interactive 1997' data).

The world's largest share of Internet usage belongs to Finland. It may be explained to a large extent by the fact that proper conditions have been created there for competitiveness. 47 telephone companies compete to win Internet customers; this implies that companies compete also to create the best conditions for their customers. It is often noticed, that Internet expansion in any country is likely to provide for such competition [66].

Let us present some indices of Ukrainian Internet segment development. The number of Ukrainian Internet users increased three-fold within the last two years. By the end of 2000, by different estimates, it made up 320 to 370 permanent users (this makes up less than 1% of the adult population of Ukraine, though); and there were some 300 thousand users, who used Internet once in a while. An average monthly growth of the number of Internet users is 4%, as experts estimate.

An amount of the Internet information resources has increased considerably. Comparing with 1,400 web-servers hosting such resources at the beginning of 1999, there has been 9,268 web-servers by the end of 2000. Information content of the servers has diversified: by the quantity of hosts, Ukraine takes up the 28^th place in Europe and the 45^th place in the world. However, considering national scientific, technical and industrial potential, these achievements are still quite modest.

The situation with Internet service providers is also far from optimal, although very perspective: by December 2000, more than 260 operators provided customers with Internet access. However, up to now Ukrainian Internet market is actually concentrated in large industrial centres: in Kyiv (76%), Odesa (more than 5%), Dnipropetrovsk (nearly 5%), Donetsk (nearly 3%), Lviv (more than 2%), Zaporizhzhya (more than 1%), Poltava (nearly 1%). The remaining regions make up 9% altogether.

Positive dynamics of Internet growth in Ukraine is supported by data of traffic increase. Comparing with 1999 traffic increase of 4%, the increase of traffic in 2000 made up 9%. Aggregate capacity of external channels, used by Ukrainian operators to access information resources abroad, exceeded 90 Mbit/s [67].

However, as we have mentioned above, none of these indices should be an excuse to make less efforts. What may appear as a significant progress in relation to the initial period of Internet development in Ukraine, actually looks very, very modest in comparison with European or world's indices, and especially in comparison with the potential indices, which Ukraine can and must achieve.

So, there are plenty of assignments for Ukrainian authorities of all levels and specialisation's. There are enough tasks for each and every specialist, who has already been working in a government agency, or for those employees, who will choose to get necessary knowledge. Technical specialists and specialists in the humanities may each get a task they prefer, and yet there will be something left.

It would be especially appropriate to remind here, that we are the State. When there is an objective for the State to accomplish, especially the objective concerning our life, well-being, work, education and leisure, the objective at least for the nearest 50 years, it means, that each of us has the same objective, whether small or great, but feasible, after all. Those who do not know how to use information technology, will have to learn it. Those who know, should perfect their knowledge. Those knowing perfectly should create new knowledge: And endlessly so. Up to the Global Information Society.