Cyberspace and the Constitution Essay -- Government Politics Internet

Cyberspace and the Constitution Cyberspace is a new frontier for American courts. In the past, when faced with new situations, courts have analogized older laws into the new situations. However, due to the many unique qualities of the Internet, courts have had a difficult time determining how to apply prior law in the realm of cyberspace. In the United States, the ultimate framework of our laws is the United States Constitution. The Constitution, and most especially the Bill of Rights, has entered arenas that the founders could not have imagined. Today, courts know that they must apply the constitution to cyberspace, but the question remains: how is it to be applied? The District Court in U.S. v. Pataki devised an interesting solution to the constitutional problems of cyberspace, by using the Commerce Clause in a situation where at first blush, the First Amendment would seem to be the constitutional provision to apply. The issue in Pataki was whether a New York statute criminalizing the use of a computer to disseminate obscene material to minors was constitutional. The statute criminalized sending sexual material to minors that was "harmful to minors." The statute defined material as "harmful to minors" if it 1) Considered as a whole, appealed to the puritant interest in sex of minors; 2) Was patently offensive to prevailing adult community standards with respect to what is suitable material to minors; and 3) Considered as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for minors. Essentially, this is the Miller obscenity test, devised by the Supreme Court, applied to minors. Although the statute was modeled after the Miller test, it still faces First Amendment concerns. First, what are "pr... ...upply this, since they would run afoul of the Commerce Clause, as did New York in Pataki. Thus, Congress must provide the legislation. Furthermore, since the Internet is international, this legislation must stem from international treaties. This is a lot to ask, and many people are concerned about "Big Brother" controlling our communications, and they argue that the Internet should be free to regulate itself. However, there must be regulation on the Internet. The Internet allows the freest mode of expression in human history. Anyone is a publisher. With this great freedom, comes great responsibility. The framers of the Constitution never imagined the Internet, but they did imagine principles which should continue to guide us into the electronic frontier. Principles of the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment must continue to apply in the realm of cyberspace.

5 Hour Energy Marketing Analysis

Dissecting A Marketing Strategy: 5 Hour Energy As he returned from a natural products trade show, Manoj Bhargava wondered to himself, â€Å"If I’m tired, do I also have to be thirsty? † As he contemplated this realization, he began to process it as a comparison of treatment of both a stomachache and a headache. Six months later he was entering one of the most saturated markets in the country, with a revolutionary product and a marketing plan that evolved from the placeholder name it still bears on the 3. 5 million units sold each year. -Hour Energy grossed north of $600 million last year and currently holds a 90% market share in the energy-shot business. Much of the company’s success can be attributed to a stringent customer-focused marketing plan, intent on distinguishing themselves in a competitive market by sharply reacting to customer focus groups. In dissecting the marketing strategy of Living Essential LLC’s 5-Hour Energy, I will detail how the compa ny was able to successfully target a market and position its’ product for sustained, long-run profitability. Market segmentation† is described as dividing a market into distinct segments that have similar needs or behaviors and behave in similar ways. Living Essential’s Bhargava had a product he believed could compete in the rapidly expanding energy drink market. The focus now shifted to identifying target groups of individuals that could be pulled away from the major players, such as Red Bull and Monster. With a goal to ambush the energy drink market with a customer-responsive product, Living Essential began laying out a $60 million research plan to identify a target market and develop a solid positioning strategy.The team of statisticians and psychologists embarked on a 36 month, nationwide research quest, utilizing focus groups, behavioral data collection, survey research and cross-sectional market analysis. At the core of this effort was a belief that in a mo nopolistically competitive market, the product needed to differentiate itself by directly fulfilling customer demands. The most glaring result of the company’s massive marketing research was that creating a profitable position in the energy drink market was only going to be possible by differentiating 5-Hour Energy from much larger conglomerate distributers.The product, in and of itself, possessed a points of parity laundry list when compared to other energy promoting soft drinks. Research showed that consumers were virtually indifferent as to the flavor, content and end-results of popular brands. The data did, however, produce several key areas where the potential for product differentiation shown out like a beacon of light in a cavernous black hole. Living Essential’s marketing team began swiftly developing a plan based on these very points of differentiation, which would slingshot the company into the market leader in only three short months.Equipped with the knowle dge about the target market they wanted to reach and the competitive advantage opportunities within the market, Living Essential began to refine its’ product. The marketing research results were at the forefront of product development. The decision was made that the company would not compete in refrigerated coolers with larger producers. One of the many customer complaints about energy drinks is that they need to consume nearly 12 ounces of a highly caffeinated, sugary beverage in order to get the jolt for which they were looking.From this data, 5-Hour Energy’s most important product concept was born: two-ounce bottles. Living Essential founder Manaj Bhargava had unknowingly identified one of the products biggest points of differentiation nearly a year prior on his return flight from the natural products conference: Must you be thirsty, because you’re tired? The answer from product focus groups was a resounding: â€Å"No! † Purchasers of energy drinks sim ply wanted energy. They were not engrossed in the requisite consumption of needless sugar calories that would, ultimately, lead to a â€Å"crash†, once the body had expended the artificial energy.The 5-Hour Energy product was now developing, in an effort to fulfill customer demand. This was the first major evolution toward becoming a demand-marketed product. Simple observation of the advertising efforts of popular energy drinks will lead you to the target demographic that energy drink producers hope their product will attract. If you have ever seen ESPN’s extreme sports competition, the X Games, the percentage odds are that you are a 13-17 year old boy.Even if you don’t happen to fall into that category, it would be glaringly obvious that energy drinks have deemed this demographic as their primary consumer targets. Nearly every competitor’s outerwear is littered with red-winged patches and most are promptly provided with a post-competition energy drink, l ogo facing outwards, at the conclusion of their â€Å"extreme† event. 5-Hour Energy’s marketing team consequently posed the question following their research results: â€Å"Are teens the only people in this world who are looking for extra energy? After all, it might be said that young boys have plenty of energy without caffeinated encouragement. Living Essential now had its’ second major point of differentiation on which to launch a marketing campaign. Seeking a niche that would give access to the energy drink market, Living Essential positioned itself as a product focused on individuals who work long hours, maintain non-traditional schedules and hold alertness-critical positions. Contrary to their competition, 5-Hour Energy attempted to appeal to demographics such as stay-at-home moms, doctors and professional athletes.Advertising efforts were geared toward weary professionals in contrast to BMX riding thrill-seekers. The underlying theory was that everyone ne eds energy. That being said, there was no room in the market for yet another energy drink. Living Essential could not bring forth another comparable product and compete with the brand recognition Red Bull and Monster already had in place. Using research data, Living Essential had identified the product’s differentiation advantages and the target market for optimizing sustained profitability in the energy drink market.The company, still directionally led by market research, now needed to determine at what price consumers would value their product. The conclusion that 5-Hour Energy could not effectively compete with large manufacturers was made, due mostly to the cost of retail space in refrigerated coolers. By making this concession however, it forced the upstart manufacturers to explore the retail spaces and the implicit nature of the product actually created a competitive advantage. The answer lay in the physical size of the product. Because 5-Hour Energy was not marketing i tself as an energy â€Å"beverage,† it didn’t eed to place the product in coolers next to Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Instead, the company made the decision to market 5-Hour Energy as a point-of-sale item. There was no need to have the bottles chilled, as consumers placed no additional value in temperature of only 2 ounces of consumable liquid. Next, they determined the size of the product gave them a pricing advantage as well. The cost of production for a 2-ounce product, as compared to the average 8-12 ounces of the competitors’ energy drinks, was far more cost effective.By reducing profit margins slightly, in order to sell 5-Hour Energy at a lower cost to consumer, they were able to increase the product’s value compared to competition. Living Essentials introduced the product in test markets at GNC stores in several geographic markets priced at two bottles for $5. After one week, the health food store reported that some of its stores had actually implemented wait-lists for the next shipments of 5-Hour Energy. The team at Living Essential realized they had a unique product, untapped target market and price point, that had endless potential.Bound still by the inability to financially support a large mainstream distribution, the company hired small distributors to peddle the product to convenience stores, encouraging them to put it on the counter next to lighters and key chains. It did not take long for larger competitors to take notice of the success that 5-Hour Energy was enjoying. The tiny, upstart package had not only stolen market share from the big names in the energy drink market, it had created from this share an entirely different market. The term Energy Shot was born.Today, all the major manufacturers of energy drinks have scrambled to enter the energy shot market, but 5-Hour Energy has the only real brand-recognition. Living Essential spends a modest amount on advertising in order to maintain its’ leadership position, but continues with a no-frills approach. Like the name of the product, which was only meant as a place holder originally until a marketable name was conceived, 5-Hour Energy delivers an old fashioned Proctor & Gamble message: Here’s the product, Here’s the features; Here’s the Benefits.It has been said, that one does not need to have invented rubber to sell tires. 5-Hour Energy did not create a market in energy promoting beverages. In fact, their recognition that they could not have survived in such a market, is the primary reason for their success. The progression of Living Essentials energy shot product reinforces the principles of marketing and the forces that good marketing can have on consumer behaviors. When the focus shifts from selling people your product, to producing the product they want, the odds of sustained profitability are exponentially increased. -Hour Energy utilized fundamentally sound research techniques to develop a marketing plan that emphasiz ed the competitive advantage of the product. With continued attention to the static nature of their target market and demographic segmentations, the company can look forward to a long and prosperous future. After all, people will always be thirsty, and they will always be tired, however, both problems do not need to be remedied with one product.

The Death Penalty Throughout History - 1074 Words

This paper explores how society has influenced the development of the death penalty throughout history. It begins with a brief explanation of the origins of capital punishment, referencing the first known documentation of actions punishable by death. The paper goes on to explore different methods of execution and how they have progressed and changed over the years. Documented cases at different points of history are referenced to show the relationship of time periods and beliefs to the implementation of capital punishment. Finally, the development of different laws and changes to existing laws pertaining to the death penalty are addressed. The History of the Death Penalty The death penalty has changed drastically throughout history. Some of the first known written laws regarding the death penalty date back to the eighteenth century BCE (â€Å"Part I†, 2016). It is likely that some form of the death penalty existed long before written history, with a basis in customs, not legalities. The death penalty has continued to evolve throughout history, shaping the modern practices used in the United States and other parts of the world today. The administration of the death penalty has been shaped by the moral principles of those in authority and the mindset of the general public at each stage of history. This is shown through the evolution of different methods of execution, documented cases during critical points in history, and the laws pertaining to the death penalty at differentShow MoreRelatedDeath Penalties Throughout History1443 Words   |  6 Pagesput the perpetrator to death. Ancient civilizations to modern day people have implemented the death penalty to ensure the well-being, and sometimes discipline, of societies around the globe. The first official legal use of the death penalty dates back to the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. Here the King noted 25 crimes to be punishable by death. In seventh century B.C. Greece, the Draconian Code of Athens established death as the only penalty to be dealt for all crimesRead MoreDeath Penalty Changes throughout History605 Words   |  2 Pagesand left 31 wounded, for which he was sentenced to death. The capital punishment system allows for such atrocious criminals to be fairly punished and kept off the streets thus giving families of the victims much needed closure .Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as punishment for a crime. The death penalty has been around since the existence of man if you killed someone you would be killed. Capital punishments were also the penalty for many crimes in the British colonies before theRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1534 Words   |  7 PagesIntro The death penalty gives humans in our legal system rights to decide who deserves to live, a power only God should possess. Capital Punishment takes away our rights as equals. From its origins, the death penalty has been an inhumane, costly, ineffective, and biased form of punishment that needs to be abolished granting everyone their right to live. History of the Death Penalty Down through history, the death penalty has been adapted to be justifiable in the eyes of the people. By alteringRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is The Most Humane And Deserving Punishment1335 Words   |  6 Pagesreceive the death penalty? The punishment for murderers and rapists should be as heinous as the crime they committed. The death penalty is the most humane and deserving punishment that should be dealt. b. Background: It is important to understand that the death penalty predates the Roman and Egyptian empires. It can be traced as far back as ancient Babylon under the reign of King Hammurabi during the 18th century BCE. 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Would you have ever known they were murderers? Ten lives have been taken from this world and never to return, what would you want from the government if you found out one of those remains was someone very dear to you thatRead More Capital Punishment: Not Cruel and Not Unusual Essay1276 Words   |  6 Pages Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of the death penalty claim that capital punishment is unnecessary since a life sentence accomplishes the same objective. What death penalty opponents neglect to tell you is that convicted murders and child rapists escape from prison every year(List of prison escapes, 2015). As I write this essay, police are se arching for two convicted murders who escaped fromRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is One Of The Most Ethical And Controversial Issues1581 Words   |  7 PagesSome may say the death penalty is one of the most ethical and controversial issues of all time. The issue brings forth anger among many individuals among todays society. This anger has developed over time throughout the history of the death penalty. Over time, the policy has been developed, started and evolved over time. Different states and countries choose to address the penalty differently resulting in more of a controversy. I personally believe that this policy is severely wrong and needsRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Wrong And Inhumane Essay1170 Words   |  5 Pagesto death is difficult to completely comprehend. The physical procedure involved in the act of execution are easy to grasp, but the emotions involved in carrying out a death sentence on another person, regardless of how much they deserve it, is beyond comprehen sion. This act has been critiqued by many people from all around the world and it is our responsibility as a society to see that capital punishment is wrong and inhumane. Some oppositions to the death penalty include racial bias in death sentencingRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of Capital Punishment1480 Words   |  6 Pages there are many controversial topics regarding the criminal justice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crime. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow