Internet entrepreneurism has spawned all kinds of free services and applications. Some — with names such as Yahoo, Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter — have emerged as wild successes and earned sizable fortunes for their founders.
But while cyberspace was intended to be borderless, closer scrutiny shows that national interests are often at odds with the concept of open systems. Clashes may arise over commercial interests, particularly intellectual property and taxation issues. And of course, e-business activities may go against the grain of government restrictions. Different countries, moreover, have drastically different attitudes toward censorship. Google, for example, was forced to cut back on its business activities in China due to fundamental disagreements with that country's government over freedom of expression and other human rights.
The insular "Galapagos" structure of Japan's IT business has helped hold some international friction at bay. But a bizarre struggle has been percolating below the surface for the hearts and minds of 50 million smartphone users in this country, involving a company called Line and its eponymous application.
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