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Charitable Net
Non-profit groups are putting up their web sites to extend support to people in need. The free-to-browse sites disseminate information ranging from how to conserve oil to evil effects of free licensing of firearms. The American Red Cross Society calls for donations through its website, and surfers have responded by sending gifts and money for the hurricane victims of Bangladesh. Literacy volunteers of the US, based in Syracuse, New York, promote adult literacy, while the website of 'The Fund for Animals', a subdivision of the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, teaches children to 'think like the animal' and sign a pledge to shun hunting.

Cheap flying
Airline companies in the US have come to believe that the Net offers a rare opportunity to lower costs and increase revenue. Most of them offer on-line sites with constantly updated information. This saves quite a lot by reducing calls to their toll-free numbers and getting by with a smaller reservation staff. The most novel way, perhaps, was used by the American Airlines to fill up seats that often go empty. Introducing a 'click here to bid' site on its webpage, the airline company managed to sell off tickets on the not-so-busy routes.

Publishers boon
Researchers at IBM have developed a technology that helps publishers to bring copyrighted works to the Internet. Named 'Cryptolope', this would give publishers a standardised way to monitor and bill customers for using information. A person searching the net for a particular topic is first provided with a 'hit list' that ranks the items found by their relevance to the search request. The user, then, selects the documents she wants to browse and is told the cost for accessing and/or downloading them. The user is then sent an 'electronic key' that allows her to gain access to the documents.

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