Consumer Behavior Observations: Back to the Future (yes, the movie)

Written by Lateef Abro and Behzad Riazi

1. Character Descriptions
The main character, Marty McFly, is a seventeen year old Caucasian male, who lives with his parents in Hill Valley, CA. His hobbies include playing the guitar and skateboarding. He dreams of being a rock star and owning a Toyota 4X4 truck. In the beginning of the Movie, his family is part of the Working class social stratum, but by the end of the movie moves up to at least the Middle class. Since Marty is not an adult, he is simply considered to part of a family household in the Full nest II stage of the household life cycle. He wears a puffy thermal vest and Nike shoes, and drinks Pepsi Free. While in 1955, Marty helped his parents meet and overcome the school bully. This shows that he is family-oriented. He is unsure that he will become a rock star, and fits into the ‘striver’ segment under the VALS System. We consider his shopping orientation to be like a predator’s, because we only see him purchase items when they are needed.
Marty McFly’s best friend is a sixty-five year old Caucasian scientist named Dr. Emmett Brown. Referred to as “Doc”, his hobbies include creating inventions such as the time machine. Doc is a professor at Hill Valley University and is included in the Upper-upper class. His mansion was burned in 1962, and he now lives in his detached garage with his dog. The appearance of his home/garage reflects that he has a collector shopping orientation. He falls into the Empty nest III category of the Household Lifecycle. We believe that he is in the Actualizer segment of the VALS system.

2. Plot Summary
Marty McFly meets Doc Brown to observe Doc’s latest invention: a time machine built from an DMC DeLorean, a flux capacitor, and stolen plutonium. Marty video tapes the beginning of the experiment, which is interrupted when terrorists come to claim the stolen plutonium. Marty flees in the time machine, which is set for the year 1955. Marty’s presence in 1955 prevents his parents from meeting. While helping his parents meet, he also helps his father stand up to the school bully, Biff, and thus alters the future. Marty meets up with a much younger Doc in an attempt to get Back to the Future. When Doc realizes that the only thing that can create enough energy to power the time machine is a lightening bolt, Marty informs him of a thunder storm that will occur in just a few days. Upon returning to 1985, Marty discovers that his father is no longer bullied by Biff, his parents have more money, his house is much nicer, and that he is the owner of his dream car, a Toyota 4X4.

3. Description and Analysis of Consumer Behaviors: Changes in American Cultural Values
The timeline of Back to the Future spans thirty years of time (1955-1985); this presents us with the unique opportunity to witness changes in American cultural values over the period of thirty years. The movie begins in the eighties, marked by major technological advancements; then shifts ‘back in time’ to the fifties, a period of conservatism and economic growth; and ends ‘back to the future’ in the eighties. The three essential cultural values we will analyze each delve into six sub-values; the three essential values are Self-Oriented Values, Environment-Oriented Values, and Other-Oriented Values.

Part 1 – Self-Oriented Values

a. Religious/Secular
The societies of both time periods in the movie are a secular. A religious group does not control any of the society’s economic or political systems. When characters make choices in the movie they do not have to think about grave repercussions from a religious group.

b. Sensual Gratification/Abstinence
Back to the Future Part does a good job of depicting change in the values of individuals as they age from teenagers to adult parents. Examples of the changes that individuals go through are compared between the years 1985 to 1955. One such example can be seen at the beginning of the movie in 1985 when Marty’s mother Lorraine tries to discourage Marty from going to the lake to camp with his girlfriend. She mentions to him that in her teenage years she would never have done such a thing. Now flash back to 1955 to Lorraine’s teenage years and she exhibits completely different values than she has as an adult. She invites Marty to the high school dance and does not object to parking with Marty, admitting that she had done it before. As an adult, this is a behavior that Lorraine did not exhibit to her family. As she grows older Lorraine changes her values from sensual gratification to abstinence.

c. Postponed/Immediate Gratification
Another example can be seen when Marty is astonished to see his mother smoke, drink and steal in her teenage years. In her adult life Lorraine does not display this behavior and is inclined to postpone her gratification rather than act out on it. In 1985 Marty has a propensity towards immediate gratification but changes when he travels back to 1955. In the first scene in the movie Marty blows up the speaker in Doc’s room without any regard for the damage he created. He is also habitually late to school and is considered a slacker by his school principal. Marty shows some signs of change when he travels back to the past by holding back on his need for immediate gratification. When he goes into the restaurant after traveling back in time, instead of ordering sugared drinks like he usually does, he asks for something without sugar. Marty becomes more attentive and focused on his tasks, as can be seen when he tries to be on time and constantly urges his father, George McFly to stay on plan so that he could take Lorraine to the dance.

d. Material/Nonmaterial
It is evident in the first part of the film that the McFly family has little money. This is implied by the size and condition of their home, the parents’ physiological and material appearance, and the lack of cars for the children. The house is neither large, nor new, and is located in a decrepit neighborhood. Marty’s parents are not well dressed, and his father wears glasses that are outdated. Marty dreams of owning a Toyota 4X4; obviously it is too expensive for his family. By traveling to 1955, Marty changed events in the past which altered his family’s social class from lower middle class to middle class. In the end of the film Marty returns to the same house, but the exterior and interior are in much better condition. He also finds the Toyota 4X4 in the garage.

e. Hard Work/Leisure
George McFly is the breadwinner in the family, but he works a great deal of hours doing Biff Tannen’s work. Biff Tannen has bullied George since high school. We have learned that Americans work more now than in the past because they wish to consume more non-essential services and material possessions. In this case, George does Biff’s work because he wishes to be accepted and is afraid to stand up to Biff. When George was younger, he enjoyed writing science fiction, and Lorraine enjoyed gossiping with her friends. They both attend the Under the Sea dance in 1955, which is also a leisurely activity.
Dr. Emmett Brown has spent the better part of 30 years creating his time machine. Doc Brown combined both hard work and leisure in the creation of the flux capacitor. While Doc was not teaching at Hill Valley University, he spent his free time working on his inventions. He also enjoys working on clocks, as indicated throughout the movie.

f. Active/Passive
Throughout the movie, Marty and Doc are taking an active approach to leisure and problem-solving activities. When we first see Marty, he is playing his guitar. This is an important part of both his actual and ideal self, because he wants to be a rock star. He is taking an active approach to his future, by auditioning for the school dance. When he realizes that he is late and skateboards at break neck speeds to get to school on time, it is evident that he takes life at a very fast pace. Taking a similar pace, Doc is been busy stealing plutonium from Libyan terrorists for use in his time machine. In a frantic phone conversation, he tells Marty to meet him in the middle of the night to test his new invention. Doc has a passion for science in which he takes a very active role.
Unlike his son, George McFly approaches things in a passive manner, such as not standing up to Biff’s bullying. While sitting at the dinner table with his family, he is watching television instead of taking an active role in the conversation. However, in 1955 he took an interest in science fiction books and even wrote a few of his own.

Part 2 – Environment-Oriented Values

a. Cleanliness
Throughout the movie there can be a comparison made on the cleanliness of the surroundings during 1955 and 1985. The 1955 high school scene showed all the students arriving to school either by walking or on their bicycles; which means that there was less pollution around the school grounds since students didn’t drive to school. For example, in the 1955 setting we did not see any homeless people; in contrast, when Marty comes back to 1985, the first scene shows a homeless guy sleeping on a bench underneath a newspaper. Another proof of change in the standard of cleanliness is litter being blown through the streets by the wind in 1985. In addition, during 1985 the movie showed houses that had trash cans placed outside, where as in 1955 there was no clue where all the trash went but it was so much cleaner.

b. Tradition/Change
In the movie it was shown that in 1955 families were more involved with each other and spent more time together. For example, when Marty was eating dinner at Lorraine McFly’s house, who becomes his mother in 1985, we saw how the whole family sat at the dinner table together and watched TV; whereas in 1985 it was shown that everyone was busy with their own lives, each eating whenever they felt the urge. For example, when Marty came back to 1985 he walked into the dining room and his older brother and his sister were eating breakfast, while his parents were coming back from spending time together outdoors. So, as you can see, though there were more jobs available in 1955, there was also enough time for families to spend time with each other. In 1985 everyone was busy in their own activities whether it was work or something else, and less attention was given to the family. Another example was when Marty’s mother baked a cake for the release of Marty’s uncle from jail. The family was indifferent towards the ‘good news’ and did not eat the cake. In a contrasting 1955 scene when Marty was hit by a car, a family of strangers brought him home, took good care of him and invited him to dinner.

c. Risk Taking/Security
In the movie one of the key points was risk taking in comparison from 1955 to 1985. In 1985 the movie showed how skateboarding was something that was a normal thing to do, where as when Marty was in 1955 he took this scooter look alike thing and turned it into a skateboard and was skateboarding like he did in 1985. This was a shock to the public in 1955 because no one would do anything as risky as getting on a skateboard and riding on it through roads and holding on to trucks so it would pull you.

d. Problem Solving/Fatalistic
Back to the Future is a great exhibit of the American drive towards improvement and advancement. Doc’s home was full of strange contraptions aimed towards automating daily tasks. One such device was the combination of several ‘breakfast’ appliances into one big ‘breakfast machine.’ A few new consumer products were introduced in the early eighties that appear in Back to the Future. Amongst new items of the 1980’s that were introduced and reinforced in the movie were Toyota pickup trucks, the futuristically styled DMC Delorean sports car, Pepsi Free, and colorful Calvin Klein brand underwear.

e. Admire/Overcome Nature
The 1980’s was a decade marked by major environmental concern which led to important environmental laws. In 1980 the ‘phase out’ of leaded gasoline took headway; the Texaco gasoline station in the movie’s 1955 setting was still using the environmentally hazardous leaded gasoline. In 1955 we found Americans to be for the most part fitting the ‘Unconcerned’ segment of environmental activism. American society in 1985 fit better into the ‘Affluent Healers’ segment of environmental activism. The movie showed us that the building of the ‘Lyon Estates’ housing development began in 1955. From market research of the time we can assume that there was little or no resistance to the destruction of flora and fauna for the purpose of creating the new development.

f. Performance/Status
The 1985 setting of Back to the Future provided plenty evidence of the American want for ‘status’ brands, more so than the 1955 setting. Marty displayed interest in the new Toyota 4X4 truck during the first few scenes of the movie; he ended up owning that same truck at the end of the movie, when his family was more affluent. When the McFly family moved up in social class it was apparent that their tastes made the switch as well. The family car was a luxurious BMW, Marty had a brand new truck, and the home was decorated with tasteful furniture, art and a piano. All the above mentioned items could be categorized as ‘status’ brands that are typically purchased by middle class individuals with expendable income.
Part 3 – Other-Oriented Values

a. Individual/Collective
Individualistic behavior has deep roots in America’s history and culture and is increasing as time goes by. In Back to the Future the dinner table scene in 1950 shows how families always ate together; the breakfast scene at the end of the movie that took place in 1985 is proof of this change in individualism. At the same 1950 dinner table scene the host family invited Marty to sleepover, this was another sign of trust and collectiveness in America’s past.

b. Diversity/Uniformity
America is moving very fast towards diversity and it is very noticeable. New changes in immigration laws and civil rights are examples of the growing diversity in America. Several scenes in the movie obviously demonstrate the change from uniformity to diversity in the United States. One such scene showed the mayoral campaign of an African-American man in 1985; which was unheard of in 1955. Other examples are the existence of Arabs in America in 1985 which was not something usual in 1955. In the 1955 high school dance scene there were only Caucasian boys and girls present; whereas multiculturalism played a big role in the 1980’s.

c. Limited/ Extended Family
Every decade we witness a decrease in family time for relationship building. The 1955 dinner table scene is once again a great example of this. In 1985 Marty’s mother mentioned that an uncle would soon leave jail, the children responded in an uncaring manner and told their mother that “he is your brother.” Another example from 1955 was when Marty lied about his relationship with Doc and claimed to be his nephew; this would be easier to accept than the truth: that adolescent Marty is friends with Doc, an estranged old scientist.

d. Youth/Age
Back to the Future follows that older people were considered wiser than young people. An example of this is when Marty transported back in time to 1955 where he interfered in the relationship of his future parents. Marty only had one choice amidst his confusion, which was to turn to Doc for help. Being older and wiser, Doc instructed Marty what to do to fix his mistakes and go ‘back to the future.’ This movie is a good demonstration of the changes in age values from 1955 to 1985 because it showed three decades worth of change in attitudes, style and fashion. One such example was the change noticed in George, Marty’s father, from a shy loser to affluent business man. Back to the Future focused mostly on the young 16 to 30 year old group. This is the group that spends most money on personal uses such as the high school dance shown in the movie.

e. Competition/Cooperation
Cooperation and competition alike played major roles in the movie. Marty’s father, George, found himself competing with Biff for a woman, Lorraine, Marty’s mother. George won a fight against Biff and gained a relationship with Lorraine as a result of cooperation with Marty. Marty had to work with Doc to return to the future and correct his own mistakes.

f. Masculine/Feminine
In 1955, males held more power in American society than females. By 1985 it appears that woman had improved; nevertheless, a balance in power has been difficult. Men are genetically made bigger, tougher and more competitive than women who serve other practical purposes such as taking care of housework and children. The social strength is differs from society to society and country to country; however, males hold the power in most cases.

Conclusion
Back to the Future demonstrated dramatic changes in American cultural values over the course of only thirty years. This is a sign that our young country, not even 250 years old, stands to change its cultural values every decade with more magnitude than older and more ‘cultured’ nations, which are still experiencing cultural changes that are inevitable to all mankind.

Marketing at Three D.C. Metro Non Profit Organizations

• CrisisLink (Arlington, VA)

• Coptic Orphans (Falls Church, VA)

• Muslim Association of Virginia (Prince William County, VA)

Introduction

 

Nonprofit organizations play an important role in the operation of day-to-day activities in the United States; furthermore, they can be very sophisticated international entities that are operated by “well-trained MBAs and ex-businesspeople” (Strategic Marketing, 5). The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is home to a lot of nonprofit organizations including three from Virginia that will be analyzed in this report: CrisisLink, Coptic Orphans, and the Muslim Association of Virginia. Each of the aforementioned organizations is unique in their respective missions and also overlap in certain aspects of their services. Throughout this report we will analyze how they fall into the following five aspects of nonprofit marketing: Customer Orientation, Strategic Planning and Organization, Developing and Organizing Resources, Designing the Marketing Mix, and Controlling Marketing Strategies.

 

Customer Orientation

 

All three of these nonprofits have introduced a customer-centered focus into their organizations; nevertheless, they are amidst different levels of the customer-centered stage. These variations in stages are a result of many factors including cross-cultural efforts, international activities, and years in business. The Muslim Association of Virginia (MAV) maintains a mosque and a host of services for the Muslim community in the Prince William County region of Northern Virginia. MAV is different from the other two organizations because its customers are the same group of people that receive its services, so when people come to worship and/or receive assistance from the community service programs they are encouraged to ‘give back’ by donating money. MAV relies heavily on customer research and gains information through surveys, board meetings, and question-and-answer sessions to identify how they can better serve the local Muslim community. For these reasons, MAV’s adaptation of the customer-centered mindset has been easier than the other two organizations; however, this very dual-integration of customer and recipient of service presents the lack of a true marketing plan. MAV publishes mini informative brochures about services and mosque information; in addition, it organizes community events that are more so a result of community need than an attempt to apply marketing principles. It can be concluded that the marketing success of MAV is a coincidence of simply serving the customer (the Muslim community).

CrisisLink is a hotline that is in place to serve as a support network for individuals that have experienced trauma, life crises, and are at-risk of suicide. It holds events that inform customers of new offerings and thank them for contributions - one such event is the Outback Steakhouse Luncheon & Fashion Show that took place last April. CrisisLink has a good organizational structure and has developed several marketing initiatives that contribute to their customer-centered focus. They use events to learn about their customers’ current perceptions about services and provide customers with community recognition for donations. Two of the major distinctions of customer-centeredness are that CrisisLink does not mechanically translate for-profit marketing techniques to their nonprofit world, and they don’t substitute marketing for organizational management.

Coptic Orphans is based in northern Virginia but all of its services take place in Egypt serving needy children and providing them with basic needs, education, and mentoring. Out of the three organizations in this report Coptic Orphans appears to have grasped the customer-mindset the best. They have several printed publications that contribute to better customer service like informative brochures for various programs, a DVD detailing their service offerings, and impressively designed annual reports. In defining the full marketing mix and its application to the organization Coptic Orphans makes customer dealings easy and fruitful.

Strategic Planning & Organization

 

The basic framework for strategic planning, the Organizational Marketing Planning Process (OMPP) is obvious in CrisisLink and Coptic Orphans but not in MAV. This is so because of MAV’s unique customer relationship (its customers also use its services). OMPP involves the completion of Analysis, Strategy, and finally, Implementation. For MAV the OMPP is, except for a few points, completed coincidentally through day to day operations rather than with marketing principles in consideration. All three organizations have specific mission statements that state their purpose and customers – they also have stated objectives and goals that are quantifiable. Examples of goals are the ‘Valuable Girl’ program at Coptic Orphans, the ‘Dar-al-Noor Mosque’ project at MAV, and ‘CareRing’ at CrisisLink.

Analysis of the external environment is important to the success of any marketing plan and the publics are well-defined for each organization as well as the competition. CrisisLink’s competition includes other national hotlines like Girls and Boys Town and local community service providers that serve at-risk individuals. Coptic Orphans faces competition from organizations that are known for sponsor-like programs aimed at impoverished youth like Jerry’s Kids. MAV’s competitors are other local area mosques and community centers, not limited to Islamic organizations since all other centers have the ability to cater to Muslims. While competition is obvious for all three organizations it should be brought to attention that all three organizations bear no hostilities towards competitors. As a matter of fact they have alliances and partnerships with organizations that offer similar services CrisisLink and Coptic Orphans are partnered with United Way and MAV works closely with other area Islamic organizations.

One of the reasons Coptic Orphans expresses advancement in the customer-centered stage is its segmentation and positioning practices. Coptic Orphans strives to help as many children as possible and would help everyone in need, as would the other two nonprofits, if the budget was appropriate – but the reality is that they cannot and they focus on serving Christian children in Egypt. This segmentation also segments their customer base, sponsors then become people that have a particular interest in helping Egyptian children and the even broader segment of regular good Samaritans. MAV and CrisisLink does not segment as accurately as Coptic Orphans but they also break down there potential customers into Northern Virginia Muslims for MAV and people in need of guidance for CrisisLink.

Because of their varying levels of segmentation each organization differentiates their marketing for different segments such as corporate donors, individuals, and employer donation matching; in addition, their customer-centered mindset has created brand loyalty that ensures repeat customers.

 

Developing and Organizing Resources

 

All of these nonprofits are successfully balancing their mission statements with fundraising activities; furthermore, they receive funds from donations and grants and revenues. CrisisLink, MAV, and Coptic Orphans acquire funds from the four donation and grant categories that are major individual gifts, corporate donations, non-corporate foundation grants, and cause-marketing proceeds. Individual gifts can be a big source of income, it comprised about 88% of income for Coptic Orphans in 2005 – and made up for 90% of income for MAV. Coptic Orphans earns revenues through sales of products and MAV earns revenue from membership dues.

Coptic Orphans opened an online store in May 2005 that sales various items from audio CDs to handcrafted ornaments. MAV charges its association’s members annual membership dues up to $90 for a family of four. All three organizations also continuously seek funds from government grants which are difficult to attain and many times vary in dollar amount. Coptic Orphans and CrisisLink participate in Combined Federal Campaign funding efforts, among the organizers are United Way.

Coptic Orphans has about 200 volunteers located throughout the world, CrisisLink has about 150 volunteers, and MAV has an ever-changing number of volunteers since they come out of the ranks of the local Muslim community when particular as particular needs arise. Each organization has a traditionally organized board of directors as well as paid personnel that operate in each office. Volunteers are always being sought by all three nonprofits and this is clear on their respective websites and corporate literature that invites helping hands. Volunteers have been with these organizations since their inception and provide expertise for newcomers; however, there is also inevitable turnover – which is an accepted fact that the nonprofits are prepared to deal with. As a matter of fact volunteers are sometimes recruited for temporary positions such as fundraising drives and walks, manual labor, and in the case of Coptic Orphans the ‘Serve to Learn’ program is in place to send volunteers for the purpose of teaching English to Egyptian children.

Designing the Marketing Mix

 

Because all three organizations engage in activities that benefit society as a whole their products/services for the most part are intangible. The only case where the product is actually tangible includes the products that Coptic Orphans sells on its website. CrisisLink protects the lives of people at-risk of committing suicide as well as the well-being of anybody undergoing trauma or life-crises. The society benefits immensely from the counseling services offered by CrisisLink and in their printed collateral one is made aware of their accomplishments – the benefit is made tangible when publics learn the possible loss of income to the community in the case of a successful suicide. In CrisisLink it is made obvious that there are immense expectations in handling such sensitive issues – the comprehension of nonprofit marketing principles, particularly in social marketing, has contributed to their success to date.

Coptic Orphans attempts to drive continuing behavior changes and because of the social marketing fact the benefits of these behavior changes are difficult to portray and have invisible benefits. When one orphaned Egyptian child is sponsored and provided with healthy nutrition along with the resources to become educated the possibilities are endless as to where the boy or girl may go in life – he or she may go on to begin another nonprofit organization; furthermore, the costs on society of not helping impoverished youth can only contribute to more illiteracy, poverty, and the hopelessness that breeds criminal behavior and violence.

MAV provides just about the same services that the other two organizations offer through its community service center. When MAV does not possess the resources to help an association member it refers them to a trusted source for any given issue such as marriage counseling, domestic abuse, and poverty.

Communications that explain and call customers and service-seekers to an organization must be adequate and specific for different markets and consumer types. MAV at present does not make any efforts to market through any physical form of communication aside from mailing out membership renewal forms and reminders about upcoming dues. They need to design an appropriate marketing plan that sets adequate objectives for communications; however, it is not of great importance to form intricate advertisements as it benefits from the ‘automatic’ participation and donations from local worshippers and community members that utilize MAV services, particularly onsite at a mosque.

Coptic Orphans has an impressive array of communications – as mentioned earlier they include pamphlets, CDs, and even informative DVDs in attractive packaging. Direct mailing efforts to secure a customer’s donations are processed by all three organizations – it is the most common form of physical advertising. CrisisLink would benefit from a spot on television or even on the radio, though it should be known that they are already operating near capacity and their support hotlines are constantly busy.

 

Controlling Marketing Strategies & Conclusion

 

The most important stage in successful marketing for these nonprofits is to gauge the success of their initiatives. All three organizations utilize a form of the survey to gain a better understanding of their successes and failures and estimate the level of target audience member satisfaction. Coptic Orphans sees the successes in young girls that become bright young ladies as a result of the ‘Valuable Girl’ project; CrisisLink realizes positive results when they counseled the traumatized staff of the Pentagon after the 2001 terrorist attacks; and MAV is slowly but surely acquiring the funds needed to build a one million dollar project that is the new ‘Dar-al-Noor’ mosque in Prince William County.

Recent developments in the nonprofit marketing world have been analyzed in this report and contribute to the advancement and appreciation of the field. These factors are the growth of social marketing, the increasingly international scope of nonprofits, corporate involvement in the nonprofit sector, and the importance in attention to the ever-controversial ethics.

 

Bibliography

Andreasan, Alan R.,and Philip Kotler. Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003.

 

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EU Plans for the Fight Against Terrorism: A Review

I. Introduction

Increasingly, the threat of terrorism and other emergencies are causing sociopolitical unrest in every community throughout the world. In response to this fact governments are taking measures to secure infrastructure and more importantly citizens. In this research paper four items will be introduced and analyzed: The Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime; a European Commission press release about activities in the fight against terrorism; the European Commission’s communication regarding Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP); and, the United State’s National Infrastructure Protection Plan.

A. Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, Budapest, 11.23.2001

This convention was held to establish ground rules and procedures for dealing with cybercrime. The convention proved that computers, especially their connection through the internet is for the most part unregulated and hosts a vast gray area for legal implications; therefore, many articles introduced in this convention are vague at best to cover as much ground as possible in such an unorganized environment as the internet.

Articles include the establishment of laws for handling computer data, the prohibition of child pornography, and copyright infringement controls. More importantly it goes on to emphasize transparency and collaboration between EU member states in the form of sharing investigative responsibilities and data, organizing jurisdictions, and the forming of central authorities in each member state to expedite and aid the transfer of important information regarding criminal proceedings and data for specific cybercrime concerns.

Throughout the convention, the protection of civil and human rights of EU citizens is reflected as a concern that must be realized in all anti-cybercrime activities.

B. European Commission Activities in the Fight against Terrorism, Brussels, 09.21.2005

This press release described Europe’s standing as it relates to several anti-terrorism efforts, and their respective issues, legislation, and proposed legislation. The communication included among other issues procedures for handling anti-terrorism efforts such as prevention of terrorism, finances of terrorism, information exchange throughout European states, and handling of research.

C. European Commission communication regarding Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) in the Fight against Terrorism, Brussels, 10.20.2004

Defining Critical Infrastructure (CI) as vital components necessary for stable state operation, the Commission reinforces the concerns of the two items above as well as the introduction of regulatory agencies. This communication highlights the importance of cybercrime control since a successful cyber attack could cause severe damage and chaos to CI. The emphasis on sharing and collaboration between member states is resurrected as a crucial component in curbing terrorism and terrorist actions. Also introduced are the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) and the Critical Infrastructure Warning Information Network (CIWIN).

D. United States National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)

As the name of the plan suggests, the NIPP, like the CIP of the European Commission, has been established to protect critical infrastructures and key resources (CI/KR). The NIPP is in place to serve as guidelines for all around control and resiliency of any national emergency, natural disaster, and/or terrorist attack. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the fairly new central agency responsible for securing and protecting the nation’s CI/KR; nevertheless, the DHS is supported by classic government agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Department of the Treasury. The outline of the NIPP bears many similarities to the CIP plans of the European Commission.

 

II. Analysis of the Aforementioned EU Plans – Opinion & Comparison with NIPP

 

A. The Positive Factors

The EU’s plans are a result of the collaborative efforts of various nations, utilizing diverse resources, differing ideologies, and regulatory agencies. The establishment of a few central agencies and networks to control plan implementation throughout the EU is a good way to establish authority across all member states. The European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) is a model example of one such central agency. The EPCIP will be successful in my opinion because several groups of interested parties will contribute to its funding, including non-governmental business such as telecom and energy companies (European).

Because the EU is composed of several nations with their own infrastructure in place to handle cybercrime and other criminal activities it can be a daunting task to draw up veritable jurisdictions and delegate authority. However, the EU’s cybercrime convention aims to eliminate confusion with the establishment of EU-wide cyber laws that protect human and civil rights. In late 2004, Germany was faced with a polemic when German officials disagreed as to when it would be permissible to demand customer data from businesses involved in cyberspace, creating civil right issues (German).

Data retention is another topic covered in the EU cybercrime convention where ambiguity is eliminated by the adoption of the Convention on Cybercrime. The convention’s Article 29 outlines an ideal methodology for requesting, utilizing, and disposing of data in an efficient way. In an article regarding data retention the author described some EU countries as wanting to require retention of data by companies involved in cyberspace; nevertheless, Commission authorities rejected the data retention proposals (The European Parliament).

A key strength of the EU’s plans for Critical Infrastructure Protection is the reliance on the owners of critical infrastructure. The NIPP of the U.S. also places responsibility on the owners, but takes on a lot of the burden as well, perhaps as a result of recent terrorist attacks. The U.S. is estimated to spend over $63 billion on CIP and the EU is proposing a mere $140 million. Magnus Ovilius, a senior administrator at the European Commission says that ‘Responsibility for managing risk will lie primarily with the owners and operators (Lipowicz).’

There are frequent reports that the protection of EU citizens is actively being pursued by the EPCIP, this is proof that the EU’s plans for fighting terrorism are working. In April the European Commission began plans to “identify ports across the European Union which are ‘critical’ to the functioning of the European economy in order to provide them with extra protection from potential terrorist attacks (Brussels).”

B. The Negative Factors

The fact that terrorism is a daily fear for citizens of the world is enough to push for more stringent measures of protecting data, critical infrastructure, and borders – but there are limits as well. The regulations imposed by EU anti-terrorism plans cause many people to dissent on grounds of human/civil right violations. The civil rights issue causes a big clash between the U.S. NIPP and EU plans, though both target similar enemies. This quote from the New York Times is testimony to the controversy at hand:

The European Union’s highest court ruled Tuesday that the Union had overstepped its authority by agreeing to give the United States personal details about airline passengers on flights to America in an effort to fight terrorism (Clark).

Only five months after this court ruling:

European negotiators bowed to U.S. demands to let more American authorities see 34 pieces of information about passengers, including names, addresses, seat numbers and ticket-paying methods (U.S., European Union).

To mend ill relations regarding terrorism issues members of the EU and US President George Bush met in Vienna to pledge adherence to human rights (US to Vow at EU Summit).

The EU plans to counter terrorism and protect CI state that open communication and sharing of information between member states is crucial; However, it is as of late becoming apparent that several issues in EU plans and communications are not up to standards. The president of Romania, Traian Basescu stated that “Intelligence is traveling hard now and only under bilateral agreements between intelligence services of the member states (Romanian).” In addition the EU, in revision of old plans, is having talks of new plans to “retain data from telephone calls and e-mails for a minimum period of 12 months (New EU).”

III. Conclusion

While the EU and the US face the same fear that is an unforeseen terrorist attack, there are different issues for both. The EU is a combination of several nation states while the US is a cohesive unit with several states that respond to one single federal government; in addition, the US has more recent clashes with terrorists to fuel the fight against terrorism. This may be the reason for a very aggressive stance taken by the US Department of Homeland Security, its NIPP has bumped heads with the EU’s plans most notably on the civil rights issues surrounding data and information sharing.

 

Bibliography

“Brussels Ring of Steel for Terror Target Ports.” Lloyd’s List 10 Apr. 2006: 1. Lloyd’s List. 19 Oct. 2006.

Clark, Nicola, and Matthew L. Wald. “Hurdle for U.S. in Getting Data on Passengers.” The New York Times 31 May 2006, Late ed., sec. A: 1.

“European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection.” EU Center. 19 Oct. 2006 <http://www.eucenter.org/index.php?action=programs&process=detail&id=99>.

“German Data Officer Says Terrorism Doesn’t Justify Undermining Rights.” Washington Internet Daily 15 Dec. 2004. LexisNexis. George Mason University Library, Fairfax. 19 Oct. 2006.

Lipowicz, Alice. “EU to Spend Far Less for Infrastructure Protection.” Washington Technology 5 July 2005. LexisNexis. George Mason University Library, Fairfax. 19 Oct. 2006.

“New EU Anti-Terror Plan Calls for Retention of Data for 12 Months.” The Hindu 16 Oct. 2006. 19 Oct. 2006 <http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200410160312.htm>.

“Romanian President Urges EU to Establish Intelligence Community.” People’s Daily Online 19 Oct. 2006. 19 Oct. 2006 <http://english.people.com.cn/200610/19/eng20061019_313299.html>.

“The European Parliament (EP) Tues. Rejected a Proposal to Require Retention of Communications Data.” Communications Daily 9 June 2005. LexisNexis. George Mason University Library, Fairfax. 19 Oct. 2006.

“U.S., European Union Agree on Passenger Data.” Los Angeles Times 7 Oct. 2006. 19 Oct. 2006 <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-briefs7.6oct07,1,5837271.story?coll=la-headlines-business>.

“US to Vow At EU Summit to Respect Rights in Anti-Terror Fight.” Agence France Presse 21 June 2006. LexisNexis. George Mason Library, Fairfax. 19 Oct. 2006.

 

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