1. Digital Economy and the Information Society

About a decade has now passed since the fourth industrial revolution took root in our post-modern society. With the aim of giving a clear picture of the digital economy, this chapter is designed to cover the state of the art and major developments under this economic system. Accordingly, we will look at the information society and the digital economy on which such society is built on. An extensive discussion on the monopolization of digital platforms, free riding of the Web, smart business models, and emerging technologies will be presented. In addition, by having a closer look at the business models of major digital companies, the chapter will give an insight into the digital businesses of this economic system. Here, we will briefly discuss the business models of tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Alibaba, Uber, Airbnb, and Shopify and also discuss the startups with Fintech solutions. On the governance side of networks of the information society, we will have a look at the issue of trust and social capital built through rating and reputation schemes in digital platforms. Further, the chapter will cover the major regulatory frameworks and policies toward this economic system and identify the main influences such policies have on the information society and the digital economy. Major regulatory developments such as the global consumer protection initiative, e-consumer.gov, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act, taxation of multinationals, and lobbying by the tech giants are some of the points to be covered under this section. In the section that follows, we will have an overview of this economic system.