Internet café

An internet cafe is a company with at least one Internet access, a group of people or even all people - mostly paid - can use to surf the World Wide Web. Frequently Drinks and snacks are offered for sale. Very often Internet cafes are combined with private phone booths (also called Telecafé ) and the sale of international calling cards. Especially in English speaking countries Internet cafés are usually called Cyber ​​Café ( neologism of the words cyberspace and Café).

Occurrence

Internet cafes can be located in public places, for example in a library or in a fast food restaurant. Companies, clubs, social and educational institutions provide Internet cafes to their employees, members or available to young people. Most Internet cafes are small, independent, commercial establishments with retail character.

History and outlook

Popular Internet cafes were from 1994 in the U.S., but nowadays there are in virtually every major city such a café. The largest is located in the Theater District of Manhattan, New York City, and is called easyInternetcafé - also the largest chain of its kind in the world. One of the first internet cafes in Europe was the Cyberia in London. The first Internet café opened in Fürth Germany was probably on 1 July 1994 ( Falken 's Maze ).

In Germany, the stock of Internet cafes is currently declining, as more and more people have their own Internet access. In public places hot spots displace for wireless LAN, the Internet cafes, as users can now surf with their own laptop or PDA. In resort areas, such as Gran Canaria or even in the Mount Everest region (eg in Namche Bazar and even in Dingboche ), however, the Internet cafes are widely available. Especially for long-distance travelers, they are still an important communication point. Increased use have Internet cafes in the suburbs of big cities with high immigrant population, where they are also usually run by immigrants.

Internet cafes with Hot Spot can also offer Internet telephony for compatible mobile phones.

Possibilities of an internet café

An Internet café serves primarily to pay access to the Internet, such as Web-based e -mail services. In addition, be possible for phones other services such as copying data onto data media, printouts, digitization of images or recharging of prepaid cards. Popular in Internet cafes across multiple PCs networked games.

The hardware

Will the internet cafe used by many people, so the devices are often housed in robust housings. Especially the keyboard and mouse or the touchpad are vulnerable to vandalism and theft. On floppy disk drives, CD drives and card readers is sometimes omitted, at least rule out these possibilities for manipulation or introduction of malware. A coin acceptor or a reader for debit and credit cards allow fee- surfing. Several internet terminals can be connected to an Internet server. Larger Internet cafes can be cared for by specially trained staff. Such Internet cafes usually do not have computers with Münzwerk or reader for debit and credit cards because payment is made at a cash register.

The software

Instead of the usual Web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Netscape or Firefox systems are often used to fulfill the additional tasks: accounting the browsing session, block harmful to underage pages, free or paid provision of games, delete the browser cache and all cookies after logging out of the last user, statistical analyzes, maintenance functions, etc. the connection to the Internet is usually done via a DSL connection. The market- leading browsers Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are available yet in most cafes.

Problems in Germany

Internet cafe operators must pay attention to many legal regulations. It must be ensured that users can not view inappropriate contents under the age of 18, either on its own or on third-party screen. The problem is to offer games at Internet terminals. A ruling by the Federal Administrative Court is at an internet cafe, which mainly offers games to an arcade- like operating, which is thus permit. About a corresponding Arcade permission but has only a vanishingly small number of Internet cafes.

In Germany there is no ID required for visits to Internet cafes. This can entice a user to accept to be in a state of absolute security from prosecution. However, this is not the case, because often a video surveillance will be conducted, which, even if the operator is not a criminal offense or disturbance recognizes will be archived for investigating authorities. Therefore criminally relevant postings can also be traced in Internet cafes, even if the visitor has made ​​no telltale entries.