Introduction : a comprehensive digital communication

[Introduction] This book analyses several aspects of media convergence particularly related with the digitization of the transmission channels which give the world a binary nature. This technical specification of the information society abolishes the frontiers between the old mass media and the new computer systems which mainly operate within a peer-to-peer logic resulting in sociological changes that are still nebulous but nevertheless significantly impacting on the formation of communication contexts, on the debates about policy and regulation, and consequently, on the notion of citizenship in a globalized world. The new international configuration provided by the adoption at a planetary scale of the mathematical language of two digits has put an end to the Babel Tower and positioned the globalized local, national and supranational communities in constant interaction (even if not necessarily in dialogue). New networks have created high and glowing expectations regarding quick and transboundary communication flows.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT