2008年春節過後，以下五個方面的因素，將有可能為投資者帶來新的利潤增長點，需要投資者在具體的投資過程中加以留意。
第一，節前市場在美國次貸危機等綜合因素的影響下，出現了較為劇烈的震盪，這將在一定程度上為節後的市場創造投資機會。俗話說，投資機會是跌出來的。節前證券市場的震盪調整，為節後的市場創造了良好的進倉時機，這種變化需要投資者加以留意。
第二，伴隨著2007年年報的逐步披露，具有較強分紅能力的股票品種將逐步走進投資者的視野。因此，持有業績增長較快的上市公司股票，或者調倉配置這些股票，將會為基金未來淨值的增長帶來機會，需要投資者加以關注。
第三，隨著股市的震盪調整，與股市具有「蹺蹺板」效應的債市的投資價值或許再現。投資者在基金投資組合中配置一定的債券型基金產品，可以在一定程度上迴避證券市場對基金投資造成的衝擊和影響，能夠很好地平衡基金投資的風險。
第四，手中「閒置」資金為節後進行基金資產的配置創造了一定的條件。經過一年的打拼，投資者均會在年終得到一筆獎金或者紅包。具有節儉意識的投資者，在將此部分資金用於過節必需的消費外，還可作出相應的投資計劃，投資基金更能發揮積極作用。因為這部分資金的來源大多是「閒錢」，投資者可以作出充分的投資計劃和安排。
第五，基金年度資產的佈局和安排，也為投資者帶來較多的遐想。一年之計在於春。作為新年的開始，2008年的投資回報如何，相信基金管理人會作出全面的衡量，並根據市場變化進行調整，這些也是需要投資者加以關注的。
資料來源：
http://news.cnyes.com/dspnewsS.asp?rno=9&fi=%5CNEWSBASE%5C20080205%5CWEB213&vi=31927&sdt=20080203&edt=20080205&top=50&date=20080205&time=09:22:24&cls=index15_totalnews
2008年2月21日 星期四
要升級麼？給你10個不應該升級Vista的理由
網上看到了一篇不該升級vista的理由，大家看看，說的有道理么？我想升級，但看了這個文章后，有點猶豫了...
以下繼續列出十個你不該升級Windows Vista的理由。
1、Vista的支持期比XP還長，但XP至少還享有微軟兩年的主要支持。同時在互聯網上已經有許多跟Windows XP(以及其它作業系統)有關的訊息。如果你的公司，或公司的員工很習慣XP，目前實在沒有必要為了Vista的支持去升級。
2、Vista與之前的作業系統可以說是不同的產品。許多的工具軟體與過去一樣或是類似，但還是有許多需要重學的東西。如果公司的訊息部門已經分身乏術，特地花時間去學習使用，並安裝Windows Vista，目前看來似乎不值得。
3、許多有名的應用程式無法在Vista上使用。iTunes與Nero之類的軟體在Vista上執行會有問題。事實上，幾乎所有與抓取音軌以及刻錄的程式在Vista上執行都有問題。如果這些重要的程式有兼容問題，一定有太多其它你可能每天使用的小程式會有問題。
4、英國The Register雜誌的Peter Gutmann把Windows Vista的DRM功能稱為“史上最長的自殺清單”。雖然在做為客廳的媒體器材方面，計算機已經有了大幅進展，但Vista推出的DRM功能在播放下一代數位內容(HD-DVD與藍光DVD)時，讓人十分難以接受。在播放內容時，器材的輸出與S/PDIF輸出都會關閉，讓Windows Vista作為娛樂系統的功能大減。
5、Windows Vista執行時需要更多的硬體運算能力－如果越需要計算機硬體，筆記本電腦的電池使用時間就會降低。就算只是執行Aero Glass界面，也會因為GPU（圖形處理單元）額外的運算處理，而讓你的電池更快沒電。每個抱著筆記本電腦在外奔走的人，在升級之前最好考慮這一點。
6、蘋果的OS X目前則是新一代桌面環境的領導者。就算是Aero Glass也無法與OS X的操控性相比（OS X已經推出超過五年）。Sun的Project Looking Glass是個免費軟體，也可以在XP上提供簡單的3D桌面功能。
7、Vista 很貴。這是一個無法否定的事實。微軟想要借由推出不同價格不同版本的Vista來緩和這一點。但不幸地，這其中許多版本的功能都不太健全，也造成消費者不必要的困惑。
8、DirectX 10只在Vista上執行，因而讓許多遊戲玩家等待這個新作業系統許久。不幸的是，他們要花的，可能不只是作業系統的錢，同時還需要支持DirectX 10的影像顯示卡。目前只有NVIDIA的8800晶片組兼容DirectX 10技術，其中最低端版本(GTS)的零售價是399美元。
9、Vista是目前作業系統中，對硬體要求最嚴苛的。如果要使用Windows Vista的所有功能，你需要1GHz的處理器，1GB的隨機存取內存，以及兼容于DirectX 9的顯示卡。雖然這可以讓你執行所有功能，但你得有更快的處理器與更多內存，才會有更好的性能表現。由於Aero Glass界面需要兼容于DirectX 9的圖形處理器，許多較舊的台式機與筆記本電腦，即使滿足其它需求，也都無法使用Aero Glass。
10、Aero Glass是Windows Vista的一個重要功能，但它會給予顯示卡多餘的負荷，影響遊戲的速度。有許多微軟的報告顯示，目前的遊戲如果在Vista上執行，最終會比在XP上執行慢上10到15個百分比。專為Vista系統所設計的遊戲會不會有這樣的性能問題，仍舊有待觀察。
資料來源：
http://macao838.com/viewthread.php?tid=204817
以下繼續列出十個你不該升級Windows Vista的理由。
1、Vista的支持期比XP還長，但XP至少還享有微軟兩年的主要支持。同時在互聯網上已經有許多跟Windows XP(以及其它作業系統)有關的訊息。如果你的公司，或公司的員工很習慣XP，目前實在沒有必要為了Vista的支持去升級。
2、Vista與之前的作業系統可以說是不同的產品。許多的工具軟體與過去一樣或是類似，但還是有許多需要重學的東西。如果公司的訊息部門已經分身乏術，特地花時間去學習使用，並安裝Windows Vista，目前看來似乎不值得。
3、許多有名的應用程式無法在Vista上使用。iTunes與Nero之類的軟體在Vista上執行會有問題。事實上，幾乎所有與抓取音軌以及刻錄的程式在Vista上執行都有問題。如果這些重要的程式有兼容問題，一定有太多其它你可能每天使用的小程式會有問題。
4、英國The Register雜誌的Peter Gutmann把Windows Vista的DRM功能稱為“史上最長的自殺清單”。雖然在做為客廳的媒體器材方面，計算機已經有了大幅進展，但Vista推出的DRM功能在播放下一代數位內容(HD-DVD與藍光DVD)時，讓人十分難以接受。在播放內容時，器材的輸出與S/PDIF輸出都會關閉，讓Windows Vista作為娛樂系統的功能大減。
5、Windows Vista執行時需要更多的硬體運算能力－如果越需要計算機硬體，筆記本電腦的電池使用時間就會降低。就算只是執行Aero Glass界面，也會因為GPU（圖形處理單元）額外的運算處理，而讓你的電池更快沒電。每個抱著筆記本電腦在外奔走的人，在升級之前最好考慮這一點。
6、蘋果的OS X目前則是新一代桌面環境的領導者。就算是Aero Glass也無法與OS X的操控性相比（OS X已經推出超過五年）。Sun的Project Looking Glass是個免費軟體，也可以在XP上提供簡單的3D桌面功能。
7、Vista 很貴。這是一個無法否定的事實。微軟想要借由推出不同價格不同版本的Vista來緩和這一點。但不幸地，這其中許多版本的功能都不太健全，也造成消費者不必要的困惑。
8、DirectX 10只在Vista上執行，因而讓許多遊戲玩家等待這個新作業系統許久。不幸的是，他們要花的，可能不只是作業系統的錢，同時還需要支持DirectX 10的影像顯示卡。目前只有NVIDIA的8800晶片組兼容DirectX 10技術，其中最低端版本(GTS)的零售價是399美元。
9、Vista是目前作業系統中，對硬體要求最嚴苛的。如果要使用Windows Vista的所有功能，你需要1GHz的處理器，1GB的隨機存取內存，以及兼容于DirectX 9的顯示卡。雖然這可以讓你執行所有功能，但你得有更快的處理器與更多內存，才會有更好的性能表現。由於Aero Glass界面需要兼容于DirectX 9的圖形處理器，許多較舊的台式機與筆記本電腦，即使滿足其它需求，也都無法使用Aero Glass。
10、Aero Glass是Windows Vista的一個重要功能，但它會給予顯示卡多餘的負荷，影響遊戲的速度。有許多微軟的報告顯示，目前的遊戲如果在Vista上執行，最終會比在XP上執行慢上10到15個百分比。專為Vista系統所設計的遊戲會不會有這樣的性能問題，仍舊有待觀察。
資料來源：
http://macao838.com/viewthread.php?tid=204817
2008年2月14日 星期四
天秤星號
2008年春天(3月27日起)，天秤星號將再度進駐高港、基隆。想在海上享受悠閒假期，那現在正是時候！越早報名，優惠越多哦！
搭乘天秤星號無疑是一趟更舒適、更悠閒的渡假旅館風格體驗。世界級的精彩娛樂活動、豐富的餐飲服務、完善的運動與健身設施、更融合了亞洲溫暖的人情味，麗星郵輪的最佳品質保證讓大人、小孩都可以在天秤星號上創造屬於自我的獨特旅遊新體驗。
搭乘天秤星號，首先在船上享受各國豐盛佳餚就是一個滿足味蕾的絕佳體驗：「四季餐廳」的國際風味料理、「航海家自助餐廳」令人目不暇給的國際美食自助餐、「海華宮餐廳」的中式料理等，都會讓人暫時把減肥這檔事丟腦後。不過，想要來趟活力郵輪假期的人，當然就得好好享受天秤星號完整多樣的運動及健身設施：不管是在高爾夫練習場推桿、輕鬆地在泳池裡暢游、放鬆身心享受三溫暖及美容沙龍、或在健身中心快樂地甩去身上的贅肉，都能讓你盡情放鬆。除了白天的歡樂時光，在天秤星號上可是愈夜愈美麗！這裡精心為旅客準備了世界級的娛樂表演，讓旅客可以在「星塵劇院」欣賞國際級的歌舞表演、在「布姆爾迪斯可」勁歌熱舞、在豪華的「海星俱樂部」小試手氣，或者拋開塵事，在「銀河星夜總會」靜靜享受醇酒與音樂的美妙時光。當然，你也不用擔心家裡活蹦亂跳的小朋友，船上設有電子遊樂中心以及專屬的護幼中心，讓孩子也能享受一趟健康而快樂的郵輪體驗！
資料來源：
http://www.appletour.com.tw/urlpage/C1311.html
搭乘天秤星號無疑是一趟更舒適、更悠閒的渡假旅館風格體驗。世界級的精彩娛樂活動、豐富的餐飲服務、完善的運動與健身設施、更融合了亞洲溫暖的人情味，麗星郵輪的最佳品質保證讓大人、小孩都可以在天秤星號上創造屬於自我的獨特旅遊新體驗。
搭乘天秤星號，首先在船上享受各國豐盛佳餚就是一個滿足味蕾的絕佳體驗：「四季餐廳」的國際風味料理、「航海家自助餐廳」令人目不暇給的國際美食自助餐、「海華宮餐廳」的中式料理等，都會讓人暫時把減肥這檔事丟腦後。不過，想要來趟活力郵輪假期的人，當然就得好好享受天秤星號完整多樣的運動及健身設施：不管是在高爾夫練習場推桿、輕鬆地在泳池裡暢游、放鬆身心享受三溫暖及美容沙龍、或在健身中心快樂地甩去身上的贅肉，都能讓你盡情放鬆。除了白天的歡樂時光，在天秤星號上可是愈夜愈美麗！這裡精心為旅客準備了世界級的娛樂表演，讓旅客可以在「星塵劇院」欣賞國際級的歌舞表演、在「布姆爾迪斯可」勁歌熱舞、在豪華的「海星俱樂部」小試手氣，或者拋開塵事，在「銀河星夜總會」靜靜享受醇酒與音樂的美妙時光。當然，你也不用擔心家裡活蹦亂跳的小朋友，船上設有電子遊樂中心以及專屬的護幼中心，讓孩子也能享受一趟健康而快樂的郵輪體驗！
資料來源：
http://www.appletour.com.tw/urlpage/C1311.html
如何用英文拜年?
新一年又到了, 祝大家
恭喜發財 : Wishing you prosperity
招財進寶 : May money and treasure be plentiful
生意興隆 : Business prospers
出入平安 : Wishing you safety wherever you go
萬事如意 : Everything goes as you hope
青春常駐 : Full of youthful vigour
和氣生財 : Harmony brings wealth
一本萬利 : May you make great profits
步步高昇 : Be promoted to a higher position
花開富貴 : Fortune comes with blooming flowers
身壯力健 : Be healthy and vigorous all year
金玉滿堂 : Treasures fill the home
新春大吉 : Good fortune in the New Year
心想事成 : May all your wishes come true
龍馬精神 : The energy of a dragon and a horse
資料來源：
旅發局
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/the-b/article?mid=1236
恭喜發財 : Wishing you prosperity
招財進寶 : May money and treasure be plentiful
生意興隆 : Business prospers
出入平安 : Wishing you safety wherever you go
萬事如意 : Everything goes as you hope
青春常駐 : Full of youthful vigour
和氣生財 : Harmony brings wealth
一本萬利 : May you make great profits
步步高昇 : Be promoted to a higher position
花開富貴 : Fortune comes with blooming flowers
身壯力健 : Be healthy and vigorous all year
金玉滿堂 : Treasures fill the home
新春大吉 : Good fortune in the New Year
心想事成 : May all your wishes come true
龍馬精神 : The energy of a dragon and a horse
資料來源：
旅發局
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/the-b/article?mid=1236
2008年2月9日 星期六
巴菲特的七種武器
《巴菲特致股東的信》
《巴菲特怎樣選擇成長股》
巴菲特是第一位僅靠證券投資成為坐擁幾百億美元資產的世界級富豪，年複合增長率高達24%，就復利增長本身而言，這是一個驚人的成就。
巴菲特沒有寫過什麼書，頗有「述而不作」的意味。但他每年在伯克希爾·哈撒韋的公司年報中給股東寫上一封信，堪稱經典之中的經典。《巴菲特致股東的信》是一本將這些信件按照主題歸類而編輯成的一本書。巴菲特本人也認為，這本書比到目前為止的任何一本關於他的傳記都要好，如果他要挑選一本書去讀，那必定是這本書。另外，作為與巴菲特並肩作戰多年的另一位大師級人物，查利·芒格對該書的評語是「很實用」，這基本代表了兩位世界級投資大師共同的價值取向和個人偏好。
《巴菲特致股東的信》共分7個章節，幾乎濃縮了巴菲特投資生涯的精華以及最為看重的7個方向。這7個章節依次是：(1)公司治理、(2)公司財務與投資、(3)普通股的替代品、(4)普通股、(5)兼併與收購、(6)會計與估值、(7)會計政策與納稅問題。這7個方向幾乎構成了巴菲特投資哲學的「根本」。當然，這個「根本」與上市公司信息披露制度、會計制度、財稅制度等多種制度性安排有著十分緊密的聯繫。如果對公司治理結構、會計、信息披露以及債券等制度安排瞭解不多的話，那麼，僅僅依靠簡單的幾個財務數據作決策，並將其歸納為價值投資，這可能是比較危險的。另外，把「公司治理」放在巴菲特「7種武器」之首，這本身也是相當深刻的。
十分有價值的是，《巴菲特致股東的信》中也披露巴菲特自己所犯下的錯誤。由於這本書集納的是巴菲特歷年的公司年報，因此，巴菲特自然會對各種「敗局」進行完整解析。當然，這同時也成為該書最有價值之處，也反映出巴菲特是人而不是「神」。比如，該書中對買入美國航空公司優先股的「大失敗」進行了完整展示。巴菲特說：「這是一個草率分析的案例，是一起由買入一種優先證券導致的，或是因為傲慢導致的失誤。」
透過《巴菲特致股東的信》也可發現經營企業的奧秘、準則。事實上，把股票投資當做運營企業去看待，這也成為格雷厄姆、巴菲特等價值投資者有別於其他類型投資者的區別。
與他的老師格雷厄姆一樣，巴菲特行文相當優美、幽默，擅長運用比喻和經典，有時相當俏皮但又令人印象深刻、回味無窮，即使平時不做投資的普通人，也十分必要在書櫥給予該書比較高的位置。另外，即使沒有像巴菲特那樣的稟賦、耐心、自律，但若平時能夠安靜下來，多思考目前A股市場多年來的各種制度性的安排和發展，以及巴菲特所處時代中的美國經濟發生的變化，可能比「緣木求魚」式的價值投資更有意義得多。
資料來源：
http://news.cnyes.com/dspnewsS.asp?rno=18&fi=%5CNEWSBASE%5C20080202%5CWEB300&vi=31698&sdt=20080131&edt=20080202&top=50&date=20080202&time=10:08:01&cls=index15_totalnews
《巴菲特怎樣選擇成長股》
巴菲特是第一位僅靠證券投資成為坐擁幾百億美元資產的世界級富豪，年複合增長率高達24%，就復利增長本身而言，這是一個驚人的成就。
巴菲特沒有寫過什麼書，頗有「述而不作」的意味。但他每年在伯克希爾·哈撒韋的公司年報中給股東寫上一封信，堪稱經典之中的經典。《巴菲特致股東的信》是一本將這些信件按照主題歸類而編輯成的一本書。巴菲特本人也認為，這本書比到目前為止的任何一本關於他的傳記都要好，如果他要挑選一本書去讀，那必定是這本書。另外，作為與巴菲特並肩作戰多年的另一位大師級人物，查利·芒格對該書的評語是「很實用」，這基本代表了兩位世界級投資大師共同的價值取向和個人偏好。
《巴菲特致股東的信》共分7個章節，幾乎濃縮了巴菲特投資生涯的精華以及最為看重的7個方向。這7個章節依次是：(1)公司治理、(2)公司財務與投資、(3)普通股的替代品、(4)普通股、(5)兼併與收購、(6)會計與估值、(7)會計政策與納稅問題。這7個方向幾乎構成了巴菲特投資哲學的「根本」。當然，這個「根本」與上市公司信息披露制度、會計制度、財稅制度等多種制度性安排有著十分緊密的聯繫。如果對公司治理結構、會計、信息披露以及債券等制度安排瞭解不多的話，那麼，僅僅依靠簡單的幾個財務數據作決策，並將其歸納為價值投資，這可能是比較危險的。另外，把「公司治理」放在巴菲特「7種武器」之首，這本身也是相當深刻的。
十分有價值的是，《巴菲特致股東的信》中也披露巴菲特自己所犯下的錯誤。由於這本書集納的是巴菲特歷年的公司年報，因此，巴菲特自然會對各種「敗局」進行完整解析。當然，這同時也成為該書最有價值之處，也反映出巴菲特是人而不是「神」。比如，該書中對買入美國航空公司優先股的「大失敗」進行了完整展示。巴菲特說：「這是一個草率分析的案例，是一起由買入一種優先證券導致的，或是因為傲慢導致的失誤。」
透過《巴菲特致股東的信》也可發現經營企業的奧秘、準則。事實上，把股票投資當做運營企業去看待，這也成為格雷厄姆、巴菲特等價值投資者有別於其他類型投資者的區別。
與他的老師格雷厄姆一樣，巴菲特行文相當優美、幽默，擅長運用比喻和經典，有時相當俏皮但又令人印象深刻、回味無窮，即使平時不做投資的普通人，也十分必要在書櫥給予該書比較高的位置。另外，即使沒有像巴菲特那樣的稟賦、耐心、自律，但若平時能夠安靜下來，多思考目前A股市場多年來的各種制度性的安排和發展，以及巴菲特所處時代中的美國經濟發生的變化，可能比「緣木求魚」式的價值投資更有意義得多。
資料來源：
http://news.cnyes.com/dspnewsS.asp?rno=18&fi=%5CNEWSBASE%5C20080202%5CWEB300&vi=31698&sdt=20080131&edt=20080202&top=50&date=20080202&time=10:08:01&cls=index15_totalnews
三國歷史上最不該被埋沒詆毀的十大人才
在三國的風雲舞台上，有不少我們耳熟能詳的弄潮兒，他們當然是才華橫溢。可是更重要的是他們的面前都出現了不可多得的歷史機遇，讓他們乘時而上，從而名震當代。可是還有很多人，抱荊山璞玉而不為人知，或者雖然被賞識提拔卻未盡其才，或者命運多蹩所托非人而抱恨終生，歷史留下了他們光彩的一筆，卻沒有給他們應得的地位，徒讓後來者感慨悲傷。水鏡先生有云：孔明雖得其主，未遇其時，惜哉。嗚呼，至言也。
NO10 陳登
陳元龍這個人物在三國演義裡地位一般，只是在曹操收呂布的時候作為內應順便提了一下，給人的感覺此人不過是個耍陰謀的小角色，才幹上不了大雅之堂。不要說跟孔明、仲達這樣的當代豪傑比較，就是跟郭嘉、程昱這樣的二流人物相比也存在一定差距。可是歷史是否真的如此呢？非也。有一次一個叫許汜的人從廣陵過來，跟劉表談起了陳登，當時劉備寄住在劉表那裡。也在旁邊聽他們講話，這位許先生上來就抱怨：「陳登這個傢伙太沒有禮貌了，我這樣的名士到了哪兒吃不開啊。偏偏到了他那兒不收待見，就說住宿吧，他自己睡舒服的大床，讓我打地鋪。這個傢伙不禮賢下士，我看成不了什麼事兒。」劉表表示同意，劉備冷笑著說了話：「我太瞭解元龍了，他這個人腦子想的都是天下大事，最討厭跟無聊文人咬文嚼字。你這個人只知道風花雪月，一派小資情調，言談舉止沒有一點真知灼見。元龍對你那樣還算客氣呢，要是我的話，我自己睡百尺高樓，在地上挖個坑給你睡，還給你打地鋪呢。」又回頭鄭重的對劉表說，「像陳元龍的文武膽識，只能去跟古代的聖賢相比，當代的人物我看很少有能超過他的。」 劉備這麼推許的一個人物，曹操卻沒當回事兒，滅了呂布後，曹操僅僅讓陳登當了廣陵太守。曹操討伐袁紹的時候，幾乎把各個州郡的精兵都抽走了，南方的防禦相當空虛。這個時候，江南的孫策開始蠢蠢欲動，越過長江，圖謀進攻廣陵。 陳登手裡的兵特別少，手下都很慌亂，陳登卻鎮定自若的說：「孫策雖然勇猛且兵多，但是他並不瞭解這裡的虛實，我看我們還是有機會擊敗他的。」於是命令士兵把旌旗都從城牆上拔下來，城裡的百姓不許隨便走動，看起來好像是被孫策嚇的逃跑掉一樣。在通往廣陵的大路兩側險要的地方，命令士兵多設立火堆和戰鼓。孫策的大軍來了，看到廣陵這個樣子，並沒有貿然攻城，在城南駐紮下來，刺探虛實。晚上，陳登命令各個地方一起火鼓大作，自己的城上也突然把旗子全插上去，擂鼓吶喊。孫策嚇壞了，趕緊逃掉，陳登命令士兵一起出城追殺，把後面的輜重全部虜獲。這一戰讓曹操對陳登刮目相看，正準備重用的時候，陳登害病死了。曹操悔恨良久，陳登剛投降過來的時候就對曹操陳述過討伐江南的戰略，曹操沒當回事兒。等到孫權在江東的勢力逐漸穩固後，曹操巡視合肥，往著遠處的長江，歎息良久。對手下說：「我真的好恨自己沒有早點用陳登的謀略！？
遺憾指數：5.5
NO9 曹植
曹植的才華如果僅僅是吟風弄月那也就沒什麼可遺憾的了，可是歷史上卻並非如此。曹操對子女的要求是相當嚴格的，根據各人的才華悉心的加以培養。比如長子曹丕在政務上是個好手，詩寫的也非常好；次子曹彰勇猛過人，雄烈英霸，曹操不斷的批評他有勇無謀，督促他多讀書學習兵法，後來果然曹彰成長為了一個出色的猛將，建安後期帶五萬幽州兵討伐北方少數民族，一舉滅掉了烏丸；可是曹操最喜歡最看中的卻是三兒子曹植，文采方面不用說肯定曹操是非常滿意的，曹操就注意在政治、軍事上給予開導和啟發。比如曹操南征孫權的時候，讓曹植駐守剛剛平定的袁紹的老窩鄴郡，讓他當兩年地方官，鍛煉一下處理繁雜政務的能力，臨走的時候敦敦教導說：「你今年23歲了，不小了，我在你這個年齡的時候是洛陽的警備司令，用大棒殺死了飛揚跋扈的宦官，你要好自為之啊。」曹植聽了很振奮，兢兢業業的辦事，遇到不明白的就請教經驗豐富的鮮於輔等人，把鄴管理的非常好，曹操非常滿意，這個時候就已經動了立他為世子的念頭。後來建安24年，關羽帶兵殲滅了於禁等人，威震華夏。
曹操的事業到了危機關頭，如果關羽攻克樊城，黃河以南則無險可守，兵烽直抵許昌，這個時候就會叛亂四起。在危機關頭，必須要派一名親信大將去解救樊城，曹操想到了曹植，任命他為南中郎將，作為統帥抵擋關羽。這個時候曹丕把曹植騙到府裡，灌醉了他，結果曹操大怒，一氣之下罷免了曹植。使曹植失去了統帥精銳大軍的機會，如果此時曹植牢牢的把握好軍權，佔據宛城，再配合在關西握有十萬大軍的曹彰，曹丕是絕對當不了皇帝的。後來的事情我們都知道了，曹丕即位以後立刻打壓曹植，把他流放到山東一帶看管。曹睿即位後對曹植的看管逐漸放鬆，並且給了他相當大的自由。曹植就在這個時候上了名垂青史的《求自試表》，我看了這個表，上面詳細的陳述了三國的 形勢，並且結合曹操的用兵經驗提出了一套對吳蜀作戰的方略。文章感人至深，寫到：「我願意作為一個偏稗的校官，或者歸屬於西邊的大將軍曹真在陸地上衝鋒陷陣；或者歸屬於東方的大司馬曹休在江河上架舟馳騁；一定要擒住孫權抓獲諸葛亮，完成先皇的遺願，如果能夠為這個理想而奮鬥，就算讓我死我也沒有遺憾。」可是曹睿又怎麼會讓他稱心如意呢？只是寫了不疼不癢的四個字：其志可嘉。最後一代宗師終老深山。
NO8 魏延
劉備討伐平定了漢中以後，曾經考慮這麼重要的地方一定要派一個經驗豐富，作戰勇猛的名將來鎮守。當時人們都認為這個角色非張飛莫屬了，劉備統共哥仨，自己守西川，關羽守荊州，漢中理所當然要給張飛。張飛呢，也真的就這樣認為的，拉開架勢就準備上任了。結果呢，劉備宣佈漢中太守是魏延！整個大軍都驚呆了。在任命儀式上，劉備鄭重的問魏：「你打算怎麼守我的漢中？」，魏脖子一梗，硬生生的回答：「曹操如果親自帶著全天下的兵馬來進攻，那我就利用城池和險要來抗拒。如果只是偏將帶領十萬人馬來騷擾，我就打開城門迎戰，全部殲滅了 他！「劉備大樂。
劉備死後，諸葛亮在南中一帶作戰回到成都，剛剛落下腳，兵馬還沒有來地及休整。魏國的大將郭淮和費耀就進攻涼州的羌人，破壞羌人和蜀漢的聯盟。這個時候諸葛亮對魏延說：」我沒有多餘的兵給你，你帶著漢中現有的兵去解救羌人吧。「魏延一笑：」還要動用國家的兵馬干什麼？我帶著一隊親兵，指揮著羌人就能幹敗這幫雜碎。「於是帶著少量輕銳親兵兵秘密的潛進了羌部，指揮著一幫被打爛了建制的少數民族兵馬在陽溪一帶大破魏兵。諸葛亮樂的合不龍嘴，立刻封他為征西大將軍和南鄭侯，職位高出了趙雲一大塊。可惜這是第一次也是最後一次魏延單獨的領兵，在之後的六出其山過程中，魏都是作為偏將在諸葛亮手下聽用。魏延常常感慨自己的才華並沒有被充分挖掘，越來越有怨氣，在鎮守街亭的重要崗位上，諸葛亮居然不用魏延這樣經驗豐富的將領，而是用了馬訴這個華而不實的東西。難怪陳壽後來說：諸葛亮應變機略非其所長。
遺憾指數：6.5
NO7 桓范
如果曹爽信得著他，天下也許根本就沒有司馬氏什麼事兒了。渭橋兵變的時候，中外一片混亂，形式悔暗不明，大臣們不知所措。這個時候有一個人是清醒的，這就是大司農桓范。他當機立斷，搶到了大司馬印，斬關奪鎖突圍出了洛陽。司馬懿聽到他逃走的消息，跺著腳歎息：「糟糕了，要壞事，智囊走脫了。」蔣濟對司馬說：「沒事兒，他自然很可怕，不過我看曹爽那個膽小鬼未必敢聽他的計謀呢。」 桓范到了亂成一團的曹爽軍中，立刻清醒的分析了形勢，並慷慨激昂的說到：「這裡到許昌，不到半宿，城中糧草足可以支撐好幾年。調動天下兵馬的大司馬印現在就在我手裡！閣下還怕什麼呢？且如今天子在手中，打著皇帝的旗號號令天下，國中的將領一看就知道該跟隨誰了！」可是曹爽這個窩囊廢還是不敢，說了一句窩囊至極的話：「我現在不指望在掌權了，回家守著幾畝地當個富家翁總可以吧。」桓范氣的哭罵：「你父親曹真是個頂天立地的漢字，可是生下來的兒子怎麼比豬還蠢啊！！！」
遺憾指數：7
NO6 姜維
相比之下，他還是比較幸運的，剛剛27歲就做到了征西將軍一職。諸葛亮誇獎他說：「姜伯約文武雙全，膽略過人。而且忠於漢王朝，真是涼州這個地方的瑰寶啊！我看可以讓他去訓練精銳虎步軍，等戰事結束，我帶他去見皇帝。」 諸葛亮這樣看重的人才在費禕手裡遭殃了，費這個人有才華，但是比較散漫，沒有什麼大志向。姜維多次向他陳述討伐魏國，費懶洋洋的說：「咱們跟丞相比都差遠了，丞相沒辦成的事兒，咱們能辦成？」有時候實在架不住姜的嘮叨，就給他幾千人，讓他去騷擾魏國邊境。後來費死了後，姜維才像出了籠子的猛虎，帶著幾萬人討伐涼州，在桃西一帶大敗魏國，殲滅了幾萬人，這是從劉備漢中戰役後，蜀漢在西線獲得的最大的戰果。 魏國如果不是陳泰傻大膽兒當機立斷迎風直上打了個出其不意的話，整個涼州都要被蜀漢吞併了（連鄧艾這樣的猛人當時都說姜維太厲害，應該避一下，還是放棄涼州的好。）後來姜在蜀漢被排擠，到踏中去屯田。這個時候姜維建議在陽平關和陰平橋兩個地方加強防守，可是蜀漢的君臣沒有一個當回事兒。後來果然鍾會攻克陽平奪了漢中，鄧艾偷渡陰平直達成都，事情的發展和姜預料的一樣。這個時候姜轉戰到了劍閣，聽說鄧到了成都城下，建議諸葛瞻不要出去和鄧硬碰，守住綿陽一帶的險要就好了，鄧懸軍深入糧草不夠，自然就完蛋了。可是諸葛瞻不聽，出師迎戰，果然被鄧打敗了。姜維這個時候還沒有放棄，讓劉蟬組織成都防禦戰，等待自己回師。可是劉蟬卻投降了，姜維聽到這個消息後，恨的拔出了配刀猛砍路邊的石頭！！！
後來在成都的慶功宴上，鄧艾撓了撓花白的腦袋醉醺醺的說：「姜伯約也不愧是當代的一個英雄了，可惜他遇到了這樣的主子，當然也加上遇到了我，才走投無路了啊。」
遺憾指數：7.5
NO5 廖立
並不知道這個人有沒有真本事，反正在三國歷史上，沒怎麼看他的表現。不過在史書上，有這麼一筆。劉備在赤壁之戰後，佔據了荊州，他開始細心的查訪人才，這個時候諸葛亮說：「找兩個人就夠用了，一個是龐統，一個是廖立。別人都白扯。」劉備就找到了這兩個，在進川的時候，劉備帶走了一個，就是龐統，統死了，叫諸葛亮進川，把廖立放在了荊州。後來荊州兵敗，廖立逃回了西川，劉備讓他擔任侍中、長水校尉。不過廖立這個人覺得自己才華不止這個位子，還看不起李嚴，對李爬在自己頭上不服氣，就生了怨言。諸葛亮開始還能容忍，後來覺得這小子越來越不著調，就給免了。
廖立後來在文山少數民族地區居住了下來，後來姜維攻打唯國從文山這個地方過的時候去拜見了廖立，廖立抗著脖子不搭理他，姜維也沒有辦法。真搞不明白，這傢伙怎麼這麼狂？按理來說如果真的是華而不實，諸葛亮不會那麼推薦，還把他跟龐統比。但是也難說，諸葛亮看走眼的時候也不少。這個入選有點勉強，不過如今這樣的人倒是不少，也不知道他真有本事還是假有本事，混的也不怎麼樣，可誰他都看不上，我們公司就有這麼個傢伙。
遺憾指數：8
NO4 馬超
在三國演義裡，馬超的身世是非常悲慘的，他全家三百多口被曹操誘騙屠殺。在討伐曹操失敗後退回甘肅，自己的兩個兒子又被信任的部將殺死，最後投靠了劉備，總算是見了天日，得到了劉備充分的信任，一直擔任著把手漢中的重任，並且被授予了驃騎大將軍的顯爵，在榮譽和恩寵中幸福的度過了最後的歲月。讓不少人在同情他的同時又少感安慰。但是，歷史上的馬超在投靠劉備後日子過的是非常壓抑和痛苦的，他幾乎沒有什麼朋友，並且處處受到排擠和壓制，在惶恐中度過了後半生。
演義中說他是在諸葛亮討伐南中後和北伐中原前去世的，推測一下大概是建安五年或者六年的事兒，但是歷史上他死的非常早，章武二年就死了，當時他只有四十七歲。馬超死的時候給劉備寫了一篇非常簡短淒苦的奏折：我全家都被曹操殺了，沒什麼親人，連個後代都沒有，只有個弟弟馬岱請您好好幫我照料，在地下我也就感恩了。為什麼這個當年舉涼州造反，席捲關西的一代名將身後是這樣的悲慘呢？這還要從他的身世說起。
馬超的父親馬騰當時並非是被曹操誘騙到許昌的，是他自己自願歸降曹操，曹操為了安撫涼州的諸侯，對他還是不錯的，封了他衛尉。馬騰也把家都搬到了許昌，準備過安慰幸福的後半生了。但是後來曹操謀劃進攻漢中的張魯的時候，鍾繇就勸曹操說：先別著急進攻，如果我們從長安出兵向西，必然會惹起馬超和韓遂的懷疑，以為我們假道伐虢。曹操並沒有聽，也許他認為馬超有人質在自己手裡，投鼠忌器，不敢造反；也許他就是想挑撥馬超造反，解決這個在北方唯一能夠威脅自己的力量。他放出風去，說自己要出兵漢中。 果然馬超置自己的父親和家人於不顧，真的造反了，曹操馬上殺了馬超全家三百多口，並且在潼關一帶擊敗了馬超。馬超敗退回了甘肅，並沒有一蹶不振，而是聯合了羌部繼續反對曹操，經過幾年的努力，建安十八年，馬超幾乎控制了全部的涼州。後來夏侯淵西征，馬超的內部出現了分裂，老婆和兩個兒子被部將殺死，無奈之下，馬超投靠了張魯。可是馬超這種英雄豈是張魯之輩所能限量？他太出色，太響亮，把張魯手下的一幫無能庸才給比的委瑣不堪。有人進讒言說：馬超這個人不能信任，他連自己的父親都能出賣，何況是主子呢？張魯聽了果然對馬超防備很嚴，這有點兒像當初的呂布了，能耐很大，做人也很失敗。 後來劉備西征劉章，張魯考慮到劉章如果完蛋自己也好不了，於是派馬超去葭萌關進攻劉備。劉備當時正在全力進攻成都，沒有多餘的兵力分出來對付馬超，張飛，趙雲等將正在掃請成都的外圍，也並沒有參與到與馬超的戰鬥中。只是派了個李恢去勸降，馬超在張魯那裡混的本來就不如意，這次出兵也只是借用自己的名聲去威懾一下，手裡並沒有指揮權，於是就跟隨李恢投降了劉備。馬超投降後來到成都劉備軍中，劉備非常高興，立刻放出了風聲，說馬超來投降了。當時劉章還是準備堅持戰鬥等待外援的，但一聽說馬超歸了劉備，立刻沒有了堅守的信心，舉城投降。
劉備平定了西川後給馬超封了官——平西將軍，是劉備陣營裡職位最高的武官了。但是馬超這個人的名氣實在太大了，這在當時的劉備陣營裡是誰都比不了的。關羽就有點兒嫉妒馬超，寫信給諸葛亮問馬超的人才怎麼樣（關羽當時並沒有提說到西川和馬超比武）。諸葛亮回信說：馬超這個人文武雙全，雄烈勇猛，就想漢朝開國時候的英布和彭越一樣，可以跟張飛並駕齊驅，但是比不了你的超然絕倫啊。我們都知道關羽的脾氣喜歡出格恭維，他拿出信來滿世界的宣揚，借此來壓服馬超。馬超這個人自己也有問題，大大咧咧，當時劉備的身份只是個漢朝的左將軍，馬超呢見了劉備也不怎麼尊敬。總是直接喊劉備的名字，比如：嗨，玄德。這讓劉備很不舒服，張飛也看不過去，總想找個機會教訓他一下。後來孫權派呂蒙討伐荊州，劉備帶張飛，馬超沿水路到了公安和關羽匯合。
在一次開軍事會議上，關張故意早早的來到劉備身邊，馬超不知道，還是大大咧咧進來就喊：嗨，玄德。關羽當時就火了，和張飛拔出劍來命令馬超給劉備下跪。馬超當時嚇壞了，整個後背都是汗，撲通一聲就跪下了，從此再也不敢對劉備不敬了。這件事情對馬超的觸動是很大的，從那以後馬超就變的謹慎小心了，夾著尾巴做人。我們都知道一個武將要是沒有了性格那麼他的才華也就被泯滅了，在後來討伐漢中的過程中，馬超的表現讓劉備相當不滿意。完全不見了當初席捲關西的威風，磕磕絆絆的跟一個曹洪打了個互有勝負，甚至被一個老黃忠給搶了風頭，馬超的威望也一天一天的下降。漢中平定後，劉備甚至寧可用魏延來鎮守，也不用馬超，在內心深處，劉備對馬超是有著深深的防備的。
回到成都後，發生了一件大事，有個叫彭漾的人由於不受劉備重用，一肚子牢騷，到處亂講話。他跟馬超的私交還不錯，一次喝醉了，在馬超的寓所裡說了幾句對劉備不尊敬的話。我們知道馬超被刺激以後是非常敏感的，當時他的處境是「羈旅歸國，常懷危懼」——《三國誌。蜀書。馬超傳》，立刻向劉備報告，最後劉備把彭漾給殺了。這樣一件事情其實傳出去是相當不光彩的，人家信任你，把你當朋友，和你說幾句心裡話，你一轉身把人家賣了。從那以後，人人見了馬超都躲的遠遠的，誰都不敢招惹他。 馬超呢，從此更加的委瑣小心，在孤獨和壓抑中度過了後半生，章武二年，年僅四十七歲就早早的離開了人世。綜觀馬超的一生，讓人不能不為這個才華出眾而又際遇窘迫的將軍扼腕歎息。這個十七歲從軍，二十歲就大破郭援威鎮河東的一代名將如此淒惶的走完了自己的後半生。其中有劉備山頭主義的原因，更多的是他自己做人的失敗。
遺憾指數：8.5
NO3 黃權
黃權和劉巴這兩個人物在三國演義裡不出彩，不過卻是劉備生前很看重的人物，比如黃權，甚至可以說是劉備繼關張後最倚重的大將，比馬超都受寵。 黃權原來是劉章的部下，和劉巴一樣，都非常反對和劉備結盟。
後來劉備攻克成都後，也表現出來了強硬和氣節，但是劉備是什麼樣的人物，靠軟磨硬泡和封官許願終於是把黃權給拿下了。劉備通過於黃權的談話發現這個人文武雙全，在投降過來的將佐裡真的是出類拔萃，從此徹底的愛上了他，黃權從此也就走上了青雲之路。
建安二十年春，曹操去漢中討伐張魯，黃權對劉備說：漢中這個地方太重要了，我們不能袖手旁觀，得派兵去救援張魯。劉備說：好吧，我看這件事情就交給你辦算了。於是黃權就動身去了巴西集結軍隊，沒想到張魯太不抗打，抵抗了五個月就完蛋了，黃權事兒沒辦成，只好回到了成都。但是黃權的「漢中情結」一直沒有了，後來曹操安置了夏侯淵鎮守漢中，自己回去了。黃權和法正使勁的攛掇劉備趕緊拿下漢中，劉備聽從了他的話，經過了多年的苦戰終於把漢中搞定了。
章武二年，黃權跟隨劉備進攻東吳，劉備的推進速度是非常快的。黃權著急的跟劉備說：我們進入敵人的疆土太深了，這樣容易出事兒，得放緩一點兒！劉備不聽，黃權沒法子，只好又勸劉備：您自己的身份太重要了，不要老是親自擔任大軍的前鋒，如果一擔受挫，對士氣影響太大了，要不乾脆讓我當前鋒，如果遇到挫折還不至於壞了全局。劉備還是不聽，對黃權說：沒事兒，你不能擔任前鋒，你得在江北幫我保護側翼，防備曹丕從宛城偷襲我們，這個責任更大啊。後來劉備兵敗，黃權在江北回不了家，只好投降了曹丕。當時大臣都勸劉備殺了黃權一家，劉備說：算了，黃權對的起我，當初要是聽他的絕對不會敗的那麼慘，他也是沒法子。 曹丕對黃權也很尊敬，給他封了個前將軍的大官。
黃權這個人非常嚴肅，臉板的跟水似的，從來就沒球表情。沒人看到過他的喜怒哀樂，司馬懿就很不信邪，老想看黃權失態後是什麼樣子，就派人偷偷把黃權的車輪子上的銷子給拔了，在上朝的路上偷偷的隱蔽起來瞧樂子。果然，黃權的車走到半路上突然嘩啦一聲散了，黃權呢，還是一點兒表情沒有，起來撣撣土，沒事兒似的走了。司馬懿看了後暗子佩服，逢人就說黃權這個人啊了不得，嚴肅的跟泰山似的，深得像一口井一樣啊。但是在魏國，黃權就沒怎麼帶過兵，也沒出什麼大風頭，大概是感念劉備的知遇之恩吧，活的稀里糊塗的。劉備也對黃權犯相思病，後來他接見馬忠（就是跟隨諸葛亮六出其山的那個馬忠，不是給關羽下絆子的那個東吳的馬忠）的時候說：唉，你還真有點兒象黃權呢，雖然沒有了公衡（黃權的字），卻得到了你，可見世界上並不缺少賢才，只是人們不留心罷了。
遺憾指數：9
NO2 田豫
田豫在年輕的時候在公孫瓚手下幹活，不受重視，當時劉備也在公孫瓚那裡存身。認識了田豫，劉很喜歡這個小傢伙，跟他閒聊。聊著聊著就越來越吃驚，發現田豫真的很有才華。後來田豫混的不好，正好媽媽親病了，辭職回家。劉備特別捨不得，拉著田的手還哭了：「我真恨自己沒有福氣，不能跟你一同成就大事啊。」 後來公孫瓚的部將王門勾結袁紹造反，打到公孫瓚的幽州城下了，公孫瓚害怕的要死。田這個時候回到了公孫的幕府，就說：「我去跟王談談。」去了趟王的軍營，說了半天也不知道說了啥，反正出了軍帳的時候王門臉羞得通紅，於是撤兵。後來公孫瓚死了，幽州那個地方的人推舉鮮於輔擔任頭領，田就去投奔了鮮於。鮮於懼怕袁紹強大，想歸順，田說：「袁紹什麼東西，我看不如歸順曹操。」後來田在曹操手下幹活，他瞭解北方的風土人情，非常懂得用兵的謀略，曹彰討伐烏丸的時候，田就是軍中的謀主，給曹彰出了不少的好點子。曹彰特別欣賞他，就推薦給曹操，曹操一下子就上了心，讓他擔任了幽州刺史。
田在北方戰功卓著，伐鮮卑，伐烏丸，伐遼東幾乎是魏北方的藩蔽，而且他精心訓練幽州兵和投降的少數民族騎兵，每年向國家提供一大批精兵和戰馬，是魏國兵員的最主要的輸出地，在西線和南線作戰的最驍勇善戰的兵馬都來自幽州。田的貢獻這麼大，可是官一直上不去，為什麼呢？他打下城市後得到的金銀朱寶全賞賜給手下了，所以他手下打仗特別拚命。朝廷裡有人就開始說說田有好東西也不給皇上，自己享受，而且封賞手下太濫。皇帝曹睿特別喜歡珠寶，一聽田有還不交上來，就討厭田，所以好多年都不升他的官。後來司馬懿上台，就想提拔他，田氣的給司馬寫了封信：「我都七十多了，鬍子都白了，還提拔什麼。留著位子給年輕人吧，別讓年輕人再重複我的老路！」
遺憾指數：9.5
NO1 龐統
我一直覺得龐統應變的才幹要比諸葛亮強，比如在入川以後，劉彰和劉備之間的微妙關係一天一個變化，龐統總能制定出最合適的應變策略。
最終二劉在涪水反目，劉彰已經開始著手佈置對付劉備。這個時候龐統制定了三個計策：上策輕騎直取成都；中策立刻攻克涪關，下策回去。在危機時刻化解了劉備的窘境，劉備從此更加倚重龐統了。可惜天妒英才，龐統死了，死的時候才36歲，如果他活到諸葛亮那個年齡，又能為蜀漢政權多做多少事情呢？
遺憾指數：10
資料來源：
http://www.ectalking.com/discuz/redirect.php?fid=181&tid=413611&goto=nextoldset
NO10 陳登
陳元龍這個人物在三國演義裡地位一般，只是在曹操收呂布的時候作為內應順便提了一下，給人的感覺此人不過是個耍陰謀的小角色，才幹上不了大雅之堂。不要說跟孔明、仲達這樣的當代豪傑比較，就是跟郭嘉、程昱這樣的二流人物相比也存在一定差距。可是歷史是否真的如此呢？非也。有一次一個叫許汜的人從廣陵過來，跟劉表談起了陳登，當時劉備寄住在劉表那裡。也在旁邊聽他們講話，這位許先生上來就抱怨：「陳登這個傢伙太沒有禮貌了，我這樣的名士到了哪兒吃不開啊。偏偏到了他那兒不收待見，就說住宿吧，他自己睡舒服的大床，讓我打地鋪。這個傢伙不禮賢下士，我看成不了什麼事兒。」劉表表示同意，劉備冷笑著說了話：「我太瞭解元龍了，他這個人腦子想的都是天下大事，最討厭跟無聊文人咬文嚼字。你這個人只知道風花雪月，一派小資情調，言談舉止沒有一點真知灼見。元龍對你那樣還算客氣呢，要是我的話，我自己睡百尺高樓，在地上挖個坑給你睡，還給你打地鋪呢。」又回頭鄭重的對劉表說，「像陳元龍的文武膽識，只能去跟古代的聖賢相比，當代的人物我看很少有能超過他的。」 劉備這麼推許的一個人物，曹操卻沒當回事兒，滅了呂布後，曹操僅僅讓陳登當了廣陵太守。曹操討伐袁紹的時候，幾乎把各個州郡的精兵都抽走了，南方的防禦相當空虛。這個時候，江南的孫策開始蠢蠢欲動，越過長江，圖謀進攻廣陵。 陳登手裡的兵特別少，手下都很慌亂，陳登卻鎮定自若的說：「孫策雖然勇猛且兵多，但是他並不瞭解這裡的虛實，我看我們還是有機會擊敗他的。」於是命令士兵把旌旗都從城牆上拔下來，城裡的百姓不許隨便走動，看起來好像是被孫策嚇的逃跑掉一樣。在通往廣陵的大路兩側險要的地方，命令士兵多設立火堆和戰鼓。孫策的大軍來了，看到廣陵這個樣子，並沒有貿然攻城，在城南駐紮下來，刺探虛實。晚上，陳登命令各個地方一起火鼓大作，自己的城上也突然把旗子全插上去，擂鼓吶喊。孫策嚇壞了，趕緊逃掉，陳登命令士兵一起出城追殺，把後面的輜重全部虜獲。這一戰讓曹操對陳登刮目相看，正準備重用的時候，陳登害病死了。曹操悔恨良久，陳登剛投降過來的時候就對曹操陳述過討伐江南的戰略，曹操沒當回事兒。等到孫權在江東的勢力逐漸穩固後，曹操巡視合肥，往著遠處的長江，歎息良久。對手下說：「我真的好恨自己沒有早點用陳登的謀略！？
遺憾指數：5.5
NO9 曹植
曹植的才華如果僅僅是吟風弄月那也就沒什麼可遺憾的了，可是歷史上卻並非如此。曹操對子女的要求是相當嚴格的，根據各人的才華悉心的加以培養。比如長子曹丕在政務上是個好手，詩寫的也非常好；次子曹彰勇猛過人，雄烈英霸，曹操不斷的批評他有勇無謀，督促他多讀書學習兵法，後來果然曹彰成長為了一個出色的猛將，建安後期帶五萬幽州兵討伐北方少數民族，一舉滅掉了烏丸；可是曹操最喜歡最看中的卻是三兒子曹植，文采方面不用說肯定曹操是非常滿意的，曹操就注意在政治、軍事上給予開導和啟發。比如曹操南征孫權的時候，讓曹植駐守剛剛平定的袁紹的老窩鄴郡，讓他當兩年地方官，鍛煉一下處理繁雜政務的能力，臨走的時候敦敦教導說：「你今年23歲了，不小了，我在你這個年齡的時候是洛陽的警備司令，用大棒殺死了飛揚跋扈的宦官，你要好自為之啊。」曹植聽了很振奮，兢兢業業的辦事，遇到不明白的就請教經驗豐富的鮮於輔等人，把鄴管理的非常好，曹操非常滿意，這個時候就已經動了立他為世子的念頭。後來建安24年，關羽帶兵殲滅了於禁等人，威震華夏。
曹操的事業到了危機關頭，如果關羽攻克樊城，黃河以南則無險可守，兵烽直抵許昌，這個時候就會叛亂四起。在危機關頭，必須要派一名親信大將去解救樊城，曹操想到了曹植，任命他為南中郎將，作為統帥抵擋關羽。這個時候曹丕把曹植騙到府裡，灌醉了他，結果曹操大怒，一氣之下罷免了曹植。使曹植失去了統帥精銳大軍的機會，如果此時曹植牢牢的把握好軍權，佔據宛城，再配合在關西握有十萬大軍的曹彰，曹丕是絕對當不了皇帝的。後來的事情我們都知道了，曹丕即位以後立刻打壓曹植，把他流放到山東一帶看管。曹睿即位後對曹植的看管逐漸放鬆，並且給了他相當大的自由。曹植就在這個時候上了名垂青史的《求自試表》，我看了這個表，上面詳細的陳述了三國的 形勢，並且結合曹操的用兵經驗提出了一套對吳蜀作戰的方略。文章感人至深，寫到：「我願意作為一個偏稗的校官，或者歸屬於西邊的大將軍曹真在陸地上衝鋒陷陣；或者歸屬於東方的大司馬曹休在江河上架舟馳騁；一定要擒住孫權抓獲諸葛亮，完成先皇的遺願，如果能夠為這個理想而奮鬥，就算讓我死我也沒有遺憾。」可是曹睿又怎麼會讓他稱心如意呢？只是寫了不疼不癢的四個字：其志可嘉。最後一代宗師終老深山。
NO8 魏延
劉備討伐平定了漢中以後，曾經考慮這麼重要的地方一定要派一個經驗豐富，作戰勇猛的名將來鎮守。當時人們都認為這個角色非張飛莫屬了，劉備統共哥仨，自己守西川，關羽守荊州，漢中理所當然要給張飛。張飛呢，也真的就這樣認為的，拉開架勢就準備上任了。結果呢，劉備宣佈漢中太守是魏延！整個大軍都驚呆了。在任命儀式上，劉備鄭重的問魏：「你打算怎麼守我的漢中？」，魏脖子一梗，硬生生的回答：「曹操如果親自帶著全天下的兵馬來進攻，那我就利用城池和險要來抗拒。如果只是偏將帶領十萬人馬來騷擾，我就打開城門迎戰，全部殲滅了 他！「劉備大樂。
劉備死後，諸葛亮在南中一帶作戰回到成都，剛剛落下腳，兵馬還沒有來地及休整。魏國的大將郭淮和費耀就進攻涼州的羌人，破壞羌人和蜀漢的聯盟。這個時候諸葛亮對魏延說：」我沒有多餘的兵給你，你帶著漢中現有的兵去解救羌人吧。「魏延一笑：」還要動用國家的兵馬干什麼？我帶著一隊親兵，指揮著羌人就能幹敗這幫雜碎。「於是帶著少量輕銳親兵兵秘密的潛進了羌部，指揮著一幫被打爛了建制的少數民族兵馬在陽溪一帶大破魏兵。諸葛亮樂的合不龍嘴，立刻封他為征西大將軍和南鄭侯，職位高出了趙雲一大塊。可惜這是第一次也是最後一次魏延單獨的領兵，在之後的六出其山過程中，魏都是作為偏將在諸葛亮手下聽用。魏延常常感慨自己的才華並沒有被充分挖掘，越來越有怨氣，在鎮守街亭的重要崗位上，諸葛亮居然不用魏延這樣經驗豐富的將領，而是用了馬訴這個華而不實的東西。難怪陳壽後來說：諸葛亮應變機略非其所長。
遺憾指數：6.5
NO7 桓范
如果曹爽信得著他，天下也許根本就沒有司馬氏什麼事兒了。渭橋兵變的時候，中外一片混亂，形式悔暗不明，大臣們不知所措。這個時候有一個人是清醒的，這就是大司農桓范。他當機立斷，搶到了大司馬印，斬關奪鎖突圍出了洛陽。司馬懿聽到他逃走的消息，跺著腳歎息：「糟糕了，要壞事，智囊走脫了。」蔣濟對司馬說：「沒事兒，他自然很可怕，不過我看曹爽那個膽小鬼未必敢聽他的計謀呢。」 桓范到了亂成一團的曹爽軍中，立刻清醒的分析了形勢，並慷慨激昂的說到：「這裡到許昌，不到半宿，城中糧草足可以支撐好幾年。調動天下兵馬的大司馬印現在就在我手裡！閣下還怕什麼呢？且如今天子在手中，打著皇帝的旗號號令天下，國中的將領一看就知道該跟隨誰了！」可是曹爽這個窩囊廢還是不敢，說了一句窩囊至極的話：「我現在不指望在掌權了，回家守著幾畝地當個富家翁總可以吧。」桓范氣的哭罵：「你父親曹真是個頂天立地的漢字，可是生下來的兒子怎麼比豬還蠢啊！！！」
遺憾指數：7
NO6 姜維
相比之下，他還是比較幸運的，剛剛27歲就做到了征西將軍一職。諸葛亮誇獎他說：「姜伯約文武雙全，膽略過人。而且忠於漢王朝，真是涼州這個地方的瑰寶啊！我看可以讓他去訓練精銳虎步軍，等戰事結束，我帶他去見皇帝。」 諸葛亮這樣看重的人才在費禕手裡遭殃了，費這個人有才華，但是比較散漫，沒有什麼大志向。姜維多次向他陳述討伐魏國，費懶洋洋的說：「咱們跟丞相比都差遠了，丞相沒辦成的事兒，咱們能辦成？」有時候實在架不住姜的嘮叨，就給他幾千人，讓他去騷擾魏國邊境。後來費死了後，姜維才像出了籠子的猛虎，帶著幾萬人討伐涼州，在桃西一帶大敗魏國，殲滅了幾萬人，這是從劉備漢中戰役後，蜀漢在西線獲得的最大的戰果。 魏國如果不是陳泰傻大膽兒當機立斷迎風直上打了個出其不意的話，整個涼州都要被蜀漢吞併了（連鄧艾這樣的猛人當時都說姜維太厲害，應該避一下，還是放棄涼州的好。）後來姜在蜀漢被排擠，到踏中去屯田。這個時候姜維建議在陽平關和陰平橋兩個地方加強防守，可是蜀漢的君臣沒有一個當回事兒。後來果然鍾會攻克陽平奪了漢中，鄧艾偷渡陰平直達成都，事情的發展和姜預料的一樣。這個時候姜轉戰到了劍閣，聽說鄧到了成都城下，建議諸葛瞻不要出去和鄧硬碰，守住綿陽一帶的險要就好了，鄧懸軍深入糧草不夠，自然就完蛋了。可是諸葛瞻不聽，出師迎戰，果然被鄧打敗了。姜維這個時候還沒有放棄，讓劉蟬組織成都防禦戰，等待自己回師。可是劉蟬卻投降了，姜維聽到這個消息後，恨的拔出了配刀猛砍路邊的石頭！！！
後來在成都的慶功宴上，鄧艾撓了撓花白的腦袋醉醺醺的說：「姜伯約也不愧是當代的一個英雄了，可惜他遇到了這樣的主子，當然也加上遇到了我，才走投無路了啊。」
遺憾指數：7.5
NO5 廖立
並不知道這個人有沒有真本事，反正在三國歷史上，沒怎麼看他的表現。不過在史書上，有這麼一筆。劉備在赤壁之戰後，佔據了荊州，他開始細心的查訪人才，這個時候諸葛亮說：「找兩個人就夠用了，一個是龐統，一個是廖立。別人都白扯。」劉備就找到了這兩個，在進川的時候，劉備帶走了一個，就是龐統，統死了，叫諸葛亮進川，把廖立放在了荊州。後來荊州兵敗，廖立逃回了西川，劉備讓他擔任侍中、長水校尉。不過廖立這個人覺得自己才華不止這個位子，還看不起李嚴，對李爬在自己頭上不服氣，就生了怨言。諸葛亮開始還能容忍，後來覺得這小子越來越不著調，就給免了。
廖立後來在文山少數民族地區居住了下來，後來姜維攻打唯國從文山這個地方過的時候去拜見了廖立，廖立抗著脖子不搭理他，姜維也沒有辦法。真搞不明白，這傢伙怎麼這麼狂？按理來說如果真的是華而不實，諸葛亮不會那麼推薦，還把他跟龐統比。但是也難說，諸葛亮看走眼的時候也不少。這個入選有點勉強，不過如今這樣的人倒是不少，也不知道他真有本事還是假有本事，混的也不怎麼樣，可誰他都看不上，我們公司就有這麼個傢伙。
遺憾指數：8
NO4 馬超
在三國演義裡，馬超的身世是非常悲慘的，他全家三百多口被曹操誘騙屠殺。在討伐曹操失敗後退回甘肅，自己的兩個兒子又被信任的部將殺死，最後投靠了劉備，總算是見了天日，得到了劉備充分的信任，一直擔任著把手漢中的重任，並且被授予了驃騎大將軍的顯爵，在榮譽和恩寵中幸福的度過了最後的歲月。讓不少人在同情他的同時又少感安慰。但是，歷史上的馬超在投靠劉備後日子過的是非常壓抑和痛苦的，他幾乎沒有什麼朋友，並且處處受到排擠和壓制，在惶恐中度過了後半生。
演義中說他是在諸葛亮討伐南中後和北伐中原前去世的，推測一下大概是建安五年或者六年的事兒，但是歷史上他死的非常早，章武二年就死了，當時他只有四十七歲。馬超死的時候給劉備寫了一篇非常簡短淒苦的奏折：我全家都被曹操殺了，沒什麼親人，連個後代都沒有，只有個弟弟馬岱請您好好幫我照料，在地下我也就感恩了。為什麼這個當年舉涼州造反，席捲關西的一代名將身後是這樣的悲慘呢？這還要從他的身世說起。
馬超的父親馬騰當時並非是被曹操誘騙到許昌的，是他自己自願歸降曹操，曹操為了安撫涼州的諸侯，對他還是不錯的，封了他衛尉。馬騰也把家都搬到了許昌，準備過安慰幸福的後半生了。但是後來曹操謀劃進攻漢中的張魯的時候，鍾繇就勸曹操說：先別著急進攻，如果我們從長安出兵向西，必然會惹起馬超和韓遂的懷疑，以為我們假道伐虢。曹操並沒有聽，也許他認為馬超有人質在自己手裡，投鼠忌器，不敢造反；也許他就是想挑撥馬超造反，解決這個在北方唯一能夠威脅自己的力量。他放出風去，說自己要出兵漢中。 果然馬超置自己的父親和家人於不顧，真的造反了，曹操馬上殺了馬超全家三百多口，並且在潼關一帶擊敗了馬超。馬超敗退回了甘肅，並沒有一蹶不振，而是聯合了羌部繼續反對曹操，經過幾年的努力，建安十八年，馬超幾乎控制了全部的涼州。後來夏侯淵西征，馬超的內部出現了分裂，老婆和兩個兒子被部將殺死，無奈之下，馬超投靠了張魯。可是馬超這種英雄豈是張魯之輩所能限量？他太出色，太響亮，把張魯手下的一幫無能庸才給比的委瑣不堪。有人進讒言說：馬超這個人不能信任，他連自己的父親都能出賣，何況是主子呢？張魯聽了果然對馬超防備很嚴，這有點兒像當初的呂布了，能耐很大，做人也很失敗。 後來劉備西征劉章，張魯考慮到劉章如果完蛋自己也好不了，於是派馬超去葭萌關進攻劉備。劉備當時正在全力進攻成都，沒有多餘的兵力分出來對付馬超，張飛，趙雲等將正在掃請成都的外圍，也並沒有參與到與馬超的戰鬥中。只是派了個李恢去勸降，馬超在張魯那裡混的本來就不如意，這次出兵也只是借用自己的名聲去威懾一下，手裡並沒有指揮權，於是就跟隨李恢投降了劉備。馬超投降後來到成都劉備軍中，劉備非常高興，立刻放出了風聲，說馬超來投降了。當時劉章還是準備堅持戰鬥等待外援的，但一聽說馬超歸了劉備，立刻沒有了堅守的信心，舉城投降。
劉備平定了西川後給馬超封了官——平西將軍，是劉備陣營裡職位最高的武官了。但是馬超這個人的名氣實在太大了，這在當時的劉備陣營裡是誰都比不了的。關羽就有點兒嫉妒馬超，寫信給諸葛亮問馬超的人才怎麼樣（關羽當時並沒有提說到西川和馬超比武）。諸葛亮回信說：馬超這個人文武雙全，雄烈勇猛，就想漢朝開國時候的英布和彭越一樣，可以跟張飛並駕齊驅，但是比不了你的超然絕倫啊。我們都知道關羽的脾氣喜歡出格恭維，他拿出信來滿世界的宣揚，借此來壓服馬超。馬超這個人自己也有問題，大大咧咧，當時劉備的身份只是個漢朝的左將軍，馬超呢見了劉備也不怎麼尊敬。總是直接喊劉備的名字，比如：嗨，玄德。這讓劉備很不舒服，張飛也看不過去，總想找個機會教訓他一下。後來孫權派呂蒙討伐荊州，劉備帶張飛，馬超沿水路到了公安和關羽匯合。
在一次開軍事會議上，關張故意早早的來到劉備身邊，馬超不知道，還是大大咧咧進來就喊：嗨，玄德。關羽當時就火了，和張飛拔出劍來命令馬超給劉備下跪。馬超當時嚇壞了，整個後背都是汗，撲通一聲就跪下了，從此再也不敢對劉備不敬了。這件事情對馬超的觸動是很大的，從那以後馬超就變的謹慎小心了，夾著尾巴做人。我們都知道一個武將要是沒有了性格那麼他的才華也就被泯滅了，在後來討伐漢中的過程中，馬超的表現讓劉備相當不滿意。完全不見了當初席捲關西的威風，磕磕絆絆的跟一個曹洪打了個互有勝負，甚至被一個老黃忠給搶了風頭，馬超的威望也一天一天的下降。漢中平定後，劉備甚至寧可用魏延來鎮守，也不用馬超，在內心深處，劉備對馬超是有著深深的防備的。
回到成都後，發生了一件大事，有個叫彭漾的人由於不受劉備重用，一肚子牢騷，到處亂講話。他跟馬超的私交還不錯，一次喝醉了，在馬超的寓所裡說了幾句對劉備不尊敬的話。我們知道馬超被刺激以後是非常敏感的，當時他的處境是「羈旅歸國，常懷危懼」——《三國誌。蜀書。馬超傳》，立刻向劉備報告，最後劉備把彭漾給殺了。這樣一件事情其實傳出去是相當不光彩的，人家信任你，把你當朋友，和你說幾句心裡話，你一轉身把人家賣了。從那以後，人人見了馬超都躲的遠遠的，誰都不敢招惹他。 馬超呢，從此更加的委瑣小心，在孤獨和壓抑中度過了後半生，章武二年，年僅四十七歲就早早的離開了人世。綜觀馬超的一生，讓人不能不為這個才華出眾而又際遇窘迫的將軍扼腕歎息。這個十七歲從軍，二十歲就大破郭援威鎮河東的一代名將如此淒惶的走完了自己的後半生。其中有劉備山頭主義的原因，更多的是他自己做人的失敗。
遺憾指數：8.5
NO3 黃權
黃權和劉巴這兩個人物在三國演義裡不出彩，不過卻是劉備生前很看重的人物，比如黃權，甚至可以說是劉備繼關張後最倚重的大將，比馬超都受寵。 黃權原來是劉章的部下，和劉巴一樣，都非常反對和劉備結盟。
後來劉備攻克成都後，也表現出來了強硬和氣節，但是劉備是什麼樣的人物，靠軟磨硬泡和封官許願終於是把黃權給拿下了。劉備通過於黃權的談話發現這個人文武雙全，在投降過來的將佐裡真的是出類拔萃，從此徹底的愛上了他，黃權從此也就走上了青雲之路。
建安二十年春，曹操去漢中討伐張魯，黃權對劉備說：漢中這個地方太重要了，我們不能袖手旁觀，得派兵去救援張魯。劉備說：好吧，我看這件事情就交給你辦算了。於是黃權就動身去了巴西集結軍隊，沒想到張魯太不抗打，抵抗了五個月就完蛋了，黃權事兒沒辦成，只好回到了成都。但是黃權的「漢中情結」一直沒有了，後來曹操安置了夏侯淵鎮守漢中，自己回去了。黃權和法正使勁的攛掇劉備趕緊拿下漢中，劉備聽從了他的話，經過了多年的苦戰終於把漢中搞定了。
章武二年，黃權跟隨劉備進攻東吳，劉備的推進速度是非常快的。黃權著急的跟劉備說：我們進入敵人的疆土太深了，這樣容易出事兒，得放緩一點兒！劉備不聽，黃權沒法子，只好又勸劉備：您自己的身份太重要了，不要老是親自擔任大軍的前鋒，如果一擔受挫，對士氣影響太大了，要不乾脆讓我當前鋒，如果遇到挫折還不至於壞了全局。劉備還是不聽，對黃權說：沒事兒，你不能擔任前鋒，你得在江北幫我保護側翼，防備曹丕從宛城偷襲我們，這個責任更大啊。後來劉備兵敗，黃權在江北回不了家，只好投降了曹丕。當時大臣都勸劉備殺了黃權一家，劉備說：算了，黃權對的起我，當初要是聽他的絕對不會敗的那麼慘，他也是沒法子。 曹丕對黃權也很尊敬，給他封了個前將軍的大官。
黃權這個人非常嚴肅，臉板的跟水似的，從來就沒球表情。沒人看到過他的喜怒哀樂，司馬懿就很不信邪，老想看黃權失態後是什麼樣子，就派人偷偷把黃權的車輪子上的銷子給拔了，在上朝的路上偷偷的隱蔽起來瞧樂子。果然，黃權的車走到半路上突然嘩啦一聲散了，黃權呢，還是一點兒表情沒有，起來撣撣土，沒事兒似的走了。司馬懿看了後暗子佩服，逢人就說黃權這個人啊了不得，嚴肅的跟泰山似的，深得像一口井一樣啊。但是在魏國，黃權就沒怎麼帶過兵，也沒出什麼大風頭，大概是感念劉備的知遇之恩吧，活的稀里糊塗的。劉備也對黃權犯相思病，後來他接見馬忠（就是跟隨諸葛亮六出其山的那個馬忠，不是給關羽下絆子的那個東吳的馬忠）的時候說：唉，你還真有點兒象黃權呢，雖然沒有了公衡（黃權的字），卻得到了你，可見世界上並不缺少賢才，只是人們不留心罷了。
遺憾指數：9
NO2 田豫
田豫在年輕的時候在公孫瓚手下幹活，不受重視，當時劉備也在公孫瓚那裡存身。認識了田豫，劉很喜歡這個小傢伙，跟他閒聊。聊著聊著就越來越吃驚，發現田豫真的很有才華。後來田豫混的不好，正好媽媽親病了，辭職回家。劉備特別捨不得，拉著田的手還哭了：「我真恨自己沒有福氣，不能跟你一同成就大事啊。」 後來公孫瓚的部將王門勾結袁紹造反，打到公孫瓚的幽州城下了，公孫瓚害怕的要死。田這個時候回到了公孫的幕府，就說：「我去跟王談談。」去了趟王的軍營，說了半天也不知道說了啥，反正出了軍帳的時候王門臉羞得通紅，於是撤兵。後來公孫瓚死了，幽州那個地方的人推舉鮮於輔擔任頭領，田就去投奔了鮮於。鮮於懼怕袁紹強大，想歸順，田說：「袁紹什麼東西，我看不如歸順曹操。」後來田在曹操手下幹活，他瞭解北方的風土人情，非常懂得用兵的謀略，曹彰討伐烏丸的時候，田就是軍中的謀主，給曹彰出了不少的好點子。曹彰特別欣賞他，就推薦給曹操，曹操一下子就上了心，讓他擔任了幽州刺史。
田在北方戰功卓著，伐鮮卑，伐烏丸，伐遼東幾乎是魏北方的藩蔽，而且他精心訓練幽州兵和投降的少數民族騎兵，每年向國家提供一大批精兵和戰馬，是魏國兵員的最主要的輸出地，在西線和南線作戰的最驍勇善戰的兵馬都來自幽州。田的貢獻這麼大，可是官一直上不去，為什麼呢？他打下城市後得到的金銀朱寶全賞賜給手下了，所以他手下打仗特別拚命。朝廷裡有人就開始說說田有好東西也不給皇上，自己享受，而且封賞手下太濫。皇帝曹睿特別喜歡珠寶，一聽田有還不交上來，就討厭田，所以好多年都不升他的官。後來司馬懿上台，就想提拔他，田氣的給司馬寫了封信：「我都七十多了，鬍子都白了，還提拔什麼。留著位子給年輕人吧，別讓年輕人再重複我的老路！」
遺憾指數：9.5
NO1 龐統
我一直覺得龐統應變的才幹要比諸葛亮強，比如在入川以後，劉彰和劉備之間的微妙關係一天一個變化，龐統總能制定出最合適的應變策略。
最終二劉在涪水反目，劉彰已經開始著手佈置對付劉備。這個時候龐統制定了三個計策：上策輕騎直取成都；中策立刻攻克涪關，下策回去。在危機時刻化解了劉備的窘境，劉備從此更加倚重龐統了。可惜天妒英才，龐統死了，死的時候才36歲，如果他活到諸葛亮那個年齡，又能為蜀漢政權多做多少事情呢？
遺憾指數：10
資料來源：
http://www.ectalking.com/discuz/redirect.php?fid=181&tid=413611&goto=nextoldset
Facebook is a social networking website, launched on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student. Initially the membership of Facebook was restricted to students of Harvard College. It was subsequently expanded to MIT, Boston University, Boston College, and all Ivy League schools within two months. Many individual universities were added in rapid succession over the next year. Eventually, people with a university (e.g .edu, .ac.uk, etc.) email address from institutions across the globe were eligible to join. Networks were then initiated for high schools on February 27, 2006 and some large companies. Since September 11, 2006, anyone 13 or older may join.[2][3] Users can select to join one or more participating networks, such as a school, place of employment, geographic region, or social group.
The site has more than 62 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide.[4] From September 2006 to September 2007 the site's traffic ranking increased from 60th to 7th, according to Alexa.[5] It is the most popular website for uploading photos, with 14 million uploaded daily.[4]
The name of the site refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that some U.S. colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.
Operations
The site is free to users and generates revenue from advertising including banner ads and sponsored groups (in April 2006, revenue was rumored to be over $1.5 million per week).[6] Users create profiles that often contain photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends. The viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network or confirmed friends. According to TechCrunch, "about 85% of students in [previously] supported colleges have a profile [on the site]. [Of those who are signed up,] 60% log in daily. About 85% log in at least once a week, and 93% log in at least once a month." According to Chris Hughes, spokesman for Facebook, "People spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook."[7] In a 2006 study conducted by Student Monitor, a New Jersey-based limited liability company specialising in research concerning the college student market, Facebook was named as the second most "in" thing among undergraduates, tied with beer and sex and losing only to the iPod.[8]
History
Mark Zuckerberg founded "The Facebook" in February 2004, while attending Harvard University, with support from Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. By the end of the month, more than half of the undergraduate population at Harvard were registered on the service. At that time, Zuckerberg was joined by Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes for site promotion and Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.[9] This expansion continued in April of 2004 when it expanded to the rest of Ivy League and a few other schools. At the end of the school year, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz moved out to Palo Alto, California with McCollum, who had a summer internship at Electronic Arts. They rented a house near Stanford University where they were joined by Adam D'Angelo and Sean Parker. Soon McCollum decided to leave EA and help with the development of Facebook and a companion website, Wirehog, full-time. In September, Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the owners of the social networking website HarvardConnection, subsequently changed to ConnectU, filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had illegally used source code intended for the website they asked him to build for them.[10][11] Also at that time, Facebook received approximately $500,000 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in an angel round. By December, Facebook's user base had exceeded one million.
2005
In May 2005, Facebook raised $12.8 million in venture capital from Accel Partners.[12] On August 23, 2005, Facebook bought the domain name facebook.com from the Aboutface Corporation for $200,000 and dropped "the" from its name. At that time the site was overhauled, a change intended to make profile pages more user-friendly, according to Zuckerberg. Also that month McCollum went back to Harvard although he continued to serve as a consultant and returned to work on staff during the summers. As before, Hughes remained in Cambridge while he performed his duties as company spokesperson. Then, on September 2, 2005, Zuckerberg launched the high school iteration of Facebook, calling it the next logical thing to do. While initially described as separate "communities" to which users needed to be invited to participate, within only fifteen days most high school networks did not require a password to join (although registration with Facebook was still necessary.) By October, Facebook's expansion had trickled down to most small universities and junior colleges in the United States, Canada, and the UK, in addition to having expanded to twenty-one universities in the United Kingdom, the entire Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) system in Mexico, the entire University of Puerto Rico network in Puerto Rico, and the whole University of the Virgin Islands network in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On December 11, 2005, universities in Australia and New Zealand were added to the Facebook network, bringing its size to more than 2,000 colleges and more than 25,000 high schools throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.[13]
2006
On February 27, 2006, Facebook began allowing college students to add high school students as friends due to requests from users.[14] About a month later, on March 28, 2006, BusinessWeek reported that a potential acquisition of the site was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million, and it was rumored that the asking price was as high as $2 billion.[15] In April, Peter Thiel, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital Partners invested an additional $25 million in the site.[16] In May, Facebook's network extended into India, at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The following month Facebook threatened to seek costs of up to $100,000 from Quizsender.com for copyright infringement for allegedly copying the "look and feel" of Facebook.[17][18] On July 25, new services were offered in the site that would potentially produce additional revenue. A promotion was arranged between Facebook and iTunes, in which members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres. The promotion's purpose was to make students more familiar with and enthusiastic about each service as fall classes approached.[19] In the early half of August, Facebook added universities in Germany and high schools in Israel, (Haifa, Jerusalem, and Qiryat Gat) to its network. On the 22nd of that month, Facebook introduced Facebook Notes, a blogging feature with tagging, embedded images, and other features, also allowing the importation of blogs from Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, and other blogging services. This newly added feature also included the common blog feature of allowing readers to comment on users' entries. On September 11, 2006, Facebook became open to all users of the Internet, prompting protest from its existing user base.[20] Two weeks later, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid e-mail address.[21]
2007
On May 10, 2007, Facebook announced a plan to add free classified advertisements to its website, making it a competitor with established online companies such as Craigslist.[22] This feature, known as Facebook Marketplace, went live on May 14, 2007; Facebook launched an API that allows the development of applications to be used on the site, known as Facebook Platform.[23]
In June, the partnership begun the previous year between iTunes and Facebook continued, with the download service again offering free music samplers through the Apple Students group.
In July, Facebook announced its first acquisition, purchasing Parakey, Inc. from Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. In August, the company was featured in a Newsweek cover story by Steven Levy in the magazine's annual college edition.[24] Facebook hired YouTube's former CFO Gideon Yu on July 24, 2007. Gideon Yu succeeded Michael Sheridan.[25]
In October Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share in the company for $240 million.[26] An outright sale of Facebook is said to be unlikely as founder Mark Zuckerberg would like to keep it independent.[citation needed]
On November 7, 2007, Facebook announced Facebook Ads; Facebook Beacon, a marketing initiative which includes a system for websites to allow users to share chosen information about their activities on the sites with their Facebook friends ;[27] the capability of businesses to host pages on Facebook for various brands, products and services (Facebook Pages); a targeted ad serving program based on user and friend profile and activity data (Facebook Social Ads); and a service for providing businesses with advertisement analytic data including performance metrics (Facebook Insights). With respect to privacy, Facebook states that "no personally identifiable information is shared with an advertiser in creating a Social Ad," and that "Facebook users will only see Social Ads to the extent their friends are sharing information with them".[28] Facebook Ads replaces the site's previous Facebook Flyers program.[29] On November 30, 2007, it was reported that Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing had invested $60 million in Facebook.[30]
On 5 December 2007, Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for the way that Facebook launched the Beacon system, saying "The problem with our initial approach of making it an opt-out system instead of opt-in was that if someone forgot to decline to share something, Beacon still went ahead and shared it with their friends."[31] Beacon can now be disabled through a new External websites section in Privacy.[32]
Site features
The Wall
The Wall is a space on each user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. One user's wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users' wall posts show up in an individual's News Feed. Many users use their friends' walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person's Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like email.
In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the wall,[33] whereas previously the wall was limited to textual content only.
Photos
One of the most popular applications on Facebook is the Photos application, where users can upload albums of photos, tag friends, and comment on photos. According to Facebook,[34] there are:
1.7 billion user photos
2.2 billion friends tagged in user photos
160 terabytes of photo storage used with an extra 60 terabytes available
60+ million photos added each week which take up 5 terabytes of disk space
3+ billion photo images served to users every day
100,000+ images served per second during peak traffic windows
Gifts
In February 2007, Facebook added a new gift feature to the website. Friends could send "gifts" -- small icons of novelty items designed by former Apple designer Susan Kare -- to each other by selecting one from Facebook's virtual gift shop and adding a message. Gifts given to a user appear on the recipient's wall with the giver's message, unless the giver decided to give the gift privately, in which case the giver's name and message is not displayed to other users. Additionally, all gifts (including private gifts) received by a user are displayed in the recipient's "gift box" (right above their wall on their profile), marked with either the first name of the user (for public gifts) or the word "Private." An "Anonymous" option is also available, by which anyone with profile access can see the gift, but only the recipient will see the message. None will see the giver's name, and the gift will go in the recipient's gift box but not the wall.
Facebook users are given one free gift to give upon account signup. Each additional gift given by a user costs US$1.00. The initial selection of gifts was Valentine's Day themed, and 50% of the net proceeds (after credit card processing fees were taken out, etc.) received through February 2007 were donated to the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After the month of February, the proceeds were no longer donated. Soon after, Facebook began making one new gift available each day, most of which had a limited supply or were available for a limited time.
With the advent of Applications came a way to subvert the required US$1.00 payment; however, the gifts in the "Free Gifts" application, created by Zachary Allia,[35] are not the same as the official gifts, as they are displayed in a different manner.
Marketplace
In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. Ads can be posted in either available or wanted format.[36] The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free.[37]
Pokes
Facebook includes a "poke" feature that allows one user to send a "poke" to another. According to Facebook's FAQ section on the Poke Feature, "a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings." In principle, this is intended to be a "nudge" to attract the attention of the other user. However, while many Facebook users, as intended, use the feature to attract attention or say hello,[38] some users construe it as a sexual advance.[39] This interpretation of the feature inspired a popular Facebook group titled "Enough with the Poking, Lets Just Have Sex," which, as of February 2008, has more than 355,500 members.
There are several applications such as "X Me" and "SuperPoke!" that allow users to put any action in place of the word "poke."
Status
The "status" feature allows users to inform their friends and the Facebook community of their current whereabouts and actions. Facebook originally prompted the status update with "User name is..." and Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on December 13, 2007, the requirement to start a status update with "is" was removed, and all status updates read "User name ..."[40] Status updates are noted in the "Recently updated" section of a user's friend list.
Events
Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings.[41] Events require an event name, tagline, network, host name, event type, start and end time, location & city, and a guest list of friends invited. Events can be open, closed, or secret. When setting up an event the user can choose to allow friends to upload photos, video, and posted items.
Applications
On May 24, 2007, Facebook launched the Facebook Platform,[42] which provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. Even games such as chess and Scrabble are available. As of January 31, 2008, there are more than 14,000 applications.[43]
Third-party websites such as Adonomics, which provides application metrics, and blogs such as AppRate, Inside Facebook and Face Reviews have sprung up in response to the clamor for Facebook applications.
On July 4, 2007, Altura Ventures announced the "Altura 1 Facebook Investment Fund," becoming the world's first Facebook-only venture capital firm.[44]
On August 29, 2007, Facebook changed the way in which the popularity of applications is measured, in order to give more attention to the more engaging applications, following criticism that ranking applications only by the number of users was giving an advantage to the highly viral, yet useless applications.[45] Tech blog Valleywag has criticized Facebook Applications, labeling them a "cornucopia of uselessness."[46] Others have called for limiting third-party applications so the Facebook "user experience" is not degraded.[47][48]
Primarily attempting to create viral applications is a method that has certainly been employed by numerous Facebook application developers. Stanford University even offered a class in the Fall of 2007, entitled, Computer Science (CS) 377W: "Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook". Numerous applications created by the class were highly successful, and ranked amongst the top Facebook applications, with some achieving over 3.5 million users in a month.[49]
Facebook Video
During the time that Facebook released its platform, it also released an application[50] of its own for sharing videos on Facebook. Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can "tag" their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos.
Technical details
Facebook Markup Language
Facebook Markup Language ("FBML") is a variant evolved subset of HTML with some elements removed. It allows Facebook application writers to customise the "look and feel" of their applications, to a limited extent. It is the specification of how to encode your content so that Facebook's servers can read and publish it, which you will need to use in your Facebook-specific feed so that Facebook's system can properly parse your content and publish it as specified.[51] You set the FBML for a profile box by calling profile.setFBML through the API. The FBML is cached on Facebook's server until profile.setFBML is called again through a canvas page. The official FBML documentation is now hosted on the Facebook Developers Wiki.The FBML will expand to something like this:
The fb_sig value is generated using all of the other fb_sig_ parameters (but without the "fb_sig_" prefix included in their names) identically to how it is generated in the API authentication scheme. The fb_sig_user and fb_sig_session_key parameters will only be included if the user has a valid session with the application.[52]
Model of the domain
The diagram on the right, expressed using the UML standard notation for class diagrams, represents a subset of the information managed by Facebook. It gives a concise picture of the various entities, relations and fields stored in the database.
For instance, the diagram shows what fields are associated with the notion of Job, School, CreditCard, ScreenName, and so on (see the corresponding yellow boxes representing classes).
Note that this is a conceptual class diagram: it describes the concepts rather than the implementation and the detail of the database. For more information about technical models, see FQL - Facebook Query Language (SQL-like query language).
Infrastructure
For running its operations Facebook uses the software bundle known as LAMP.[53]
Sale rumors
In 2006, with the sale of social networking site MySpace to NewsCorp, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company. Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, had already said that he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.[54] He had already rejected outright offers in the range of $975 million, and it was not clear who might be willing to pay a higher premium for the site. Steve Rosenbush, a technology business analyst, suspected Viacom might.[55]
In September 2006, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place for the acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.[56] In October 2007, after Google purchased video-sharing site YouTube, rumors circulated that Google had offered $2.3 billion to outbid Yahoo!.[57] Peter Thiel, a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook's internal valuation is around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to that of Viacom's MTV brand[58] and based on shared target demographic audience.
In September 2007, Microsoft approached Facebook, proposing an investment in return for a 5% stake in the company. Microsoft would pay an estimated 300 to 500 million dollars for the share. Other companies such as Google had also expressed interest in buying a portion of Facebook.[59] On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced[60] that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $246 million[61][62]
Use in investigations
Main article: Use of social network websites in investigations
The information students provide on Facebook has been used in investigations by colleges, universities, and local police. Facebook's Terms of Use[63] specify that "the website is available for your personal, noncommercial use only", misleading some to believe that college administrators and police may not use the site for conducting investigations. Furthermore, some employers look at Facebook profiles of prospective employees or interns. Information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts.[64]
Blocking of Facebook Abroad
In November of 2007, Facebook was blocked by the Syrian government on the premise that it promoted attacks on the authorities.[65][66] No comment was made from the government that blocked it, which has started a crackdown on online political activism in that period. Burma and Bhutan are among many[citation needed] nations to have banned the website.
Responses
Schools blocking access
The University of New Mexico (UNM) in October 2005 blocked access to Facebook from UNM campus computers and networks, citing unsolicited e-mails and a similar site called UNM Facebook.[67] After a UNM user signed into Facebook from off campus, a message from Facebook said, "We are working with the UNM administration to lift the block and have explained that it was instituted based on erroneous information, but they have not yet committed to restore your access." UNM, in a message to students who tried to access the site from the UNM network, wrote, "This site is temporarily unavailable while UNM and the site owners work out procedural issues. The site is in violation of UNM's Acceptable Computer Use Policy for abusing computing resources (e.g., spamming, trademark infringement, etc.). The site forces use of UNM credentials (e.g., NetID or email address) for non-UNM business." However, after Facebook created an encrypted login and displayed a precautionary message not to use university passwords for access, UNM unblocked access the following spring semester.[68]
The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 22, 2006, that Kent State University's athletic director had planned to ban the use of Facebook by athletes and gave them until August 1 to delete their accounts.[69] On July 5, 2006, the Daily Kent Stater reported that the director reversed the decision after reviewing the privacy settings of Facebook.
Since it violates many school boards terms of use for the internet along with local and state laws, many school boards in North America and Europe that run elementary through high schools have access to Facebook blocked. Students caught using Facebook and other sites similar to that will be required to serve various punishments, ranging from temporary or permanent exclusion of computer privileges on campus to expulsion. Hacking using proxy servers in schools may result in suspension or expulsion.
Organizations blocking Facebook
Ontario government employees, MPPs, and cabinet ministers were blocked from access to Facebook on government computers in May 2007.[70] When the employees tried to access Facebook, a warning message "The Internet website that you have requested has been deemed unacceptable for use for government business purposes". This warning also appears when employees try to access YouTube, MySpace, gambling or pornographic websites.[71] However, innovative employees have found ways around such protocols, and many claim to use the site for political or work-related purposes.[72]
The New South Wales Department of Education and Training has also blocked all users (students and staff) from accessing Facebook, as have many other government departments in Australia. The City of New York Department of Health and Hospitals blocks Facebook from use at work.
Facebook memorials
A notable ancillary effect of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, is the ability for participants to mourn publicly for a deceased individual. On Facebook, students often leave messages of sadness, grief, or hope on the individual's page, transforming it into a sort of public book of condolences. This particular phenomenon has been documented at a number of schools.[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82] Previously, Facebook had stated that its official policy on the matter was to remove the profile of the deceased one month after he or she has died,[83] preventing the profile from being used for communal mourning, citing privacy concerns. Due to user response, Facebook amended its policy. Its new policy is to place deceased members' profiles in a "memorialization state".[84]
Additional usage of Facebook as a tool of remembrance is expressed in group memberships on the site. Now that groups are community-wide and available among all networks, many users create Facebook groups to remember not only a deceased friend or individual, but also as a source of support in response to an occurrence such as the September 11, 2001 attacks or the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.
Such memorial groups have also raised legal issues. Notably, on January 1, 2008, one such memorial group posted the identities of murdered Toronto teenager Stefanie Rengel, whose family had not yet given the Toronto Police Service their consent to release her name to the media, and her accused killers, in defiance of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act which prohibits publishing the names of underage criminals.[85] While police and Facebook staff attempted to comply with the privacy regulations by deleting such posts, they noted that it was difficult to effectively police the individual users who repeatedly republished the deleted information.[86].
Customization and security
Facebook is often compared to MySpace but one significant difference between the two sites is the level of customization. MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and CSS while Facebook only allows plain text. However, a number of users have tweaked their profiles by using "hacks." On February 24, 2006, a pair of users exploited a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole on the profile page and created a fast-spreading worm, loading a custom CSS file on infected profiles that made them look like MySpace profiles.[87] Notably, both users are now employed by Facebook.[citation needed] On April 19, 2006, a user was able to embed an iframe into his profile and load a custom off-site page featuring a streaming video and a flash game from Drawball. He has since been banned from Facebook.[88] On March 26, 2006, a user was able to embed JavaScript in the "Hometown" field of his profile which imported his custom CSS.[89] In each case, Facebook quickly patched the holes, typically within hours of their discovery. In July 2007, Adrienne Felt, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, discovered a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole in the Facebook Platform that could inject JavaScript into profiles, which was used to import custom CSS and demonstrate how the platform could be used to violate privacy rules or create a worm.[90] This hole took Facebook two and a half weeks to fix.[91]
Legal challenges over concept rights
Lawsuit from Connectu.com
Founder of Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg, has been accused of illegally using both the concept and source code from competing site Connectu.com. In November 2003, ConnectU engaged Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard, to complete the computer programming for their website. Upon joining the ConnectU team, Zuckerberg was given full access to the website source code. Allegedly, Zuckerberg intentionally hampered the development of ConnectU while using code originally intended for ConnectU in the development of Facebook.
Since its original filing in Massachusetts in September 2004,[11] the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice due to technicality on March 28, 2007, but was never ruled on. It was refiled soon thereafter in U.S. District Court in Boston, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25, 2007.[92] Facebook asked the district court to dismiss the case. The attorneys representing Facebook referred to the allegations as "broad brush" with no evidence to support them.[93]
Aaron Greenspan & houseSYSTEM
Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard classmate of Mark Zuckerberg, claims that he created the original college social networking system, before either Facebook or ConnectU were founded.[94]
Privacy concerns
Further information: Criticism of Facebook
There have been some concerns expressed regarding the use of Facebook as a means of surveillance and data mining. Theories have been written about the possible misuse of Facebook[95] and privacy proponents have criticised the site's current privacy agreement.[96] According to the policy, "We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile." However, some features—such as AIM away-message harvesting and campus newspaper monitoring—have been dropped and Facebook has since responded to the concerns. Facebook has assured worried users the next privacy policy will not include the clause about information collection and has denied any data mining is being done "for the CIA or any other group."[97] However, the possibility of data mining by private individuals unaffiliated with Facebook remains open, as evidenced by the fact that two MIT students were able to download, using an automated script, over 70,000 Facebook profiles from four schools (MIT, NYU, the University of Oklahoma, and Harvard) as part of a research project on Facebook privacy published on December 14, 2005.[98]
Another clause that some users are critical of reserves the right to sell users' data to private companies, stating "We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship." This concern has also been addressed by spokesman Chris Hughes who said "Simply put, we have never provided our users' information to third party companies, nor do we intend to."[99] It is unclear if Facebook plans to remove that clause as well.
Third party applications have access to almost all user information and "Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information."[96]
In August 2007 the code used to dynamically generate Facebook's home and search page as visitors browse the site was accidentally made public, according to leading internet news sites.[100][101] A configuration problem on a Facebook server caused the PHP code to be displayed instead of the web page the code should have created, raising concerns about how secure private data on the site was. A visitor to the site copied, published and later removed the code from his web forum, claiming he had been served legal notice by Facebook.[102] Facebook's response was quoted by the site that broke the story[103]
“ A small fraction of the code that displays Facebook web pages was exposed to a small number of users due to a single misconfigured web server that was fixed immediately. It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way. Because the code that was released only powers the Facebook user interface, it offers no useful insight into the inner workings of Facebook. The reprinting of this code violates several laws and we ask that people not distribute it further. ”
In the UK, the Trade Union Council has encouraged employers to allow their staff to access Facebook and other social networking sites from work, provided they proceed with caution.[104]
In September 2007, Facebook drew a fresh round of criticism after it began allowing non-members to search for users, with the intent of opening limited "public profiles" up to search engines such as Google in the following months.[105]
In November 2007, Facebook launched a new part of its Ads system named Beacon that published Facebook users' activities on partner websites such as eBay, Fandango, Travelocity, and Blockbuster to their friends. Moveon.org created an online petition due to privacy concerns, and Facebook modified the service to some extent. However, privacy concerns have continued in the wake of a report by a security researcher at Computer Associates that noted that data on users' activities is often still sent to Facebook, even if a user has opted-out on the partner site and logged out of Facebook.
Concerns were also raised on the BBC's Watchdog programme in October 2007 when Facebook was shown to be an easy way in which to collect an individual's personal information in order to facilitate identity theft.[106]
Statistics
(Approximate numbers as of January 2008)[4]
Active users: Over 60 million
Daily new user average: 250,000
Page views: Over 65 billion per month
Searches: Over 500 million per month[107]
Search index size: 200GB
Largest countries: US, Canada, UK
Remaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.
Largest networks: London, UK:[108] 2,000,124[109] and Toronto, Canada: 1,012,604[110]
Largest United States college networks: The Ohio State University: 72,144,[111] University of Minnesota: 72,288,[112] Texas A&M University: 76,014,[113] Penn State University: 98,016[114][115]
Traffic rank: 7th[5]
Photos: 1.7 billion (which averages to about 44 photos per user)[116]
On March 2, 2007, a poll conducted by eMarketer.com of American youths in the United States discovered Facebook was the most viewed site among all respondents with more females aged 17-25 (69%) visiting the site than males (56%).[117]
In 2007, the word "facebook" came in 2nd on Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.[118]
See also
Social network service
List of social networking websites
Use of social network websites in investigations
Beacon (Facebook)
Peter Thiel
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^ McCarthy, Caroline (2007-10-24). Microsoft acquires equity stake in Facebook, expands ad partnership. CNet. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
^ Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer (2007-10-24). Microsoft Buys Facebook Stake for $240M. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
^ Facebook Terms of Use May 24, 2007
^ Morgan, Lauren. "Facebook can hurt employment chances", The Red and Black (University of Georgia), 2005-12-05. Retrieved on 2005-12-09.
^ Yacoub Oweis, Khaled & Aboudi, Sami (November 23), "Syria blocks Facebook in Internet crackdown", Reuters, <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071123/wl_nm/syria_facebook_dc_1>
^ "Syrian gov't blocks use of Facebook", The Jerusalem Post, November 24, 2007.
^ Fort, Caleb. "CIRT blocks access to Facebook.com", Daily Lobo (University of New Mexico), 2005-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ "Popular web site, Facebook.com, back online at UNM", University of New Mexico, 2006-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
^ Loew, Ryan. "Kent banning athlete Web profiles", The Columbus Dispatch, June 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
^ "Organizations blocking facebook", CTV news.
^ Facebook banned for Ontario staffers: Bureaucrats, MPPs can't visit social website from their work computers May 3, 2007.
^ Ontario politicians close the book on Facebook by Omar Ha-Redeye
^ Net generation grieves with Facebook postings
^ On Facebook, life after death
^ Suspect in Souers' Death in Maximum Security Prison
^ Prott, Dylan. "Son, friend remembered as 'free spirit'", College Heights Herald, 2006-11-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-14.
^ Iorg, Emily. "Student Colby McLain remembered", University News, 2005-12-05. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Batista, Sarah. "UVA Student Remembered", Charlottesville Newsplex, 2005-11-21. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Negrin, Matt. "University responds to SMG junior's death", Daily Free Press, 2005-11-21. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Gardner-Quinn, Michelle. "UVM Memorializes Slain Student", Burlington Free Press, 2006-10-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Bernhard, Stephanie. "Community mourns death of Pagan '06", Brown Daily Herald, 2006-01-25. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Ohio State U.: Facebook used as a memorial to remember Ohio State U. student..
^ Kristina Kelleher, Facebook profiles become makeshift memorials, The Brown Daily Herald, 2007-02-22
^ "USAToday article", USAToday, 2007-05-08.
^ "Facebook proves problematic for police", The Globe and Mail, January 5, 2008.
^ "Angry Facebook Users Illegally Leaked the Names of Accused Underage Murderers", Digital Journal, January 5, 2008.
^ Laverdet, Marcel (2006-02-26). Why XSS is my favorite type of vulnerability. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Romero, John. The Super Facebook Saga. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
^ Facelifting the Facebook (2006-03-26). Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
^ Defacing Facebook (1007-07-27). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
^ Defacing Facebook (1007-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
^ Facebook Tries to Fend Off Copyright-Infringement Claim: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will defend against copyright-infringement allegations tomorrow July 24 2007]].
^ Facebook site faces fraud claim (HTML). BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ Who Founded Facebook? A New Claim Emerges (HTML). NY Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
^ Smith, Josh (2005). Big Brothers, Big Facebook: Your Orwellian Community. The Color of Infinity. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. (mirrored on Common Ground Common Sense Forums)
^ a b Facebook Privacy Policy (2007-08-12). Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
^ Morse, Jacob (2006). Facebook Responds. Cogito. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ Jones, Harvey, & José Hiram Soltren (2005). "Facebook: Threats to Privacy". (PDF)
^ Peterson, Chris. "Who's Reading Your Facebook?", The Virginia Informer, 2006-02-13.
^ Hoffman, Harrison. "Facebook's source code goes public", CNET News.com, 2007-08-12.
^ Richards, Jonathan. "Facebook Source Code Leaked Onto Internet", FOX, 2007-08-14.
^ "Facebook's PHP leak SNAFU", Computer World, 2007-08-14.
^ Cubrilovic, Nik. "Facebook Source Code Leaked", TechCrunch, 2007-08-11.
^ Get a life and allow your staff to use Facebook (Times Online)
^ "Facebook Opens Profiles to Public", BBC Online, 2007-09-07.
^ Facebook Security, BBC Watchdog 2007-10-24
^ Agarwal, Aditya (2007-07-05). Do we really need to write our own search engine?. The Facebook Blog. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
^ Facebook (2007-09-17). London Calling. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
^ London network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)
^ Toronto network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)
^ Ohio State network on Facebook
^ Minnesota network on Facebook
^ Texas A&M network on Facebook
^ Penn State network on Facebook
^ Sidenote: All appear on the list of largest United States universities by enrollment.
^ Facebook Photos Infrastructure May 21, 2007.
^ "Facebook Extends Lead As Fave Young Adult Site", eMarketer, 2007-03-02.
^ Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2007. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
External links
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/
The Facebook Blog
http://blog.facebook.com/
Facebook Platform
http://developers.facebook.com/
資料來源：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook
The site has more than 62 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide.[4] From September 2006 to September 2007 the site's traffic ranking increased from 60th to 7th, according to Alexa.[5] It is the most popular website for uploading photos, with 14 million uploaded daily.[4]
The name of the site refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that some U.S. colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.
Operations
The site is free to users and generates revenue from advertising including banner ads and sponsored groups (in April 2006, revenue was rumored to be over $1.5 million per week).[6] Users create profiles that often contain photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends. The viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network or confirmed friends. According to TechCrunch, "about 85% of students in [previously] supported colleges have a profile [on the site]. [Of those who are signed up,] 60% log in daily. About 85% log in at least once a week, and 93% log in at least once a month." According to Chris Hughes, spokesman for Facebook, "People spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook."[7] In a 2006 study conducted by Student Monitor, a New Jersey-based limited liability company specialising in research concerning the college student market, Facebook was named as the second most "in" thing among undergraduates, tied with beer and sex and losing only to the iPod.[8]
History
Mark Zuckerberg founded "The Facebook" in February 2004, while attending Harvard University, with support from Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. By the end of the month, more than half of the undergraduate population at Harvard were registered on the service. At that time, Zuckerberg was joined by Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes for site promotion and Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.[9] This expansion continued in April of 2004 when it expanded to the rest of Ivy League and a few other schools. At the end of the school year, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz moved out to Palo Alto, California with McCollum, who had a summer internship at Electronic Arts. They rented a house near Stanford University where they were joined by Adam D'Angelo and Sean Parker. Soon McCollum decided to leave EA and help with the development of Facebook and a companion website, Wirehog, full-time. In September, Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the owners of the social networking website HarvardConnection, subsequently changed to ConnectU, filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had illegally used source code intended for the website they asked him to build for them.[10][11] Also at that time, Facebook received approximately $500,000 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in an angel round. By December, Facebook's user base had exceeded one million.
2005
In May 2005, Facebook raised $12.8 million in venture capital from Accel Partners.[12] On August 23, 2005, Facebook bought the domain name facebook.com from the Aboutface Corporation for $200,000 and dropped "the" from its name. At that time the site was overhauled, a change intended to make profile pages more user-friendly, according to Zuckerberg. Also that month McCollum went back to Harvard although he continued to serve as a consultant and returned to work on staff during the summers. As before, Hughes remained in Cambridge while he performed his duties as company spokesperson. Then, on September 2, 2005, Zuckerberg launched the high school iteration of Facebook, calling it the next logical thing to do. While initially described as separate "communities" to which users needed to be invited to participate, within only fifteen days most high school networks did not require a password to join (although registration with Facebook was still necessary.) By October, Facebook's expansion had trickled down to most small universities and junior colleges in the United States, Canada, and the UK, in addition to having expanded to twenty-one universities in the United Kingdom, the entire Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) system in Mexico, the entire University of Puerto Rico network in Puerto Rico, and the whole University of the Virgin Islands network in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On December 11, 2005, universities in Australia and New Zealand were added to the Facebook network, bringing its size to more than 2,000 colleges and more than 25,000 high schools throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.[13]
2006
On February 27, 2006, Facebook began allowing college students to add high school students as friends due to requests from users.[14] About a month later, on March 28, 2006, BusinessWeek reported that a potential acquisition of the site was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million, and it was rumored that the asking price was as high as $2 billion.[15] In April, Peter Thiel, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital Partners invested an additional $25 million in the site.[16] In May, Facebook's network extended into India, at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The following month Facebook threatened to seek costs of up to $100,000 from Quizsender.com for copyright infringement for allegedly copying the "look and feel" of Facebook.[17][18] On July 25, new services were offered in the site that would potentially produce additional revenue. A promotion was arranged between Facebook and iTunes, in which members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres. The promotion's purpose was to make students more familiar with and enthusiastic about each service as fall classes approached.[19] In the early half of August, Facebook added universities in Germany and high schools in Israel, (Haifa, Jerusalem, and Qiryat Gat) to its network. On the 22nd of that month, Facebook introduced Facebook Notes, a blogging feature with tagging, embedded images, and other features, also allowing the importation of blogs from Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, and other blogging services. This newly added feature also included the common blog feature of allowing readers to comment on users' entries. On September 11, 2006, Facebook became open to all users of the Internet, prompting protest from its existing user base.[20] Two weeks later, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid e-mail address.[21]
2007
On May 10, 2007, Facebook announced a plan to add free classified advertisements to its website, making it a competitor with established online companies such as Craigslist.[22] This feature, known as Facebook Marketplace, went live on May 14, 2007; Facebook launched an API that allows the development of applications to be used on the site, known as Facebook Platform.[23]
In June, the partnership begun the previous year between iTunes and Facebook continued, with the download service again offering free music samplers through the Apple Students group.
In July, Facebook announced its first acquisition, purchasing Parakey, Inc. from Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. In August, the company was featured in a Newsweek cover story by Steven Levy in the magazine's annual college edition.[24] Facebook hired YouTube's former CFO Gideon Yu on July 24, 2007. Gideon Yu succeeded Michael Sheridan.[25]
In October Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share in the company for $240 million.[26] An outright sale of Facebook is said to be unlikely as founder Mark Zuckerberg would like to keep it independent.[citation needed]
On November 7, 2007, Facebook announced Facebook Ads; Facebook Beacon, a marketing initiative which includes a system for websites to allow users to share chosen information about their activities on the sites with their Facebook friends ;[27] the capability of businesses to host pages on Facebook for various brands, products and services (Facebook Pages); a targeted ad serving program based on user and friend profile and activity data (Facebook Social Ads); and a service for providing businesses with advertisement analytic data including performance metrics (Facebook Insights). With respect to privacy, Facebook states that "no personally identifiable information is shared with an advertiser in creating a Social Ad," and that "Facebook users will only see Social Ads to the extent their friends are sharing information with them".[28] Facebook Ads replaces the site's previous Facebook Flyers program.[29] On November 30, 2007, it was reported that Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing had invested $60 million in Facebook.[30]
On 5 December 2007, Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for the way that Facebook launched the Beacon system, saying "The problem with our initial approach of making it an opt-out system instead of opt-in was that if someone forgot to decline to share something, Beacon still went ahead and shared it with their friends."[31] Beacon can now be disabled through a new External websites section in Privacy.[32]
Site features
The Wall
The Wall is a space on each user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. One user's wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users' wall posts show up in an individual's News Feed. Many users use their friends' walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person's Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like email.
In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the wall,[33] whereas previously the wall was limited to textual content only.
Photos
One of the most popular applications on Facebook is the Photos application, where users can upload albums of photos, tag friends, and comment on photos. According to Facebook,[34] there are:
1.7 billion user photos
2.2 billion friends tagged in user photos
160 terabytes of photo storage used with an extra 60 terabytes available
60+ million photos added each week which take up 5 terabytes of disk space
3+ billion photo images served to users every day
100,000+ images served per second during peak traffic windows
Gifts
In February 2007, Facebook added a new gift feature to the website. Friends could send "gifts" -- small icons of novelty items designed by former Apple designer Susan Kare -- to each other by selecting one from Facebook's virtual gift shop and adding a message. Gifts given to a user appear on the recipient's wall with the giver's message, unless the giver decided to give the gift privately, in which case the giver's name and message is not displayed to other users. Additionally, all gifts (including private gifts) received by a user are displayed in the recipient's "gift box" (right above their wall on their profile), marked with either the first name of the user (for public gifts) or the word "Private." An "Anonymous" option is also available, by which anyone with profile access can see the gift, but only the recipient will see the message. None will see the giver's name, and the gift will go in the recipient's gift box but not the wall.
Facebook users are given one free gift to give upon account signup. Each additional gift given by a user costs US$1.00. The initial selection of gifts was Valentine's Day themed, and 50% of the net proceeds (after credit card processing fees were taken out, etc.) received through February 2007 were donated to the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After the month of February, the proceeds were no longer donated. Soon after, Facebook began making one new gift available each day, most of which had a limited supply or were available for a limited time.
With the advent of Applications came a way to subvert the required US$1.00 payment; however, the gifts in the "Free Gifts" application, created by Zachary Allia,[35] are not the same as the official gifts, as they are displayed in a different manner.
Marketplace
In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. Ads can be posted in either available or wanted format.[36] The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free.[37]
Pokes
Facebook includes a "poke" feature that allows one user to send a "poke" to another. According to Facebook's FAQ section on the Poke Feature, "a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings." In principle, this is intended to be a "nudge" to attract the attention of the other user. However, while many Facebook users, as intended, use the feature to attract attention or say hello,[38] some users construe it as a sexual advance.[39] This interpretation of the feature inspired a popular Facebook group titled "Enough with the Poking, Lets Just Have Sex," which, as of February 2008, has more than 355,500 members.
There are several applications such as "X Me" and "SuperPoke!" that allow users to put any action in place of the word "poke."
Status
The "status" feature allows users to inform their friends and the Facebook community of their current whereabouts and actions. Facebook originally prompted the status update with "User name is..." and Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on December 13, 2007, the requirement to start a status update with "is" was removed, and all status updates read "User name ..."[40] Status updates are noted in the "Recently updated" section of a user's friend list.
Events
Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings.[41] Events require an event name, tagline, network, host name, event type, start and end time, location & city, and a guest list of friends invited. Events can be open, closed, or secret. When setting up an event the user can choose to allow friends to upload photos, video, and posted items.
Applications
On May 24, 2007, Facebook launched the Facebook Platform,[42] which provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. Even games such as chess and Scrabble are available. As of January 31, 2008, there are more than 14,000 applications.[43]
Third-party websites such as Adonomics, which provides application metrics, and blogs such as AppRate, Inside Facebook and Face Reviews have sprung up in response to the clamor for Facebook applications.
On July 4, 2007, Altura Ventures announced the "Altura 1 Facebook Investment Fund," becoming the world's first Facebook-only venture capital firm.[44]
On August 29, 2007, Facebook changed the way in which the popularity of applications is measured, in order to give more attention to the more engaging applications, following criticism that ranking applications only by the number of users was giving an advantage to the highly viral, yet useless applications.[45] Tech blog Valleywag has criticized Facebook Applications, labeling them a "cornucopia of uselessness."[46] Others have called for limiting third-party applications so the Facebook "user experience" is not degraded.[47][48]
Primarily attempting to create viral applications is a method that has certainly been employed by numerous Facebook application developers. Stanford University even offered a class in the Fall of 2007, entitled, Computer Science (CS) 377W: "Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook". Numerous applications created by the class were highly successful, and ranked amongst the top Facebook applications, with some achieving over 3.5 million users in a month.[49]
Facebook Video
During the time that Facebook released its platform, it also released an application[50] of its own for sharing videos on Facebook. Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can "tag" their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos.
Technical details
Facebook Markup Language
Facebook Markup Language ("FBML") is a variant evolved subset of HTML with some elements removed. It allows Facebook application writers to customise the "look and feel" of their applications, to a limited extent. It is the specification of how to encode your content so that Facebook's servers can read and publish it, which you will need to use in your Facebook-specific feed so that Facebook's system can properly parse your content and publish it as specified.[51] You set the FBML for a profile box by calling profile.setFBML through the API. The FBML is cached on Facebook's server until profile.setFBML is called again through a canvas page. The official FBML documentation is now hosted on the Facebook Developers Wiki.The FBML will expand to something like this:
The fb_sig value is generated using all of the other fb_sig_ parameters (but without the "fb_sig_" prefix included in their names) identically to how it is generated in the API authentication scheme. The fb_sig_user and fb_sig_session_key parameters will only be included if the user has a valid session with the application.[52]
Model of the domain
The diagram on the right, expressed using the UML standard notation for class diagrams, represents a subset of the information managed by Facebook. It gives a concise picture of the various entities, relations and fields stored in the database.
For instance, the diagram shows what fields are associated with the notion of Job, School, CreditCard, ScreenName, and so on (see the corresponding yellow boxes representing classes).
Note that this is a conceptual class diagram: it describes the concepts rather than the implementation and the detail of the database. For more information about technical models, see FQL - Facebook Query Language (SQL-like query language).
Infrastructure
For running its operations Facebook uses the software bundle known as LAMP.[53]
Sale rumors
In 2006, with the sale of social networking site MySpace to NewsCorp, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company. Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, had already said that he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.[54] He had already rejected outright offers in the range of $975 million, and it was not clear who might be willing to pay a higher premium for the site. Steve Rosenbush, a technology business analyst, suspected Viacom might.[55]
In September 2006, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place for the acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.[56] In October 2007, after Google purchased video-sharing site YouTube, rumors circulated that Google had offered $2.3 billion to outbid Yahoo!.[57] Peter Thiel, a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook's internal valuation is around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to that of Viacom's MTV brand[58] and based on shared target demographic audience.
In September 2007, Microsoft approached Facebook, proposing an investment in return for a 5% stake in the company. Microsoft would pay an estimated 300 to 500 million dollars for the share. Other companies such as Google had also expressed interest in buying a portion of Facebook.[59] On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced[60] that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $246 million[61][62]
Use in investigations
Main article: Use of social network websites in investigations
The information students provide on Facebook has been used in investigations by colleges, universities, and local police. Facebook's Terms of Use[63] specify that "the website is available for your personal, noncommercial use only", misleading some to believe that college administrators and police may not use the site for conducting investigations. Furthermore, some employers look at Facebook profiles of prospective employees or interns. Information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts.[64]
Blocking of Facebook Abroad
In November of 2007, Facebook was blocked by the Syrian government on the premise that it promoted attacks on the authorities.[65][66] No comment was made from the government that blocked it, which has started a crackdown on online political activism in that period. Burma and Bhutan are among many[citation needed] nations to have banned the website.
Responses
Schools blocking access
The University of New Mexico (UNM) in October 2005 blocked access to Facebook from UNM campus computers and networks, citing unsolicited e-mails and a similar site called UNM Facebook.[67] After a UNM user signed into Facebook from off campus, a message from Facebook said, "We are working with the UNM administration to lift the block and have explained that it was instituted based on erroneous information, but they have not yet committed to restore your access." UNM, in a message to students who tried to access the site from the UNM network, wrote, "This site is temporarily unavailable while UNM and the site owners work out procedural issues. The site is in violation of UNM's Acceptable Computer Use Policy for abusing computing resources (e.g., spamming, trademark infringement, etc.). The site forces use of UNM credentials (e.g., NetID or email address) for non-UNM business." However, after Facebook created an encrypted login and displayed a precautionary message not to use university passwords for access, UNM unblocked access the following spring semester.[68]
The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 22, 2006, that Kent State University's athletic director had planned to ban the use of Facebook by athletes and gave them until August 1 to delete their accounts.[69] On July 5, 2006, the Daily Kent Stater reported that the director reversed the decision after reviewing the privacy settings of Facebook.
Since it violates many school boards terms of use for the internet along with local and state laws, many school boards in North America and Europe that run elementary through high schools have access to Facebook blocked. Students caught using Facebook and other sites similar to that will be required to serve various punishments, ranging from temporary or permanent exclusion of computer privileges on campus to expulsion. Hacking using proxy servers in schools may result in suspension or expulsion.
Organizations blocking Facebook
Ontario government employees, MPPs, and cabinet ministers were blocked from access to Facebook on government computers in May 2007.[70] When the employees tried to access Facebook, a warning message "The Internet website that you have requested has been deemed unacceptable for use for government business purposes". This warning also appears when employees try to access YouTube, MySpace, gambling or pornographic websites.[71] However, innovative employees have found ways around such protocols, and many claim to use the site for political or work-related purposes.[72]
The New South Wales Department of Education and Training has also blocked all users (students and staff) from accessing Facebook, as have many other government departments in Australia. The City of New York Department of Health and Hospitals blocks Facebook from use at work.
Facebook memorials
A notable ancillary effect of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, is the ability for participants to mourn publicly for a deceased individual. On Facebook, students often leave messages of sadness, grief, or hope on the individual's page, transforming it into a sort of public book of condolences. This particular phenomenon has been documented at a number of schools.[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82] Previously, Facebook had stated that its official policy on the matter was to remove the profile of the deceased one month after he or she has died,[83] preventing the profile from being used for communal mourning, citing privacy concerns. Due to user response, Facebook amended its policy. Its new policy is to place deceased members' profiles in a "memorialization state".[84]
Additional usage of Facebook as a tool of remembrance is expressed in group memberships on the site. Now that groups are community-wide and available among all networks, many users create Facebook groups to remember not only a deceased friend or individual, but also as a source of support in response to an occurrence such as the September 11, 2001 attacks or the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.
Such memorial groups have also raised legal issues. Notably, on January 1, 2008, one such memorial group posted the identities of murdered Toronto teenager Stefanie Rengel, whose family had not yet given the Toronto Police Service their consent to release her name to the media, and her accused killers, in defiance of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act which prohibits publishing the names of underage criminals.[85] While police and Facebook staff attempted to comply with the privacy regulations by deleting such posts, they noted that it was difficult to effectively police the individual users who repeatedly republished the deleted information.[86].
Customization and security
Facebook is often compared to MySpace but one significant difference between the two sites is the level of customization. MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and CSS while Facebook only allows plain text. However, a number of users have tweaked their profiles by using "hacks." On February 24, 2006, a pair of users exploited a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole on the profile page and created a fast-spreading worm, loading a custom CSS file on infected profiles that made them look like MySpace profiles.[87] Notably, both users are now employed by Facebook.[citation needed] On April 19, 2006, a user was able to embed an iframe into his profile and load a custom off-site page featuring a streaming video and a flash game from Drawball. He has since been banned from Facebook.[88] On March 26, 2006, a user was able to embed JavaScript in the "Hometown" field of his profile which imported his custom CSS.[89] In each case, Facebook quickly patched the holes, typically within hours of their discovery. In July 2007, Adrienne Felt, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, discovered a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole in the Facebook Platform that could inject JavaScript into profiles, which was used to import custom CSS and demonstrate how the platform could be used to violate privacy rules or create a worm.[90] This hole took Facebook two and a half weeks to fix.[91]
Legal challenges over concept rights
Lawsuit from Connectu.com
Founder of Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg, has been accused of illegally using both the concept and source code from competing site Connectu.com. In November 2003, ConnectU engaged Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard, to complete the computer programming for their website. Upon joining the ConnectU team, Zuckerberg was given full access to the website source code. Allegedly, Zuckerberg intentionally hampered the development of ConnectU while using code originally intended for ConnectU in the development of Facebook.
Since its original filing in Massachusetts in September 2004,[11] the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice due to technicality on March 28, 2007, but was never ruled on. It was refiled soon thereafter in U.S. District Court in Boston, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25, 2007.[92] Facebook asked the district court to dismiss the case. The attorneys representing Facebook referred to the allegations as "broad brush" with no evidence to support them.[93]
Aaron Greenspan & houseSYSTEM
Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard classmate of Mark Zuckerberg, claims that he created the original college social networking system, before either Facebook or ConnectU were founded.[94]
Privacy concerns
Further information: Criticism of Facebook
There have been some concerns expressed regarding the use of Facebook as a means of surveillance and data mining. Theories have been written about the possible misuse of Facebook[95] and privacy proponents have criticised the site's current privacy agreement.[96] According to the policy, "We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile." However, some features—such as AIM away-message harvesting and campus newspaper monitoring—have been dropped and Facebook has since responded to the concerns. Facebook has assured worried users the next privacy policy will not include the clause about information collection and has denied any data mining is being done "for the CIA or any other group."[97] However, the possibility of data mining by private individuals unaffiliated with Facebook remains open, as evidenced by the fact that two MIT students were able to download, using an automated script, over 70,000 Facebook profiles from four schools (MIT, NYU, the University of Oklahoma, and Harvard) as part of a research project on Facebook privacy published on December 14, 2005.[98]
Another clause that some users are critical of reserves the right to sell users' data to private companies, stating "We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship." This concern has also been addressed by spokesman Chris Hughes who said "Simply put, we have never provided our users' information to third party companies, nor do we intend to."[99] It is unclear if Facebook plans to remove that clause as well.
Third party applications have access to almost all user information and "Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information."[96]
In August 2007 the code used to dynamically generate Facebook's home and search page as visitors browse the site was accidentally made public, according to leading internet news sites.[100][101] A configuration problem on a Facebook server caused the PHP code to be displayed instead of the web page the code should have created, raising concerns about how secure private data on the site was. A visitor to the site copied, published and later removed the code from his web forum, claiming he had been served legal notice by Facebook.[102] Facebook's response was quoted by the site that broke the story[103]
“ A small fraction of the code that displays Facebook web pages was exposed to a small number of users due to a single misconfigured web server that was fixed immediately. It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way. Because the code that was released only powers the Facebook user interface, it offers no useful insight into the inner workings of Facebook. The reprinting of this code violates several laws and we ask that people not distribute it further. ”
In the UK, the Trade Union Council has encouraged employers to allow their staff to access Facebook and other social networking sites from work, provided they proceed with caution.[104]
In September 2007, Facebook drew a fresh round of criticism after it began allowing non-members to search for users, with the intent of opening limited "public profiles" up to search engines such as Google in the following months.[105]
In November 2007, Facebook launched a new part of its Ads system named Beacon that published Facebook users' activities on partner websites such as eBay, Fandango, Travelocity, and Blockbuster to their friends. Moveon.org created an online petition due to privacy concerns, and Facebook modified the service to some extent. However, privacy concerns have continued in the wake of a report by a security researcher at Computer Associates that noted that data on users' activities is often still sent to Facebook, even if a user has opted-out on the partner site and logged out of Facebook.
Concerns were also raised on the BBC's Watchdog programme in October 2007 when Facebook was shown to be an easy way in which to collect an individual's personal information in order to facilitate identity theft.[106]
Statistics
(Approximate numbers as of January 2008)[4]
Active users: Over 60 million
Daily new user average: 250,000
Page views: Over 65 billion per month
Searches: Over 500 million per month[107]
Search index size: 200GB
Largest countries: US, Canada, UK
Remaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.
Largest networks: London, UK:[108] 2,000,124[109] and Toronto, Canada: 1,012,604[110]
Largest United States college networks: The Ohio State University: 72,144,[111] University of Minnesota: 72,288,[112] Texas A&M University: 76,014,[113] Penn State University: 98,016[114][115]
Traffic rank: 7th[5]
Photos: 1.7 billion (which averages to about 44 photos per user)[116]
On March 2, 2007, a poll conducted by eMarketer.com of American youths in the United States discovered Facebook was the most viewed site among all respondents with more females aged 17-25 (69%) visiting the site than males (56%).[117]
In 2007, the word "facebook" came in 2nd on Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.[118]
See also
Social network service
List of social networking websites
Use of social network websites in investigations
Beacon (Facebook)
Peter Thiel
References
^ Arrington, Michael (2006). Yahoo’s “Project Fraternity” Docs Leaked. TechCrunch. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
^ Facebook: The Newest Fad in Marketing (HTML). Thinkubator: Facebook, the latest fad in marketing. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ http://www.facebook.com/terms.php
^ a b c Statistics. Facebook. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ a b Related info for: facebook.com/. Alexa Internet.
^ Arrington, Michael (2006). Facebook Goes Beyond Colleges, High School Markets. TechCrunch. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Arrington, Michael (2005). 85% of College Students use FaceBook. TechCrunch. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ Associated Press. "Apple surpasses beer on college campuses", CNN. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
^ http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline
^ McGinn, Timothy J.. "Lawsuit Threatens To Close Facebook", Harvard Crimson, 2004-09-13.
^ a b Maugeri, Alexander. "TheFacebook.com faces lawsuit", Daily Princetonian, 2004-09-20.
^ Accel Partners (2005-05-26). "Accel Partners Invests in Thefacebook.com". Press release.
^ Kornblum, Janet. "Teens hang out at MySpace", USA Today, 2006-01-08.
^ A series of announcements were posted on Facebook explaining the changes.
^ Rosenbush, Steve. "Facebook's on the Block", BusinessWeek Online, 2006-03-28. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ Teller, Sam. "Investors Add $25M to Facebook’s Coffers", The Harvard Crimson, 2006-04-25.
^ McCallum, Zoe. "Facebook sends out its lawyers", The Oxford Student, 2006-06-01.
^ Romanelli, Vincent. "Facebook threaten legal action", The Cherwell, 2006-06-02.
^ Cheng, Jacqui. "Infinite Loop: Apple and Facebook partner up for back to school iTunes promo", arstechnica, 2006-07-25.
^ Jesdanun, Anick. "Facebook to open to all Internet users", Yahoo News, 2006-09-11.
^ Abram, Carolyn. "Welcome to Facebook, everyone", 2006-09-26.
^ Brad Stone, "Facebook to Offer Free Classifieds" 2007-05-11 The New York Times
^ Kirkpatrick, David. "Facebook's plan to hook up the world". CNN Money, May 29, 2007.
^ Levy, Steven. "Facebook Grows Up: Can It Stay Relevant?", 2007-08-20.
^ "Facebook hires YouTube's former CFO despite shutdown attempt", 2007-07-25.
^ hosted.ap.org
^ Facebook (2007-11-06). "Leading Websites Offer Facebook Beacon for Social Distribution". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ Facebook (2007-11-06). "Facebook Unveils Facebook Ads". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ http://www.facebook.com/flyers/create.php
^ All Things Digital (2007-11-30). Facebook Nabs $60 Million Investment from Li Ka-shing. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
^ Mark Zuckerberg (2007-12-05). Thoughts on Beacon. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
^ Facebook. My Privacy. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
^ Der, Kevin. Facebook is off-the-wall. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
^ {{{author}}}, The Facebook Bifts, facebook.com, [[{{{date}}}]].
^ "facebook gifts", insidefacebook.com.
^ Facebook Adds Marketplace of Classified Ads (2007-05-12). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
^ http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=24
^ Arrington, J. Michael. "85% of College Students use FaceBook", TechCrunch, 2005-09-07. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
^ Facebook 'poke' leads to awkward one-nighter.
^ Facebook is... reconsidering the word "is". Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
^ http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=13
^ "Facebook Platform Launches", Facebook, 2007-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
^ Facebook. Application Directory. Retrieved on 2008-1-31.
^ "Altura Ventures news", Altura Ventures, 2007-07-04. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
^ Morin, Dave. "A shift to engagement", Facebook, 2007-08-29. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
^ Can a Facebook app possibly be useful?. Valleywag.com (2005-09-26). Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
^ Zack Timmons, "Useless applications plague Facebook" 2007-12-03 The Lantern, Ohio State University
^ Tim Lee, “Irritating Your Customers Is Almost Never A Good Business Strategy" 2007-11-30 Techdirt
^ Kamil Dada (2007-11-30). Kamil Dada from Stanford University explains the success of Facebook applications developed in a class at Stanford University. Retrieved on 2007-12-15.
^ Facebook Video Launches: YouTube Beware! May 24, 2007
^ Mashery (2007-05-26). "Facebook Markup Language - A "Reverse API"". Press release.
^ Facebook (2007-05-26). "Facebook Developers"". Press release.
^ Steven Grimm (2006-12-13). The Spirit of Openness. Facebook. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
^ Zuckerberg, Mark (2006-09-08). Free Flow of Information on the Internet discussions. Facebook. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Rosenbush, Steve. "Facebook's on the Block", BusinessWeek Online, 2006-03-28. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
^ Delaney, Kevin. "Facebook, Riding a Web Trend, Flirts With a Big-Money Deal", DowJones, 2006-09-21, pp. 1. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
^ Miller, Jason (2006-10-10). First YouTube, Now Facebook? Rumors Circulate. WebProNews. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ Facebook, Courted By Yahoo, Won't Sell, Director Says (Update3)
^ Microsoft in Talks to buy Facebook Stake
^ Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance. Microsoft (2007-10-24). Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
^ McCarthy, Caroline (2007-10-24). Microsoft acquires equity stake in Facebook, expands ad partnership. CNet. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
^ Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer (2007-10-24). Microsoft Buys Facebook Stake for $240M. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
^ Facebook Terms of Use May 24, 2007
^ Morgan, Lauren. "Facebook can hurt employment chances", The Red and Black (University of Georgia), 2005-12-05. Retrieved on 2005-12-09.
^ Yacoub Oweis, Khaled & Aboudi, Sami (November 23), "Syria blocks Facebook in Internet crackdown", Reuters, <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071123/wl_nm/syria_facebook_dc_1>
^ "Syrian gov't blocks use of Facebook", The Jerusalem Post, November 24, 2007.
^ Fort, Caleb. "CIRT blocks access to Facebook.com", Daily Lobo (University of New Mexico), 2005-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ "Popular web site, Facebook.com, back online at UNM", University of New Mexico, 2006-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
^ Loew, Ryan. "Kent banning athlete Web profiles", The Columbus Dispatch, June 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
^ "Organizations blocking facebook", CTV news.
^ Facebook banned for Ontario staffers: Bureaucrats, MPPs can't visit social website from their work computers May 3, 2007.
^ Ontario politicians close the book on Facebook by Omar Ha-Redeye
^ Net generation grieves with Facebook postings
^ On Facebook, life after death
^ Suspect in Souers' Death in Maximum Security Prison
^ Prott, Dylan. "Son, friend remembered as 'free spirit'", College Heights Herald, 2006-11-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-14.
^ Iorg, Emily. "Student Colby McLain remembered", University News, 2005-12-05. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Batista, Sarah. "UVA Student Remembered", Charlottesville Newsplex, 2005-11-21. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Negrin, Matt. "University responds to SMG junior's death", Daily Free Press, 2005-11-21. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Gardner-Quinn, Michelle. "UVM Memorializes Slain Student", Burlington Free Press, 2006-10-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Bernhard, Stephanie. "Community mourns death of Pagan '06", Brown Daily Herald, 2006-01-25. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
^ Ohio State U.: Facebook used as a memorial to remember Ohio State U. student..
^ Kristina Kelleher, Facebook profiles become makeshift memorials, The Brown Daily Herald, 2007-02-22
^ "USAToday article", USAToday, 2007-05-08.
^ "Facebook proves problematic for police", The Globe and Mail, January 5, 2008.
^ "Angry Facebook Users Illegally Leaked the Names of Accused Underage Murderers", Digital Journal, January 5, 2008.
^ Laverdet, Marcel (2006-02-26). Why XSS is my favorite type of vulnerability. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Romero, John. The Super Facebook Saga. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
^ Facelifting the Facebook (2006-03-26). Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
^ Defacing Facebook (1007-07-27). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
^ Defacing Facebook (1007-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
^ Facebook Tries to Fend Off Copyright-Infringement Claim: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will defend against copyright-infringement allegations tomorrow July 24 2007]].
^ Facebook site faces fraud claim (HTML). BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ Who Founded Facebook? A New Claim Emerges (HTML). NY Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
^ Smith, Josh (2005). Big Brothers, Big Facebook: Your Orwellian Community. The Color of Infinity. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. (mirrored on Common Ground Common Sense Forums)
^ a b Facebook Privacy Policy (2007-08-12). Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
^ Morse, Jacob (2006). Facebook Responds. Cogito. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
^ Jones, Harvey, & José Hiram Soltren (2005). "Facebook: Threats to Privacy". (PDF)
^ Peterson, Chris. "Who's Reading Your Facebook?", The Virginia Informer, 2006-02-13.
^ Hoffman, Harrison. "Facebook's source code goes public", CNET News.com, 2007-08-12.
^ Richards, Jonathan. "Facebook Source Code Leaked Onto Internet", FOX, 2007-08-14.
^ "Facebook's PHP leak SNAFU", Computer World, 2007-08-14.
^ Cubrilovic, Nik. "Facebook Source Code Leaked", TechCrunch, 2007-08-11.
^ Get a life and allow your staff to use Facebook (Times Online)
^ "Facebook Opens Profiles to Public", BBC Online, 2007-09-07.
^ Facebook Security, BBC Watchdog 2007-10-24
^ Agarwal, Aditya (2007-07-05). Do we really need to write our own search engine?. The Facebook Blog. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
^ Facebook (2007-09-17). London Calling. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
^ London network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)
^ Toronto network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)
^ Ohio State network on Facebook
^ Minnesota network on Facebook
^ Texas A&M network on Facebook
^ Penn State network on Facebook
^ Sidenote: All appear on the list of largest United States universities by enrollment.
^ Facebook Photos Infrastructure May 21, 2007.
^ "Facebook Extends Lead As Fave Young Adult Site", eMarketer, 2007-03-02.
^ Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2007. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
External links
http://www.facebook.com/
The Facebook Blog
http://blog.facebook.com/
Facebook Platform
http://developers.facebook.com/
資料來源：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook
2008年2月6日 星期三
Life insurance
Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual's or individuals' death. In return, the policy owner (or policy payer) agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals or in lump sums (so-called "paid up" insurance). There may be designs in some countries where: (Assets, Bills, and death expenses plus catering for after funeral expenses should be included in Policy Premium. Anyone whose assets equal more than the value of their primary residence should not be compensated beyond that value in case they cannot sell their house. In the case of those whose lost their spouse should be compensated also for one full year the wages of their spouse which would or should be included to avoid lawsuits.) However in the United States, the predominant form simply specifies a lump sum to be paid on the insured's demise.
As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy.
Insured events that may be covered include:
death
accidental death
sickness
Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide (after 2 years suicide has to be paid in full)(in India after one year Suicide is covered), fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.
Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance. Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US anyway) are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.
Parties to contract
There is a difference between the insured and the policy owner (policy holder), although the owner and the insured are often the same person. For example, if Joe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. But if Jane, his wife, buys a policy on Joe's life, she is the owner and he is the insured. The policy owner is the guarantee and he or she will be the person who will pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it.
The beneficiary receives policy proceeds upon the insured's death. The owner designates the beneficiary, but the beneficiary is not a party to the policy. The owner may change the beneficiary unless the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary designation. With an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary must agree to any beneficiary changes, policy assignments, or cash value borrowing.
In cases where the policy owner is not the insured (also referred to as the cestui qui vit or CQV), insurance companies have sought to limit policy purchases to those with an "insurable interest" in the CQV. For life insurance policies, close family members and business partners will usually be found to have an insurable interest. The "insurable interest" requirement usually demonstrates that the purchaser will actually suffer some kind of loss if the CQV dies. Such a requirement prevents people from benefiting from the purchase of purely speculative policies on people they expect to die. With no insurable interest requirement, the risk that a purchaser would murder the CQV for insurance proceeds would be great. In at least one case, an insurance company which sold a policy to a purchaser with no insurable interest (who later murdered the CQV for the proceeds), was found liable in court for contributing to the wrongful death of the victim (Liberty National Life v. Weldon, 267 Ala.171 (1957)).
[edit] Contract terms
Special provisions may apply, such as suicide clauses wherein the policy becomes null if the insured commits suicide within a specified time (usually two years after the purchase date; some states provide a statutory one-year suicide clause). Any misrepresentations by the insured on the application is also grounds for nullification. Most US states specify that the contestability period cannot be longer than two years; only if the insured dies within this period will the insurer have a legal right to contest the claim on the basis of misrepresentation and request additional information before deciding to pay or deny the claim.
The face amount on the policy is the initial amount that the policy will pay at the death of the insured or when the policy matures, although the actual death benefit can provide for greater or lesser than the face amount. The policy matures when the insured dies or reaches a specified age (such as 100 years old).
[edit] Costs, insurability, and underwriting
The insurer (the life insurance company) calculates the policy prices with an intent to fund claims to be paid and administrative costs, and to make a profit. The cost of insurance is determined using mortality tables calculated by actuaries. Actuaries are professionals who employ actuarial science, which is based in mathematics (primarily probability and statistics). Mortality tables are statistically-based tables showing expected annual mortality rates. It is possible to derive life expectancy estimates from these mortality assumptions. Such estimates can be important in taxation regulation.[1] [2]
The three main variables in a mortality table have been age, gender, and use of tobacco. More recently in the US, preferred class specific tables were introduced. The mortality tables provide a baseline for the cost of insurance. In practice, these mortality tables are used in conjunction with the health and family history of the individual applying for a policy in order to determine premiums and insurability. Mortality tables currently in use by life insurance companies in the United States are individually modified by each company using pooled industry experience studies as a starting point. In the 1980s and 90's the SOA 1975-80 Basic Select & Ultimate tables were the typical reference points, while the 2001 VBT and 2001 CSO tables were published more recently. The newer tables include separate mortality tables for smokers and non-smokers and the CSO tables include separate tables for preferred classes. [3]
Recent US select mortality tables predict that roughly 0.35 in 1,000 non-smoking males aged 25 will die during the first year of coverage after underwriting.[2] Mortality approximately doubles for every extra ten years of age so that the mortality rate in the first year for underwritten non-smoking men is about 2.5 in 1,000 people at age 65.[3] Compare this with the US population male mortality rates of 1.3 per 1,000 at age 25 and 19.3 at age 65 (without regard to health or smoking status).[4]
The mortality of underwritten persons rises much more quickly than the general population. At the end of 10 years the mortality of that 25 year-old, non-smoking male is 0.66/1000/year. Consequently, in a group of one thousand 25 year old males with a $100,000 policy, all of average health, a life insurance company would have to collect approximately $50 a year from each of a large group to cover the relatively few expected claims. (0.35 to 0.66 expected deaths in each year x $100,000 payout per death = $35 per policy). Administrative and sales commissions need to be accounted for in order for this to make business sense. A 10 year policy for a 25 year old non-smoking male person with preferred medical history may get offers as low as $90 per year for a $100,000 policy in the competitive US life insurance market.
The insurance company receives the premiums from the policy owner and invests them to create a pool of money from which it can pay claims and finance the insurance company's operations. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the money that insurance companies make comes directly from premiums paid, as money gained through investment of premiums can never, in even the most ideal market conditions, vest enough money per year to pay out claims.[citation needed] Rates charged for life insurance increase with the insured's age because, statistically, people are more likely to die as they get older.
Given that adverse selection can have a negative impact on the insurer's financial situation, the insurer investigates each proposed insured individual unless the policy is below a company-established minimum amount, beginning with the application process. Group Insurance policies are an exception.
This investigation and resulting evaluation of the risk is termed underwriting. Health and lifestyle questions are asked. Certain responses or information received may merit further investigation. Life insurance companies in the United States support the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) [4], which is a clearinghouse of information on persons who have applied for life insurance with participating companies in the last seven years. As part of the application, the insurer receives permission to obtain information from the proposed insured's physicians.[5]
Underwriters will determine the purpose of insurance. The most common is to protect the owner's family or financial interests in the event of the insured's demise. Other purposes include estate planning or, in the case of cash-value contracts, investment for retirement planning. Bank loans or buy-sell provisions of business agreements are another acceptable purpose.
Life insurance companies are never required by law to underwrite or to provide coverage to anyone, with the exception of Civil Rights Act compliance requirements. Insurance companies alone determine insurability, and some people, for their own health or lifestyle reasons, are deemed uninsurable. The policy can be declined (turned down) or rated.[citation needed] Rating increases the premiums to provide for additional risks relative to the particular insured.[citation needed]
Many companies use four general health categories for those evaluated for a life insurance policy. These categories are Preferred Best, Preferred, Standard, and Tobacco.[citation needed] Preferred Best is reserved only for the healthiest individuals in the general population. This means, for instance, that the proposed insured has no adverse medical history, is not under medication for any condition, and his family (immediate and extended) have no history of early cancer, diabetes, or other conditions.[citation needed] Preferred means that the proposed insured is currently under medication for a medical condition and has a family history of particular illnesses.[citation needed] Most people are in the Standard category.[citation needed] Profession, travel, and lifestyle factor into whether the proposed insured will be granted a policy, and which category the insured falls. For example, a person who would otherwise be classified as Preferred Best may be denied a policy if he or she travels to a high risk country.[citation needed] Underwriting practices can vary from insurer to insurer which provide for more competitive offers in certain circumstances.
Life insurance contracts are written on the basis of utmost good faith. That is, the proposer and the insurer both accept that the other is acting in good faith. This means that the proposer can assume the contract offers what it represents without having to fine comb the small print and the insurer assumes the proposer is being honest when providing details to underwriter.[citation needed]
[edit] Death proceeds
Upon the insured's death, the insurer requires acceptable proof of death before it pays the claim. The normal minimum proof required is a death certificate and the insurer's claim form completed, signed (and typically notarized).[citation needed] If the insured's death is suspicious and the policy amount is large, the insurer may investigate the circumstances surrounding the death before deciding whether it has an obligation to pay the claim.
Proceeds from the policy may be paid as a lump sum or as an annuity, which is paid over time in regular recurring payments for either a specified period or for a beneficiary's lifetime.[citation needed]
[edit] Insurance vs. assurance
Outside the United States, the specific uses of the terms "insurance" and "assurance" are sometimes confused. In general, in these jurisdictions "insurance" refers to providing cover for an event that might happen, while "assurance" is the provision of cover for an event that is certain to happen. However, in the United States both forms of coverage are called "insurance".
When a person insures the contents of their home they do so because of events that might happen (fire, theft, flood, etc.) They hope their home will never be burglarized, or burn down, but they want to ensure that they are financially protected if the worst happens. This example of Insurance shows how it is a way of spending a little money to protect against the risk of having to spend a lot of money.
When a person insures their life they do so knowing that one day they will die. Therefore a policy that covers death is assured to make a payment. The policy offers assurance on death; even if the policy has a prescribed termination date the policy is still assured to pay on death and therefore is an assurance policy. Examples include Term Assurance and Whole Life Assurance. An accidental death policy is not assured to pay on death as the life insured may not die through an accident, therefore it is an insurance policy.
A policy might also be assured for other reasons. For example an endowment policy is designed to provide a lump sum on maturity. Under certain types of policy the lump sum is guaranteed. Therefore, this may also be called an assurance policy.
The test of whether a policy is assurance or insurance is that with an assurance policy the insured event will definitely occur (at some point) whereas with an insurance policy there is a risk the insured event might occur.
With regard to Whole Life policies, the question is not whether the insured event (in this case death) will occur, but simply when. If the policy has nonforfeiture values (or cash values) then the policy is assured to pay.
During recent years, the distinction between the two terms has become largely blurred. This is principally due to many companies offering both types of policy, and rather than refer to themselves using both insurance and assurance titles, they instead use just one.
[edit] Types of life insurance
Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes – temporary and permanent or following subclasses - term, universal, whole life, variable, variable universal and endowment life insurance.
[edit] Temporary (Term)
Term life insurance (term assurance in British English) provides for life insurance coverage for a specified term of years for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. (See Theory of Decreasing Responsibility and buy term and invest the difference.) Term insurance premiums are typically low because both the insurer and the policy owner agree that the death of the insured is unlikely during the term of coverage.
The three key factors to be considered in term insurance are: face amount (protection or death benefit), premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and length of coverage (term).
Various (U.S.) insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. A common type of term is called annual renewable term. It is a one year policy but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of equal or lesser amount without regard to the insurability of the insured and with a premium set for the insured's age at that time. Another common type of term insurance is mortgage insurance, which is usually a level premium, declining face value policy. The face amount is intended to equal the amount of the mortgage on the policy owner’s residence so the mortgage will be paid if the insured dies.
A policy holder insures his life for a specified term. If he dies before that specified term is up, his estate or named beneficiary(ies) receive(s) a payout. If he does not die before the term is up, he receives nothing. In the past these policies would almost always exclude suicide. However, after a number of court judgments against the industry, payouts do occur on death by suicide (presumably except for in the unlikely case that it can be shown that the suicide was just to benefit from the policy). Generally, if an insured person commits suicide within the first two policy years, the insurer will return the premiums paid. However, a death benefit will usually be paid if the suicide occurs after the two year period.
[edit] Permanent
Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains in force (in-line) until the policy matures (pays out), unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due (the policy expires). The policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except fraud in the application, and that cancellation must occur within a period of time defined by law (usually two years). Permanent insurance builds a cash value that reduces the amount at risk to the insurance company and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollars face value can be relatively inexpensive to a 70 year old because the actual amount of insurance purchased is much less than one million dollars. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.
The three basic types of permanent insurance are whole life, universal life, and endowment.
[edit] Whole life coverage
Whole life insurance provides for a level premium, and a cash value table included in the policy guaranteed by the company. The primary advantages of whole life are guaranteed death benefits, guaranteed cash values, fixed and known annual premiums, and mortality and expense charges will not reduce the cash value shown in the policy. The primary disadvantages of whole life are premium inflexibility, and the internal rate of return in the policy may not be competitive with other savings alternatives. Riders are available that can allow one to increase the death benefit by paying additional premium. The death benefit can also be increased through the use of policy dividends. Dividends cannot be guaranteed and may be higher or lower than historical rates over time. Premiums are much higher than term insurance in the short-term, but cumulative premiums are roughly equal if policies are kept in force until average life expectancy.
Cash value can be accessed at any time through policy "loans". Since these loans decrease the death benefit if not paid back, payback is optional. Cash values are not paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured; the beneficiary receives the death benefit only. If the dividend option: Paid up additions is elected, dividend cash values will purchase additional death benefit which will increase the death benefit of the policy to the named beneficiary.
[edit] Universal life coverage
Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product intended to provide permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment and the potential for a higher internal rate of return. A universal life policy includes a cash account. Premiums increase the cash account. Interest is paid within the policy (credited) on the account at a rate specified by the company. This rate has a guaranteed minimum but usually is higher than that minimum. Mortality charges and administrative costs are charged against (reduce) the cash account. The surrender value of the policy is the amount remaining in the cash account less applicable surrender charges, if any.
With all life insurance, there are basically two functions that make it work. There's a mortality function and a cash function. The mortality function would be the classical notion of pooling risk where the premiums paid by everybody else would cover the death benefit for the one or two who will die for a given period of time. The cash function inherent in all life insurance says that if a person is to reach age 95 to 100 (the age varies depending on state and company), then the policy matures and endows the face value of the policy.
Actuarially, it is reasoned that out of a group of 1000 people, if even 10 of them live to age 95, then the mortality function alone will not be able to cover the cash function. So in order to cover the cash function, a minimum rate of investment return on the premiums will be required in the event that a policy matures.
Universal life policies guarantee, to some extent, the death proceeds, but not the cash function - thus the flexible premiums and interest returns. If interest rates are high, then the dividends help reduce premiums. If interest rates are low, then the customer would have to pay additional premiums in order to keep the policy in force. When interest rates are above the minimum required, then the customer has the flexibility to pay less as investment returns cover the remainder to keep the policy in force.
The universal life policy addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life. Premiums are flexible. The internal rate of return is usually higher because it moves with the financial markets. Mortality costs and administrative charges are known. And cash value may be considered more easily attainable because the owner can discontinue premiums if the cash value allows it. And universal life has a more flexible death benefit because the owner can select one of two death benefit options, Option A and Option B.
Option A pays the face amount at death as it's designed to have the cash value equal the death benefit at age 95. Option B pays the face amount plus the cash value, as it's designed to increase the net death benefit as cash values accumulate. Option B does carry with it a caveat. This caveat is that in order for the policy to keep its tax favored life insurance status, it must stay within a corridor specified by state and federal laws that prevent abuses such as attaching a million dollars in cash value to a two dollar insurance policy. The interesting part about this corridor is that for those people who can make it to age 95-100, this corridor requirement goes away and your cash value can equal exactly the face amount of insurance. If this corridor is ever violated, then the universal life policy will be treated as, and in effect turn into, a Modified Endowment Contract (or more commonly referred to as a MEC).
But universal life has its own disadvantages which stem primarily from this flexibility. The policy lacks the fundamental guarantee that the policy will be in force unless sufficient premiums have been paid and cash values are not guaranteed.
Universal life policies are sometimes erroneously referred to as self-sustaining policies. In the 1980s, when interest rates were high, the cash value accumulated at a more accelerated rate, and universal life coverage was often sold by agents as a policy that could be self-paying. Many policies did sustain themselves for a prolonged period, but the combination of lower interest rates and an increasing cost of insurance as the insured ages meant that for many policies, the cash option was diminished or depleted.
Variable universal life Insurance (VUL) is not the same as universal life, even though they both have cash values attached to them. These differences are in how the cash accounts are managed; thus having a great effect on how they are treated for taxation. The cash account within a VUL is held in the insurer's "separate account" (generally in mutual funds, managed by a fund manager).
[edit] Limited-pay
Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to keep the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and paid-up at age 65.
[edit] Endowments
Main article: Endowment policy
Endowments are policies in which the cash value built up inside the policy, equals the death benefit (face amount) at a certain age. The age this commences is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier.
In the United States, the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules as annuities and IRAs do.
Endowment Insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age (e.g. 65).
[edit] Accidental death
Accidental death is a limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured when they pass away due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury, but do not typically cover any deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurances.
It is also very commonly offered as "accidental death and dismemberment insurance", also known as an AD&D policy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for loss of limbs or bodily functions such as sight and hearing, etc.
Accidental death and AD&D policies very rarely pay a benefit; either the cause of death is not covered, or the coverage is not maintained after the accident until death occurs. To be aware of what coverage they have, an insured should always review their policy for what it covers and what it excludes. Often, it does not cover an insured who puts themselves at risk in activities such as: parachuting, flying an airplane, professional sports, or involvement in a war (military or not). Also, some insurers will exclude death and injury caused by proximate causes due to (but not limited to) racing on wheels and mountaineering.
Accidental death benefits can also be added to a standard life insurance policy as a rider. If this rider is purchased, the policy will generally pay double the face amount if the insured dies due to an accident. This used to be commonly referred to as a double indemnity coverage. In some cases, some companies may even offer a triple indemnity cover.
[edit] Related life insurance products
Riders are modifications to the insurance policy added at the same time the policy is issued. These riders change the basic policy to provide some feature desired by the policy owner. A common rider is accidental death, which used to be commonly referred to as "double indemnity", which pays twice the amount of the policy face value if death results from accidental causes, as if both a full coverage policy and an accidental death policy were in effect on the insured. Another common rider is premium waiver, which waives future premiums if the insured becomes disabled.
Joint life insurance is either a term or permanent policy insuring two or more lives with the proceeds payable on the first death.
Survivorship life or second-to-die life is a whole life policy insuring two lives with the proceeds payable on the second (later) death.
Single premium whole life is a policy with only one premium which is payable at the time the policy is issued.
Modified whole life is a whole life policy that charges smaller premiums for a specified period of time after which the premiums increase for the remainder of the policy.
Group life insurance is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company or members of a union or association. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size and turnover of the group, and the financial strength of the group. Contract provisions will attempt to exclude the possibility of adverse selection. Group life insurance often has a provision that a member exiting the group has the right to buy individual insurance coverage.
[edit] Senior and preneed products
Insurance companies have in recent years developed products to offer to niche markets, most notably targeting the senior market to address needs of an aging population. Many companies offer policies tailored to the needs of senior applicants. These are often low to moderate face value whole life insurance policies, to allow a senior citizen purchasing insurance at an older issue age an opportunity to buy affordable insurance. This may also be marketed as final expense insurance, and an agent or company may suggest (but not require) that the policy proceeds could be used for end-of-life expenses.
Preneed (or prepaid) insurance policies are whole life policies that, although available at any age, are usually offered to older applicants as well. This type of insurance is designed specifically to cover funeral expenses when the insured person dies. In many cases, the applicant signs a prefunded funeral arrangement with a funeral home at the time the policy is applied for. The death proceeds are then guaranteed to be directed first to the funeral services provider for payment of services rendered. Most contracts dictate that any excess proceeds will go either to the insured's estate or a designated beneficiary.
These products are sometimes assigned into a trust at the time of issue, or shortly after issue. The policies are irrevocably assigned to the trust, and the trust becomes the owner. Since a whole life policy has a cash value component, and a loan provision, it may be considered an asset; assigning the policy to a trust means that it can no longer be considered an asset for that individual. This can impact an individual's ability to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.
[edit] Investment policies
[edit] With-profits policies
Main article: With-profits policy
Some policies allow the policyholder to participate in the profits of the insurance company these are with-profits policies. Other policies have no rights to participate in the profits of the company, these are non-profit policies.
With-profits policies are used as a form of collective investment to achieve capital growth. Other policies offer a guaranteed return not dependent on the company's underlying investment performance; these are often referred to as without-profit policies which may be construed as a misnomer.
[edit] Insurance/Investment Bonds
Main article: Insurance bond
[edit] Pensions
Pensions are a form of life assurance. However, whilst basic life assurance, permanent health insurance and non-pensions annuity business includes an amount of mortality or morbidity risk for the insurer, for pensions there is a longevity risk.
A pension fund will be built up throughout a person's working life. When the person retires, the pension will become in payment, and at some stage the pensioner will buy an annuity contract, which will guarantee a certain pay-out each month until death.
[edit] Annuities
An annuity is a contract with an insurance company whereby the purchaser pays an initial premium or premiums into a tax-deferred account, which pays out a sum at pre-determined intervals. There are two periods: the accumulation (when payments are paid into the account) and the annuitization (when the insurance company pays out). For example, a policy holder may pay £10,000, and in return receive £150 each month until he dies; or £1,000 for each of 14 years or death benefits if he dies before the full term of the annuity has elapsed. Tax penalties and insurance company surrender charges may apply to premature withdrawals (if indeed these are allowed; in most markets outside the U.S. the policy owner has no right to end the contract prematurely).
[edit] Tax and life insurance
[edit] Taxation of life insurance in the United States
Premiums paid by the policy owner are normally not deductible for federal and state income tax purposes.
Proceeds paid by the insurer upon death of the insured are not includible in taxable income for federal and state income tax purposes; however, if the proceeds are included in the "estate" of the deceased, it is likely they will be subject to federal and state estate and inheritance tax.
Cash value increases within the policy are not subject to income taxes unless certain events occur. For this reason, insurance policies can be a legal and legitimate tax shelter wherein savings can increase without taxation until the owner withdraws the money from the policy. On flexible-premium policies, large deposits of premium could cause the contract to be considered a "Modified Endowment Contract" by the IRS, which negates many of the tax advantages associated with life insurance. The insurance company, in most cases, will inform the policy owner of this danger before applying their premium.
Tax deferred benefit from a life insurance policy may be offset by its low return or high cost in some cases. This depends upon the insuring company, type of policy and other variables (mortality, market return, etc.). Also, other income tax saving vehicles (i.e. IRA, 401K or Roth IRA) appear to be better alternatives for value accumulation, at least for more sophisticated investors who can keep track of multiple financial vehicles. The combination of low-cost term life insurance and higher return tax-efficient retirement accounts can achieve better performance, assuming that the insurance itself is only needed for a limited amount of time.
The tax ramifications of life insurance are complex. The policy owner would be well advised to carefully consider them. As always, Congress or the state legislatures can change the tax laws at any time.
[edit] Taxation of life assurance in the United Kingdom
Premiums are not usually allowable against income tax or corporation tax, however qualifying policies issued prior to 14 March 1984 do still attract LAPR (Life Assurance Premium Relief) at 15% (with the net premium being collected from the policyholder).
Non-investment life policies do not normally attract either income tax or capital gains tax on claim. If the policy has as investment element such as an endowment policy, whole of life policy or an investment bond then the tax treatment is determined by the qualifying status of the policy.
Qualifying status is determined at the outset of the policy if the contract meets certain criteria. Essentially, long term contracts (10 years plus) tend to be qualifying policies and the proceeds are free from income tax and capital gains tax. Single premium contracts and those run for a short term are subject to income tax depending upon your marginal rate in the year you make a gain. All (UK) insurers pay a special rate of corporation tax on the profits from their life book; this is deemed as meeting the lower rate (20% in 2005-06) liability for policyholders. Therefore if you are a higher rate taxpayer (40% in 2005-06), or become one through the transaction, you must pay tax on the gain at the difference between the higher and the lower rate. This gain may be reduced by applying a complicated calculation called top-slicing based on the number of years you have held the policy.
Although this is complicated, the taxation of life assurance based investment contracts may be beneficial compared to alternative equity based collective investment schemes (unit trusts, investment trusts and OEICs). One feature which especially favors investment bonds is the ability to draw 5% of the original investment amount each policy year without being subject to any taxation on the amount withdrawn. The withdrawal is deemed by HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) to be a payment of capital and therefore the tax calculation is deferred until further encashment above the 5% limit. This is an especially useful tax planning tool for higher rate taxpayers who expect to become basic rate taxpayers at some predictable point in the future (e.g. retirement).
The proceeds of a life policy will be included in the estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. Policies written in trust may fall outside the estate for IHT purposes but it's not always that simple. If in doubt you should seek profession advice from an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) who is registered with the government regulator: the Financial Services Authority.
[edit] Pension Term Assurance
Although available before April 2006, from this date pension term assurance became widely available in the UK. Most UK product providers adopted the name "life insurance with tax relief" for the product. Pension term assurance is effectively normal term life assurance with tax relief on the premiums. All premiums are paid net of basic rate tax at 22%, and higher rate tax payers can gain an extra 18% tax relief via their tax return. Although not suitable for all, PTA briefly became one of the most common forms of life assurance sold in the UK until the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced the withdrawal of the scheme in his pre-budget announcement on 6 December 2006. The tax relief ceased to be available to new policies transacted after 6 December 2006, however, existing policies have been allowed to continue to enjoy tax relief so far.
[edit] History
Insurance began as a way of reducing the risk of traders, as early as 5000 BC in China and 4500 BC in Babylon. Life insurance dates only to ancient Rome; "burial clubs" covered the cost of members' funeral expenses and helped survivors monetarily. Modern life insurance started in late 17th century England, originally as insurance for traders: merchants, ship owners and underwriters met to discuss deals at Lloyd's Coffee House, predecessor to the famous Lloyd's of London.
The first insurance company in the United States was formed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1732, but it provided only fire insurance. The sale of life insurance in the U.S. began in the late 1760s. The Presbyterian Synods in Philadelphia and New York created the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers in 1759; Episcopalian priests organized a similar fund in 1769. Between 1787 and 1837 more than two dozen life insurance companies were started, but fewer than half a dozen survived.
Prior to the American Civil War, many insurance companies in the United States insured the lives of slaves for their owners. In response to bills passed in California in 2001 and in Illinois in 2003, the companies have been required to search their records for such policies. New York Life for example reported that Nautilus sold 485 slaveholder life insurance policies during a two-year period in the 1840s; they added that their trustees voted to end the sale of such policies 15 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.
[edit] Market trends
Life insurance premiums written in 2005According to a study by Swiss Re, EU was the largest market for life insurance premiums written in 2005 followed by the USA and Japan.
[edit] Criticism
Although some aspects of the application process (such as underwriting and insurable interest provisions) make it difficult, life insurance policies have been used in cases of exploitation and fraud. In the case of life insurance, there is a motivation to purchase a life insurance policy, particularly if the face value is substantial, and then kill the insured.
The television series Forensic Files has included episodes that feature this scenario. There was also a documented case in 2006, where two elderly women are accused of taking in homeless men and assisting them. As part of their assistance, they took out life insurance on the men. After the contestability period ended on the policies (most life contracts have a standard contestability period of two years), the women are alleged to have had the men killed via hit-and-run car crashes.[6]
Recently, viatical settlements have thrown the life insurance industry into turmoil. A viatical settlement involves the purchase of a life insurance policy from an elderly or terminally ill policy holder. The policy holder sells the policy (including the right to name the beneficiary) to a purchaser for a price discounted from the policy value. The seller has cash in hand, and the purchaser will realize a profit when the seller dies and the proceeds are delivered to the purchaser. In the meantime, the purchaser continues to pay the premiums. Although both parties have reached an agreeable settlement, insurers are troubled by this trend. Insurers calculate their rates with the assumption that a certain portion of policy holders will seek to redeem the cash value of their insurance policies before death. They also expect that a certain portion will stop paying premiums and forfeit their policies. However, viatical settlements ensure that such policies will with absolute certainty be paid out. Some purchasers, in order to take advantage of the potentially large profits, have even actively sought to collude with uninsured elderly and terminally ill patients, and created policies that would have not otherwise been purchased. Likewise, these policies are guaranteed losses from the insurers' perspective.
資料來源：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Insurance
As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy.
Insured events that may be covered include:
death
accidental death
sickness
Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide (after 2 years suicide has to be paid in full)(in India after one year Suicide is covered), fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.
Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance. Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US anyway) are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.
Parties to contract
There is a difference between the insured and the policy owner (policy holder), although the owner and the insured are often the same person. For example, if Joe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. But if Jane, his wife, buys a policy on Joe's life, she is the owner and he is the insured. The policy owner is the guarantee and he or she will be the person who will pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it.
The beneficiary receives policy proceeds upon the insured's death. The owner designates the beneficiary, but the beneficiary is not a party to the policy. The owner may change the beneficiary unless the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary designation. With an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary must agree to any beneficiary changes, policy assignments, or cash value borrowing.
In cases where the policy owner is not the insured (also referred to as the cestui qui vit or CQV), insurance companies have sought to limit policy purchases to those with an "insurable interest" in the CQV. For life insurance policies, close family members and business partners will usually be found to have an insurable interest. The "insurable interest" requirement usually demonstrates that the purchaser will actually suffer some kind of loss if the CQV dies. Such a requirement prevents people from benefiting from the purchase of purely speculative policies on people they expect to die. With no insurable interest requirement, the risk that a purchaser would murder the CQV for insurance proceeds would be great. In at least one case, an insurance company which sold a policy to a purchaser with no insurable interest (who later murdered the CQV for the proceeds), was found liable in court for contributing to the wrongful death of the victim (Liberty National Life v. Weldon, 267 Ala.171 (1957)).
[edit] Contract terms
Special provisions may apply, such as suicide clauses wherein the policy becomes null if the insured commits suicide within a specified time (usually two years after the purchase date; some states provide a statutory one-year suicide clause). Any misrepresentations by the insured on the application is also grounds for nullification. Most US states specify that the contestability period cannot be longer than two years; only if the insured dies within this period will the insurer have a legal right to contest the claim on the basis of misrepresentation and request additional information before deciding to pay or deny the claim.
The face amount on the policy is the initial amount that the policy will pay at the death of the insured or when the policy matures, although the actual death benefit can provide for greater or lesser than the face amount. The policy matures when the insured dies or reaches a specified age (such as 100 years old).
[edit] Costs, insurability, and underwriting
The insurer (the life insurance company) calculates the policy prices with an intent to fund claims to be paid and administrative costs, and to make a profit. The cost of insurance is determined using mortality tables calculated by actuaries. Actuaries are professionals who employ actuarial science, which is based in mathematics (primarily probability and statistics). Mortality tables are statistically-based tables showing expected annual mortality rates. It is possible to derive life expectancy estimates from these mortality assumptions. Such estimates can be important in taxation regulation.[1] [2]
The three main variables in a mortality table have been age, gender, and use of tobacco. More recently in the US, preferred class specific tables were introduced. The mortality tables provide a baseline for the cost of insurance. In practice, these mortality tables are used in conjunction with the health and family history of the individual applying for a policy in order to determine premiums and insurability. Mortality tables currently in use by life insurance companies in the United States are individually modified by each company using pooled industry experience studies as a starting point. In the 1980s and 90's the SOA 1975-80 Basic Select & Ultimate tables were the typical reference points, while the 2001 VBT and 2001 CSO tables were published more recently. The newer tables include separate mortality tables for smokers and non-smokers and the CSO tables include separate tables for preferred classes. [3]
Recent US select mortality tables predict that roughly 0.35 in 1,000 non-smoking males aged 25 will die during the first year of coverage after underwriting.[2] Mortality approximately doubles for every extra ten years of age so that the mortality rate in the first year for underwritten non-smoking men is about 2.5 in 1,000 people at age 65.[3] Compare this with the US population male mortality rates of 1.3 per 1,000 at age 25 and 19.3 at age 65 (without regard to health or smoking status).[4]
The mortality of underwritten persons rises much more quickly than the general population. At the end of 10 years the mortality of that 25 year-old, non-smoking male is 0.66/1000/year. Consequently, in a group of one thousand 25 year old males with a $100,000 policy, all of average health, a life insurance company would have to collect approximately $50 a year from each of a large group to cover the relatively few expected claims. (0.35 to 0.66 expected deaths in each year x $100,000 payout per death = $35 per policy). Administrative and sales commissions need to be accounted for in order for this to make business sense. A 10 year policy for a 25 year old non-smoking male person with preferred medical history may get offers as low as $90 per year for a $100,000 policy in the competitive US life insurance market.
The insurance company receives the premiums from the policy owner and invests them to create a pool of money from which it can pay claims and finance the insurance company's operations. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the money that insurance companies make comes directly from premiums paid, as money gained through investment of premiums can never, in even the most ideal market conditions, vest enough money per year to pay out claims.[citation needed] Rates charged for life insurance increase with the insured's age because, statistically, people are more likely to die as they get older.
Given that adverse selection can have a negative impact on the insurer's financial situation, the insurer investigates each proposed insured individual unless the policy is below a company-established minimum amount, beginning with the application process. Group Insurance policies are an exception.
This investigation and resulting evaluation of the risk is termed underwriting. Health and lifestyle questions are asked. Certain responses or information received may merit further investigation. Life insurance companies in the United States support the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) [4], which is a clearinghouse of information on persons who have applied for life insurance with participating companies in the last seven years. As part of the application, the insurer receives permission to obtain information from the proposed insured's physicians.[5]
Underwriters will determine the purpose of insurance. The most common is to protect the owner's family or financial interests in the event of the insured's demise. Other purposes include estate planning or, in the case of cash-value contracts, investment for retirement planning. Bank loans or buy-sell provisions of business agreements are another acceptable purpose.
Life insurance companies are never required by law to underwrite or to provide coverage to anyone, with the exception of Civil Rights Act compliance requirements. Insurance companies alone determine insurability, and some people, for their own health or lifestyle reasons, are deemed uninsurable. The policy can be declined (turned down) or rated.[citation needed] Rating increases the premiums to provide for additional risks relative to the particular insured.[citation needed]
Many companies use four general health categories for those evaluated for a life insurance policy. These categories are Preferred Best, Preferred, Standard, and Tobacco.[citation needed] Preferred Best is reserved only for the healthiest individuals in the general population. This means, for instance, that the proposed insured has no adverse medical history, is not under medication for any condition, and his family (immediate and extended) have no history of early cancer, diabetes, or other conditions.[citation needed] Preferred means that the proposed insured is currently under medication for a medical condition and has a family history of particular illnesses.[citation needed] Most people are in the Standard category.[citation needed] Profession, travel, and lifestyle factor into whether the proposed insured will be granted a policy, and which category the insured falls. For example, a person who would otherwise be classified as Preferred Best may be denied a policy if he or she travels to a high risk country.[citation needed] Underwriting practices can vary from insurer to insurer which provide for more competitive offers in certain circumstances.
Life insurance contracts are written on the basis of utmost good faith. That is, the proposer and the insurer both accept that the other is acting in good faith. This means that the proposer can assume the contract offers what it represents without having to fine comb the small print and the insurer assumes the proposer is being honest when providing details to underwriter.[citation needed]
[edit] Death proceeds
Upon the insured's death, the insurer requires acceptable proof of death before it pays the claim. The normal minimum proof required is a death certificate and the insurer's claim form completed, signed (and typically notarized).[citation needed] If the insured's death is suspicious and the policy amount is large, the insurer may investigate the circumstances surrounding the death before deciding whether it has an obligation to pay the claim.
Proceeds from the policy may be paid as a lump sum or as an annuity, which is paid over time in regular recurring payments for either a specified period or for a beneficiary's lifetime.[citation needed]
[edit] Insurance vs. assurance
Outside the United States, the specific uses of the terms "insurance" and "assurance" are sometimes confused. In general, in these jurisdictions "insurance" refers to providing cover for an event that might happen, while "assurance" is the provision of cover for an event that is certain to happen. However, in the United States both forms of coverage are called "insurance".
When a person insures the contents of their home they do so because of events that might happen (fire, theft, flood, etc.) They hope their home will never be burglarized, or burn down, but they want to ensure that they are financially protected if the worst happens. This example of Insurance shows how it is a way of spending a little money to protect against the risk of having to spend a lot of money.
When a person insures their life they do so knowing that one day they will die. Therefore a policy that covers death is assured to make a payment. The policy offers assurance on death; even if the policy has a prescribed termination date the policy is still assured to pay on death and therefore is an assurance policy. Examples include Term Assurance and Whole Life Assurance. An accidental death policy is not assured to pay on death as the life insured may not die through an accident, therefore it is an insurance policy.
A policy might also be assured for other reasons. For example an endowment policy is designed to provide a lump sum on maturity. Under certain types of policy the lump sum is guaranteed. Therefore, this may also be called an assurance policy.
The test of whether a policy is assurance or insurance is that with an assurance policy the insured event will definitely occur (at some point) whereas with an insurance policy there is a risk the insured event might occur.
With regard to Whole Life policies, the question is not whether the insured event (in this case death) will occur, but simply when. If the policy has nonforfeiture values (or cash values) then the policy is assured to pay.
During recent years, the distinction between the two terms has become largely blurred. This is principally due to many companies offering both types of policy, and rather than refer to themselves using both insurance and assurance titles, they instead use just one.
[edit] Types of life insurance
Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes – temporary and permanent or following subclasses - term, universal, whole life, variable, variable universal and endowment life insurance.
[edit] Temporary (Term)
Term life insurance (term assurance in British English) provides for life insurance coverage for a specified term of years for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. (See Theory of Decreasing Responsibility and buy term and invest the difference.) Term insurance premiums are typically low because both the insurer and the policy owner agree that the death of the insured is unlikely during the term of coverage.
The three key factors to be considered in term insurance are: face amount (protection or death benefit), premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and length of coverage (term).
Various (U.S.) insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. A common type of term is called annual renewable term. It is a one year policy but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of equal or lesser amount without regard to the insurability of the insured and with a premium set for the insured's age at that time. Another common type of term insurance is mortgage insurance, which is usually a level premium, declining face value policy. The face amount is intended to equal the amount of the mortgage on the policy owner’s residence so the mortgage will be paid if the insured dies.
A policy holder insures his life for a specified term. If he dies before that specified term is up, his estate or named beneficiary(ies) receive(s) a payout. If he does not die before the term is up, he receives nothing. In the past these policies would almost always exclude suicide. However, after a number of court judgments against the industry, payouts do occur on death by suicide (presumably except for in the unlikely case that it can be shown that the suicide was just to benefit from the policy). Generally, if an insured person commits suicide within the first two policy years, the insurer will return the premiums paid. However, a death benefit will usually be paid if the suicide occurs after the two year period.
[edit] Permanent
Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains in force (in-line) until the policy matures (pays out), unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due (the policy expires). The policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except fraud in the application, and that cancellation must occur within a period of time defined by law (usually two years). Permanent insurance builds a cash value that reduces the amount at risk to the insurance company and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollars face value can be relatively inexpensive to a 70 year old because the actual amount of insurance purchased is much less than one million dollars. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.
The three basic types of permanent insurance are whole life, universal life, and endowment.
[edit] Whole life coverage
Whole life insurance provides for a level premium, and a cash value table included in the policy guaranteed by the company. The primary advantages of whole life are guaranteed death benefits, guaranteed cash values, fixed and known annual premiums, and mortality and expense charges will not reduce the cash value shown in the policy. The primary disadvantages of whole life are premium inflexibility, and the internal rate of return in the policy may not be competitive with other savings alternatives. Riders are available that can allow one to increase the death benefit by paying additional premium. The death benefit can also be increased through the use of policy dividends. Dividends cannot be guaranteed and may be higher or lower than historical rates over time. Premiums are much higher than term insurance in the short-term, but cumulative premiums are roughly equal if policies are kept in force until average life expectancy.
Cash value can be accessed at any time through policy "loans". Since these loans decrease the death benefit if not paid back, payback is optional. Cash values are not paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured; the beneficiary receives the death benefit only. If the dividend option: Paid up additions is elected, dividend cash values will purchase additional death benefit which will increase the death benefit of the policy to the named beneficiary.
[edit] Universal life coverage
Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product intended to provide permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment and the potential for a higher internal rate of return. A universal life policy includes a cash account. Premiums increase the cash account. Interest is paid within the policy (credited) on the account at a rate specified by the company. This rate has a guaranteed minimum but usually is higher than that minimum. Mortality charges and administrative costs are charged against (reduce) the cash account. The surrender value of the policy is the amount remaining in the cash account less applicable surrender charges, if any.
With all life insurance, there are basically two functions that make it work. There's a mortality function and a cash function. The mortality function would be the classical notion of pooling risk where the premiums paid by everybody else would cover the death benefit for the one or two who will die for a given period of time. The cash function inherent in all life insurance says that if a person is to reach age 95 to 100 (the age varies depending on state and company), then the policy matures and endows the face value of the policy.
Actuarially, it is reasoned that out of a group of 1000 people, if even 10 of them live to age 95, then the mortality function alone will not be able to cover the cash function. So in order to cover the cash function, a minimum rate of investment return on the premiums will be required in the event that a policy matures.
Universal life policies guarantee, to some extent, the death proceeds, but not the cash function - thus the flexible premiums and interest returns. If interest rates are high, then the dividends help reduce premiums. If interest rates are low, then the customer would have to pay additional premiums in order to keep the policy in force. When interest rates are above the minimum required, then the customer has the flexibility to pay less as investment returns cover the remainder to keep the policy in force.
The universal life policy addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life. Premiums are flexible. The internal rate of return is usually higher because it moves with the financial markets. Mortality costs and administrative charges are known. And cash value may be considered more easily attainable because the owner can discontinue premiums if the cash value allows it. And universal life has a more flexible death benefit because the owner can select one of two death benefit options, Option A and Option B.
Option A pays the face amount at death as it's designed to have the cash value equal the death benefit at age 95. Option B pays the face amount plus the cash value, as it's designed to increase the net death benefit as cash values accumulate. Option B does carry with it a caveat. This caveat is that in order for the policy to keep its tax favored life insurance status, it must stay within a corridor specified by state and federal laws that prevent abuses such as attaching a million dollars in cash value to a two dollar insurance policy. The interesting part about this corridor is that for those people who can make it to age 95-100, this corridor requirement goes away and your cash value can equal exactly the face amount of insurance. If this corridor is ever violated, then the universal life policy will be treated as, and in effect turn into, a Modified Endowment Contract (or more commonly referred to as a MEC).
But universal life has its own disadvantages which stem primarily from this flexibility. The policy lacks the fundamental guarantee that the policy will be in force unless sufficient premiums have been paid and cash values are not guaranteed.
Universal life policies are sometimes erroneously referred to as self-sustaining policies. In the 1980s, when interest rates were high, the cash value accumulated at a more accelerated rate, and universal life coverage was often sold by agents as a policy that could be self-paying. Many policies did sustain themselves for a prolonged period, but the combination of lower interest rates and an increasing cost of insurance as the insured ages meant that for many policies, the cash option was diminished or depleted.
Variable universal life Insurance (VUL) is not the same as universal life, even though they both have cash values attached to them. These differences are in how the cash accounts are managed; thus having a great effect on how they are treated for taxation. The cash account within a VUL is held in the insurer's "separate account" (generally in mutual funds, managed by a fund manager).
[edit] Limited-pay
Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to keep the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and paid-up at age 65.
[edit] Endowments
Main article: Endowment policy
Endowments are policies in which the cash value built up inside the policy, equals the death benefit (face amount) at a certain age. The age this commences is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier.
In the United States, the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules as annuities and IRAs do.
Endowment Insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age (e.g. 65).
[edit] Accidental death
Accidental death is a limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured when they pass away due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury, but do not typically cover any deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurances.
It is also very commonly offered as "accidental death and dismemberment insurance", also known as an AD&D policy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for loss of limbs or bodily functions such as sight and hearing, etc.
Accidental death and AD&D policies very rarely pay a benefit; either the cause of death is not covered, or the coverage is not maintained after the accident until death occurs. To be aware of what coverage they have, an insured should always review their policy for what it covers and what it excludes. Often, it does not cover an insured who puts themselves at risk in activities such as: parachuting, flying an airplane, professional sports, or involvement in a war (military or not). Also, some insurers will exclude death and injury caused by proximate causes due to (but not limited to) racing on wheels and mountaineering.
Accidental death benefits can also be added to a standard life insurance policy as a rider. If this rider is purchased, the policy will generally pay double the face amount if the insured dies due to an accident. This used to be commonly referred to as a double indemnity coverage. In some cases, some companies may even offer a triple indemnity cover.
[edit] Related life insurance products
Riders are modifications to the insurance policy added at the same time the policy is issued. These riders change the basic policy to provide some feature desired by the policy owner. A common rider is accidental death, which used to be commonly referred to as "double indemnity", which pays twice the amount of the policy face value if death results from accidental causes, as if both a full coverage policy and an accidental death policy were in effect on the insured. Another common rider is premium waiver, which waives future premiums if the insured becomes disabled.
Joint life insurance is either a term or permanent policy insuring two or more lives with the proceeds payable on the first death.
Survivorship life or second-to-die life is a whole life policy insuring two lives with the proceeds payable on the second (later) death.
Single premium whole life is a policy with only one premium which is payable at the time the policy is issued.
Modified whole life is a whole life policy that charges smaller premiums for a specified period of time after which the premiums increase for the remainder of the policy.
Group life insurance is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company or members of a union or association. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size and turnover of the group, and the financial strength of the group. Contract provisions will attempt to exclude the possibility of adverse selection. Group life insurance often has a provision that a member exiting the group has the right to buy individual insurance coverage.
[edit] Senior and preneed products
Insurance companies have in recent years developed products to offer to niche markets, most notably targeting the senior market to address needs of an aging population. Many companies offer policies tailored to the needs of senior applicants. These are often low to moderate face value whole life insurance policies, to allow a senior citizen purchasing insurance at an older issue age an opportunity to buy affordable insurance. This may also be marketed as final expense insurance, and an agent or company may suggest (but not require) that the policy proceeds could be used for end-of-life expenses.
Preneed (or prepaid) insurance policies are whole life policies that, although available at any age, are usually offered to older applicants as well. This type of insurance is designed specifically to cover funeral expenses when the insured person dies. In many cases, the applicant signs a prefunded funeral arrangement with a funeral home at the time the policy is applied for. The death proceeds are then guaranteed to be directed first to the funeral services provider for payment of services rendered. Most contracts dictate that any excess proceeds will go either to the insured's estate or a designated beneficiary.
These products are sometimes assigned into a trust at the time of issue, or shortly after issue. The policies are irrevocably assigned to the trust, and the trust becomes the owner. Since a whole life policy has a cash value component, and a loan provision, it may be considered an asset; assigning the policy to a trust means that it can no longer be considered an asset for that individual. This can impact an individual's ability to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.
[edit] Investment policies
[edit] With-profits policies
Main article: With-profits policy
Some policies allow the policyholder to participate in the profits of the insurance company these are with-profits policies. Other policies have no rights to participate in the profits of the company, these are non-profit policies.
With-profits policies are used as a form of collective investment to achieve capital growth. Other policies offer a guaranteed return not dependent on the company's underlying investment performance; these are often referred to as without-profit policies which may be construed as a misnomer.
[edit] Insurance/Investment Bonds
Main article: Insurance bond
[edit] Pensions
Pensions are a form of life assurance. However, whilst basic life assurance, permanent health insurance and non-pensions annuity business includes an amount of mortality or morbidity risk for the insurer, for pensions there is a longevity risk.
A pension fund will be built up throughout a person's working life. When the person retires, the pension will become in payment, and at some stage the pensioner will buy an annuity contract, which will guarantee a certain pay-out each month until death.
[edit] Annuities
An annuity is a contract with an insurance company whereby the purchaser pays an initial premium or premiums into a tax-deferred account, which pays out a sum at pre-determined intervals. There are two periods: the accumulation (when payments are paid into the account) and the annuitization (when the insurance company pays out). For example, a policy holder may pay £10,000, and in return receive £150 each month until he dies; or £1,000 for each of 14 years or death benefits if he dies before the full term of the annuity has elapsed. Tax penalties and insurance company surrender charges may apply to premature withdrawals (if indeed these are allowed; in most markets outside the U.S. the policy owner has no right to end the contract prematurely).
[edit] Tax and life insurance
[edit] Taxation of life insurance in the United States
Premiums paid by the policy owner are normally not deductible for federal and state income tax purposes.
Proceeds paid by the insurer upon death of the insured are not includible in taxable income for federal and state income tax purposes; however, if the proceeds are included in the "estate" of the deceased, it is likely they will be subject to federal and state estate and inheritance tax.
Cash value increases within the policy are not subject to income taxes unless certain events occur. For this reason, insurance policies can be a legal and legitimate tax shelter wherein savings can increase without taxation until the owner withdraws the money from the policy. On flexible-premium policies, large deposits of premium could cause the contract to be considered a "Modified Endowment Contract" by the IRS, which negates many of the tax advantages associated with life insurance. The insurance company, in most cases, will inform the policy owner of this danger before applying their premium.
Tax deferred benefit from a life insurance policy may be offset by its low return or high cost in some cases. This depends upon the insuring company, type of policy and other variables (mortality, market return, etc.). Also, other income tax saving vehicles (i.e. IRA, 401K or Roth IRA) appear to be better alternatives for value accumulation, at least for more sophisticated investors who can keep track of multiple financial vehicles. The combination of low-cost term life insurance and higher return tax-efficient retirement accounts can achieve better performance, assuming that the insurance itself is only needed for a limited amount of time.
The tax ramifications of life insurance are complex. The policy owner would be well advised to carefully consider them. As always, Congress or the state legislatures can change the tax laws at any time.
[edit] Taxation of life assurance in the United Kingdom
Premiums are not usually allowable against income tax or corporation tax, however qualifying policies issued prior to 14 March 1984 do still attract LAPR (Life Assurance Premium Relief) at 15% (with the net premium being collected from the policyholder).
Non-investment life policies do not normally attract either income tax or capital gains tax on claim. If the policy has as investment element such as an endowment policy, whole of life policy or an investment bond then the tax treatment is determined by the qualifying status of the policy.
Qualifying status is determined at the outset of the policy if the contract meets certain criteria. Essentially, long term contracts (10 years plus) tend to be qualifying policies and the proceeds are free from income tax and capital gains tax. Single premium contracts and those run for a short term are subject to income tax depending upon your marginal rate in the year you make a gain. All (UK) insurers pay a special rate of corporation tax on the profits from their life book; this is deemed as meeting the lower rate (20% in 2005-06) liability for policyholders. Therefore if you are a higher rate taxpayer (40% in 2005-06), or become one through the transaction, you must pay tax on the gain at the difference between the higher and the lower rate. This gain may be reduced by applying a complicated calculation called top-slicing based on the number of years you have held the policy.
Although this is complicated, the taxation of life assurance based investment contracts may be beneficial compared to alternative equity based collective investment schemes (unit trusts, investment trusts and OEICs). One feature which especially favors investment bonds is the ability to draw 5% of the original investment amount each policy year without being subject to any taxation on the amount withdrawn. The withdrawal is deemed by HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) to be a payment of capital and therefore the tax calculation is deferred until further encashment above the 5% limit. This is an especially useful tax planning tool for higher rate taxpayers who expect to become basic rate taxpayers at some predictable point in the future (e.g. retirement).
The proceeds of a life policy will be included in the estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. Policies written in trust may fall outside the estate for IHT purposes but it's not always that simple. If in doubt you should seek profession advice from an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) who is registered with the government regulator: the Financial Services Authority.
[edit] Pension Term Assurance
Although available before April 2006, from this date pension term assurance became widely available in the UK. Most UK product providers adopted the name "life insurance with tax relief" for the product. Pension term assurance is effectively normal term life assurance with tax relief on the premiums. All premiums are paid net of basic rate tax at 22%, and higher rate tax payers can gain an extra 18% tax relief via their tax return. Although not suitable for all, PTA briefly became one of the most common forms of life assurance sold in the UK until the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced the withdrawal of the scheme in his pre-budget announcement on 6 December 2006. The tax relief ceased to be available to new policies transacted after 6 December 2006, however, existing policies have been allowed to continue to enjoy tax relief so far.
[edit] History
Insurance began as a way of reducing the risk of traders, as early as 5000 BC in China and 4500 BC in Babylon. Life insurance dates only to ancient Rome; "burial clubs" covered the cost of members' funeral expenses and helped survivors monetarily. Modern life insurance started in late 17th century England, originally as insurance for traders: merchants, ship owners and underwriters met to discuss deals at Lloyd's Coffee House, predecessor to the famous Lloyd's of London.
The first insurance company in the United States was formed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1732, but it provided only fire insurance. The sale of life insurance in the U.S. began in the late 1760s. The Presbyterian Synods in Philadelphia and New York created the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers in 1759; Episcopalian priests organized a similar fund in 1769. Between 1787 and 1837 more than two dozen life insurance companies were started, but fewer than half a dozen survived.
Prior to the American Civil War, many insurance companies in the United States insured the lives of slaves for their owners. In response to bills passed in California in 2001 and in Illinois in 2003, the companies have been required to search their records for such policies. New York Life for example reported that Nautilus sold 485 slaveholder life insurance policies during a two-year period in the 1840s; they added that their trustees voted to end the sale of such policies 15 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.
[edit] Market trends
Life insurance premiums written in 2005According to a study by Swiss Re, EU was the largest market for life insurance premiums written in 2005 followed by the USA and Japan.
[edit] Criticism
Although some aspects of the application process (such as underwriting and insurable interest provisions) make it difficult, life insurance policies have been used in cases of exploitation and fraud. In the case of life insurance, there is a motivation to purchase a life insurance policy, particularly if the face value is substantial, and then kill the insured.
The television series Forensic Files has included episodes that feature this scenario. There was also a documented case in 2006, where two elderly women are accused of taking in homeless men and assisting them. As part of their assistance, they took out life insurance on the men. After the contestability period ended on the policies (most life contracts have a standard contestability period of two years), the women are alleged to have had the men killed via hit-and-run car crashes.[6]
Recently, viatical settlements have thrown the life insurance industry into turmoil. A viatical settlement involves the purchase of a life insurance policy from an elderly or terminally ill policy holder. The policy holder sells the policy (including the right to name the beneficiary) to a purchaser for a price discounted from the policy value. The seller has cash in hand, and the purchaser will realize a profit when the seller dies and the proceeds are delivered to the purchaser. In the meantime, the purchaser continues to pay the premiums. Although both parties have reached an agreeable settlement, insurers are troubled by this trend. Insurers calculate their rates with the assumption that a certain portion of policy holders will seek to redeem the cash value of their insurance policies before death. They also expect that a certain portion will stop paying premiums and forfeit their policies. However, viatical settlements ensure that such policies will with absolute certainty be paid out. Some purchasers, in order to take advantage of the potentially large profits, have even actively sought to collude with uninsured elderly and terminally ill patients, and created policies that would have not otherwise been purchased. Likewise, these policies are guaranteed losses from the insurers' perspective.
資料來源：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Insurance
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