This article discusses the online safety aspects of patients who share their experiences of disorders with others on websites like CureTogether.com and PatientsLikeMe.com, though the privacy does warn not to disclose too much personal detail to ensure online safety. The notion of crowd-sourcing is introduce in regards to shared expereiences can potentitally provide better control of the disorder, as details of the conditions, successes or failures of drug treatments are shared amongst the members. These websites offer early warning signs of drug and health safety problems, the user data is gathered from the member profiles and sold to scientific or marketing research organizations. Much like Facebook, users of any social networking site should enter with caution.

This article discusses how in the state of Ohio lawmakers are looking to have schools discipline cyberbullies. Cyberbully victims have a higher chance of being depressed, and according to this article they are approximately 8 times more likely to bring weapons to school. Though the bill will help a lot of schools monitor children's conduct online, there were no clear outlines as to the means of how to schools will be able to discipline bullies. A lot of information and rules and regulations will have to be in place to inform parents of how the school will extend their boundaries beyond a physical realm, and into the online world. Though there is much work to be done on the specifics of cyberbullyin, setting school boundaries regarding cyberbullying is a good step towards, thwarting possible cases of cyberbullies, as school jurisdiction may no longer necessarily be within bounds of a school yard.

This article discusses how 42 states in the United States now have some sort anti-bullying laws. Despite these laws, and EULA agreements of social networking sites being in places, victims of cyberbullying do not often come forward for fear of not being taken seriously. One of the suggestions for combating cyberbullying is the real life "comeback", although it is warned that this may backfire, which needs to be scripted and rehearsed. Though there are no studies that indicate this is an effective method to combat cyberbullying, this should be exercise with caution. Cyberbullying appears to be one of those case-by-case situations, as the victims reactions - type of person they are - how they handle the situation - whom they come forward to tell to seek help, may be the biggest factors in how an ordeal of this nature should be considered. Sadly it appears that cyberbullies - like in the offline world - like to try and collect followers in the online world, and perhaps one of the better practices is to inform people that they should not be participating in the act of cyberbullying another, and hopefully reducing the motivation to continue.

This article discusses how banning Facebook is not the answer for prevention of tragedies of deaths like Sydney teen who had met a "friend" on Facebook. Though it may seem commonly obvious, I do not believe simply warning and educating children/teenagers about the potential dangers of social networking and strangers is enough; but perhaps going a step further and accepting that meeting "friends" through social networks has become a social norm. Therefore conversations amongst children/teenagers/friends/parents alike must be initiated so that there is some sort of support system to ensure safety. As the online social networks expand the definition of "friends", one must consider the social construction of how people now view the world based on these norms.

This article discusses President Obama's views on the iPad, iPhone, Xboxs etc as sources of entertainment, rather than a tool for empowerment. Though i have to find it somewhat ironic, as these platforms could offer new methods of campaigning for his next election!

This article discusses how cyberbullying is not limited to strictly school children, or students rather teachers are also victims of cyberbullying. As students create social network hate groups, secretly film or photograph their teachers, and post embarassing moments online. identities of the victims are stolen, and then are used for either harassment, or illegal activity online. Though Facebook has mentioned that they will remove any content regarding teachers if reported, it brings to light a new issue. If laws need to address how we conduct ourselves online, should we compromise our freedom of speech (any jurisdiction that has constituted it) because the content is online?

This is blog post # 4 regarding online safety, assisted suicide and cyberbullying.

This article discusses two studies that were released March regarding bullying and how they correlate to cyberbullying. The majority of cyberbullying made commentary on appearence and body shape. The first study concluded that bullying was on the decline, while the other study illustrated how discussing such matters with an adult or friend would most likely improve the situation. Though these studies may seem common sense, one of the startling issues that appears to have been noted during this study was that some of the answers from educators and friends alike were, "told me to stop tattling," "ignored what was going on," "told me to solve the problem myself," "blamed me," "ignored it," "made fun of me." It seems that those in position to help, may often try to ignore or deny help to those who have outwardly asked for it, which may also be an issue regarding cyberbullying; awareness and how to appropriate deal with reports on cyberbullying.

It is the first time in North America that assisted suicide laws have been applied to the Internet. William Melchert-Dinkel has been charged with assisting in 2 suicides, where he posed under several aliases and made suggestions of suicides from medication to advice on how to tie nooses. Though the argument was that suicide is the behaviour done unto oneself, and suggestion is freedom of speech, this is no different than cyberbullies who also suggest the same thing, however this heinous individual offered information to those that were indanger of commiting suicide. Based on the wording in the state of Minnesota, assisted suicides do not require the actual physical presence of the person, hence the prosecution stands.

This article discusses the different ways to access content that is blocked, down etc on the Internet. I'm not 100% sure if this would work around the Mandatory Internet filter in Australia though! But interesting read. 10. Skip Past Annoying User/Pass Requests 9. Read Articles That Rupert Murdoch Wants You Paying For 8. Change User Agents to Get Around Browser Blocks 7. Get to Gmail When It's Down 6. Get Actually Usable BitTorrent Speeds 5. Get To Sites Taken Down by Traffic 4. Control Computers At Home 3. Download YouTube and Other Flash Videos 2. Access Country-Blocked Streaming TV 1. Roll Your Own Proxy to Access Blocked Sites

Canada, alongside France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom have issued a warning to Google on the grounds that the company is ignoring privacy and legislation with respect to launching their products (Google Buzz). This is a clear example of when a company, may appear to attempt to protect their users (Google vs. China) while, in the company's own interest, these rules and regulations may be ignored. How much trust should we put into any company that offers services free to the public, and exactly what liberties do we give up when we sign up for that service?

What happens when an institution that is supposed to be safe, violates your personal rights? This article discusses how a high school in Philadelphia installed software on their lap tops that would capture photos of the user of the lap top. Though the software was intended for recovery measures of stolen lap tops, it appears that the software goes beyond photos taken from the software contained images of chats, and content that the user was viewing, to the users themselves dressing., as it spies upon the user's interactions with peers. This brings to question whether or not to trust institutional technology, and whether or not they should stipulate that some software installed may violate the users right to privacy.

This article discusses the difficulties of ensuring that cyberbullying is prevented, or monitored. It also discusses how the technology appears to supersede the school's governance of the appropriate use of technology with respect to the Internet. The article mentions an analogy to the Lord of the Flies, as children become savages when unsupervised, which contradicts the article "Cyberbullying is focus of conference," which states that children are unaware of their actions. This is a bit ironic, as the book was an actual microcosm of world war 2, and therefore the story is symbolic of war very much induced by adults.

This article discusses the topics of educators improving their skills on detecting the various forms of cyberbullying, follow-up prevention, and plans that address cyberbullies. It also notes that perhaps, some cyberbullying is not fully realised by the bullies themselves, as children may be unaware of how impactful their messages are. There is also the discussion of a digital divide between children and their parents with respect to how one conducts themselves online. Though, it is doubtful to claim that children are completely ignorant of their own actions on the Internet.

This is my blog post about cyberbullying, it also addresses how to counter cyberbullies by reporting their violation of any EULA, and Terms of Service to the provider.

My third blog post regarding online safety of victims of black hat hackers.

It's quite interesting that the term "hackers" was often deemed negative. However, in this following article, the discussion of "White hat" hackers vs. "Black hat" introduces the idea that cyber security/cyber espionage in the online world can also be saved by the same breed that seek to do criminal activies. These white hat hackers were able to uncover a Chinese-based espionage ring that had been gleaning sensitive information: visa applications. People no longer simply hold posters chanting and marching against the "man," rather, they stick it to them, by strengthening the masses in the online world.

This article discusses the repercussions and impacts of threatening text messages that resulted in a teen suicide. Although the bully expressed remorse, the tragedy clearly marks how words are simply devastating, even if they seem trivial to others. Prosecution and Cyber bullying laws should examine the severity of the crime, and provide adequate justice.

This article discusses how cyberbullying is on the rise in Asia. Cyberbullying is so great in South Korea, that students are in favour of government regulation that requires Internet users to supply their names, through a "real name system." One has to wonder, how great the harassment has to be, that the population is in favour of government regulation.

This article discusses how a simulated war game called "Cyber ShockWave" can turn any electronic item, for example, cell phone or computer can be "weapons" used to shut down the Internet during terrorist attack. The notion of privacy and civil liberties, should expect to be ceased for Americans during a crisis of that level. During this mock scenario, it was revealed that "[The United States] don't have the authority in this nation as a government to quarantine people's cellphones." Which during a state of emergency brings to question if Internet carriers should allow their networks to be monitored. How secure is online security, and who is the enemy, becomes difficult to discern, as any threat to national security arises.