ARIN6902 Internet Cultures and Governance

The use of technology as a form of communication has brought about social and ethical issues around bullying and harassment. In the US many states are starting to instigate laws to deal with cases of bullying (eg Megans Law)  There needs to be more education around the etiquette of digital communication and the repercussions when abuse is transmitted.

Copyright holders are suing Google for using images of books and other media in its search results without properly compensating anyone. This issue and lawsuit will have huge impact on public life. Where do we draw the line between who to protect, the creators or the public?

They always say, what about the children? When will spending on the internet need to be monitored for the sake of the children, and their parents wallets.

getting your ideas heard is often a question of finance...

As a response to lobbying from entertainment industry, the UK has become the second country to approve laws to punish piracy, where offenders can face temporary suspensions of their internet accounts

With technology making it easier to for computer novices to steal user ids and data, now anyone can become a cybercriminal. This article showcases how easy it is to buy Zeus online, malware software which is used to steal information including online banking user ids and passwords and even security plans of US airports. Does accessibility turn you into a criminal? I still think if you're going to be a criminal you will find a way. Technology is certainly making it easier but you will only search for ways to hack into user info if you intend to steal in the first place.

Even Piers Ackerman thinks the Government's proposed ISP filtering is a bad idea! Possibly the first time I've ever been on the same side of a debate as Ackerman, makes me feel a little nauseous. Granted, this is really just another avenue of Rudd/Labor bashing for him, but it shows that there are people on both sides of the political divide who oppose internet censorship.

Blog Post 1

my blog....  the first post is a short introduction to web 2.0....

The United Kingdom parliament has passed the Digital Economy Bill, an extensive and controversial piece of legislation, by a vote of 189 to 47. The legislation encompasses online copyright infringement, Internet piracy, regulation of TV and radio, the classification of video games, regulations over ISPs, and a hodgepodge of other digital topics.

Interesting use of social media by the Democratic Party as an opposition force in Texas. Notice how the webpages layout is not that different to the ones used by the Republican Party and their media allies, FOX NEWS. Does the web incite dialogue in political campaigning, does it represent a true paradigm shift, or are old propaganda and petition models just replicated? 

Just wait a second and think.... does he have a point?

This article (posted yesterday) is about the announcement of a huge China-based cyber espionage which stole thousands of documents - including classified information, visa applications, and personal identities - from "politically sensitive targets" around the world using platforms such as Twitter, Google Groups, Blogspot, Baidu Blogs, blog.com and Yahoo Mail to maintain persistent control of infected computers. Among the targets: the offices of the Dalai Lama, the United Nations as well as Indian and Pakistani government officials. Also available in this article, a report document of 58 pages about "Investigating Cyber Espionnage" (scribd application)

Court decision suggests that American internet operators are not forced to maintain net neutrality. The sentence implies that FCC has no authority to demand from internet providers a neutral treatment of the traffic that they manage on their networks

In the US a coalition consisting of Google, Microsoft, Ebay, AT&T, and Intel is fighting for a change of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that was enacted in 1986. The coalition stresses the fact that the Internet has changed tremendously since then and the law therefore needs to be adapted. It protects files in the homes of people but law enforcement entities do not need judicial warrant to view files stored with ISPs, in the cloud or get GPS data from mobile phones.\nDefinitely a case worth fighting for - and an opportunity for Google & Co. to get good press. What about the law that allows checking and copying peoples' computer harddrives at airports though?

Due to it's population, I think China will still be the biggest market for the internet despite the censorsip the govornment placed.

A tongue in cheek blog post that nevertheless addresses some real issues at stake when it comes to people's behaviour in many online communities.

This article argues that reputation - such as in Apple's iPad - can be more important than need and functionality when it comes to technology. The phenomena of 'the fad' is not new, but is especially relevant with technological products and innovation. It will be interesting to see whether items such as the iPad do fill gaps in a market or are simply fad toys. The iPad's claimed 'killer function' - that of reading and subscriptions - will prove interesting when we look at how the publishing industry repsponds and whether standards much develop for newspapers/books/magazines.

How do you govern a site specially designed to encourage bad behaviour? Do you even want or need to? When does 'bad behaviour' go too far?