Internet Privacy

Privacy is a very important and relevant topic in society today. Especially with the interaction between people over the internet, there are more and more issues regarding privacy surfacing every day. There are many challenges people face regarding privacy and their safety, and there are many solutions to these challenges. Much of this depends on the level of awareness people have. If you aren't paying attention to what you are doing online, there is a much greater risk of your personal space being invaded.

Roger Clarke is a researcher who specializes in privacy and his definition of the word is: privacy is the interest individuals have in sustaining "personal space", free from interference by other people or organizations. I had used the term "personal space" earlier, then came across this definition and thought it was relevant. Sometimes individuals can not easily protect this space, but when online, the casual internet user can easily protect their space by creating passwords, not clicking the "remember me" box that automatically signs users in, not using "cookies" that can store information, etc. These easy steps can stop someone from becoming a victim of privacy infringement.

There are many debates about privacy, and the internet isn't the only place where this occurs. In Europe, surveillance cameras record the everyday lives of millions of people. In a sign of the world we live in, 3.8 million dollars has been spent on related surveillance equipment including 4 million individual security cameras. Compare this to the internet and websites like Facebook and MySpace. Anybody can keep track of someone else's life if their profile is in public view. Everyone has heard the stories of younger kids meeting people pretending to be who they aren't, in an attempt to harm the kids, or young adults' relationships that result in inappropriate conduct. This can be prevented by setting your profile to private, or if you are really concerned about it, not signing up for the site at all. Most college students, including myself, are still going to participate in things like Facebook, and until they themselves feel threatened, not change anything.

Wikipedia states that Internet Service Providers collect and analyze data about people when they are online. Is this a breach of privacy? ISP's may need the data for billing purposes or something like that, but when they get involved in the browsing habits or website history of it's customers, that is viewed more negatively. So, without even realizing it sometimes, everybody's personal space may have been examined, and not much can be done about it short of not going online at all.

Especially for college aged students, it is difficult to completely cut off your computer with others. As previously discussed, file sharing is at a high point, and websites like Facebook are extremely popular. Doing the little things to protect a computer and not purposely displaying info can help, but the issues over internet privacy will increase as the popularity of the internet increases. While most people may never face an issue, the people that do may increase as time goes on.

Make A Wish

While listening to the radio the past two days I came across a telethon on 97 Rock for the Make A Wish foundation. I think that Make A Wish and other charities are a good example of a gift economy. This is not because people are literally giving a gift and donating money, but as seen on their website, people are volunteering their services and helping people in need.

The article by Peter Kollock defines a gift as the obligatory transfer of inalienable objects between related and mutually obligated transactors. This relates to the foundation in many ways. A person can offer to be a volunteer for a picnic, for example, that brings kids with illness together and gives them a safe place to play. This person is giving their time and effort to the kids without them having the obligation to give something back. The gift is also very specific because a child may have a great experience with an activity, and will be able to relate a name or a face to that good feeling. Finally, the gift starts an ongoing relationship between people, and the child feeling better about themselves may depend on the volunteer work given.

How does this face to face exchange relate to the internet? People who would normally not know where to find information about Make A Wish may come across a link to the website. There, they can get the information, see success stories, or actually sign up to become a volunteer. The donation of money online can lead to the funding of research that leads to new information regarding the treatment of diseases. This exchange may not be direct, but a doctor is still not obliged to track down the people who funded the project to get new information, and pay them back. In turn, the people who see new developments know that they had a part in it, even though it may impact someone far away.

Many other gift economies provide direct information exchange. For example, someone could post advice about buying a house in their blog for everyone to see, so people wouldn't have to hire a consultant who requires payment in return for the information. The free information about buying a house is the same as the time and effort or donations people can give, as they are both public goods. The Kollock article describes the need for motivation and coordination when providing a public good. Especially by being able to sign up online, it is easy for Make A Wish to get volunteers, and people who are interested in helping others. If people sign up to do this kind of charity work, they are most likely to already be motivated and focused on the job. The foundation is also highly coordinated as the web site shows. It displays the different representatives that are stationed all over the country and the specific programs people can get involved in. It is easy to follow a site that is coordinated nicely like that.

Wikipedia, which is a gift economy itself due to the fact that the public adds info to the site, states that a gift economy emphasizes social or intangible rewards for generosity. I believe a foundation like Make a Wish shows all the characteristics of a gift economy that have been stated. The people that put forth their time and effort to help children with illnesses, get the reward of the good feeling that comes with helping the less fortunate.

Copyright infringement is an increasingly relevant topic that goes along with the growth of the internet. As discussed in the previous assignment, I talked about the issues regarding the music industry, and how music can be easily obtained without anything going to the artist who created it. The copyright issue goes beyond this to other issues, according to Wikipedia, such as poems, thesis, plays, movies, photos, radio broadcasts etc. Copyright is also an issue to college students who obtain a lot of information from various sources that are used in papers. I believe that there are ways to satisfy both the holders of copyrights and the public, but the illegal usage of information will probably continue as long as it is so easily available.

In this article from Carlos Ovalle at the University of Texas at Austin has many important points. The purpose of copyrights is to benefit the public by providing them with information while still giving somebody the rights to the idea or creation. Both sides benefit from these laws. The creator feels confident that his/her ideas will not get stolen, therefore the public gets access to possibly new or otherwise unreleased information. The creator can also get rewarded financially for ideas that make money.

Additionally, that same article outlines copyright guidelines that are relevant to college aged students. These instances can also be found in the entire U.S. Code: Title 17 guide to copyrights. A teacher, using face-to-face learning can use information, visuals, and performances to educate students without violating laws. However, web-based education would be different. Public libraries can make copies of documents as long as they are not used for commercial gain. All these resources are here for students to use, and there is no reason to use it illegally. Especially in papers, it isn't to hard to cite sources using something like APA formatting.

There are many other copyright scenarios people might run into, such as file sharing. Most trouble can be avoided (like paying .99 cent for a song), but its up to the individual to take that chance. Overall, the copyright laws that are in place are to both benefit the public by making important information available, and benefit the creator by compensating them and allowing for a way for their information to be protected.

Com125 Assignment 2: Music and the Internet

File sharing has become a huge part of everyday life for everyone from college students to business professionals. It is important to understand because there are many regulations involved that should be followed, but sometimes aren't. The downloading and sharing of music and videos is especially relevant to college students who, like me, download on a daily basis. Surprisingly, there is a history regarding file sharing and it isn't just recent history like you may think.

The timeline of file sharing dates back as far as the 1970's when the floppy disk was invented. File sharing was simply putting files on disk and carrying them around. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was established in 1985. This allows a client's computer to connect to the central FTP server to upload, download, and manipulate files. This is the basic concept of file sharing. While living on camps last year, it was nice to be able to connect to UB's network and have access to a huge selection of music that was available from other's library.

The most important topic relevant to file sharing today, and one that impacted the high school or college aged student is the development of Napster in 1999. It was the first peer-to-peer file sharing which allowed 2 personal computers to connect and share music MP3 files through a central server. The library of music became huge and college networks became overloaded. People could download free music, sometimes unreleased material, and burn it onto a CD. Hurting record sales and music leaks made some artists file legal material against Napster and demand their music be removed from the service. In 2001 Napster was shut down and ordered by court to pay millions in damages to music copyright holders. They then filed for bankruptcy but were eventually bought out and turned into a subscription service which is still available today.

In addition to the legal issues, there are many ways to damage your computer with peer-to-peer file sharing. Viruses can easily be spread especially on computers with no firewalls or protection. Today, there are many ways to easily obtain music, and the pay services like iTunes for example, are relatively inexpensive and cheaper than buying an actual CD. Buying on iTunes is legal and proceeds still go to the artist.

File sharing has developed over a long period of time all the way from floppy disks in the 70's to peer-to-peer sharing of MP3 files in the 90's and 2000's, and will surely continue to develop in the future.