Assignment 5: Privacy

I think that having internet privacy means that I have complete control over the information that others have about me, via the internet. In an ideally private world, only those who I have granted permission to would have personal details about me. With computers’ abilities to remember information about people, and the ease at which some computers can be hacked into, it is easier than ever to receive unauthorized information about someone.
Http cookies, for example are bits of information that are stored on people’s computers to monitor their browsing habits. While cookies were not originally intended to be used for criminal purposes, they have become useful to those who are trying to find indentifying information about computer users. Users are typically not aware of these cookies tracking their activities on the computer, and then sending personal information back to the cookie’s creator. One way that people can better control things like cookies and phishing is by clearing their internet activity history. This is still not a foolproof method, but luckily many firewalls block cookies from being stored on computers as to prevent the consequences of compromised privacy.
There are many consequences of compromised privacy, some of which can be serious problems. The ultimate fear of most people I imagine is identity theft. If a personal computer with a large amount of data about someone is somehow hacked into, it is most frequently done using the internet. That information can then be dispersed to many others for statistical use, which while it may bother some, is less of a problem than identity theft. If a person receives identifying data about another person through saved information on a computer, their identity could be stolen, which would lead to a long road of complications.
Although identity theft does frighten me, I am more concerned about the information that the government can obtain about citizens. While most people have nothing to hide, being tracked is an uneasy feeling, nevertheless. I know that anything I do on my computer can be monitored by the government, and I don’t believe that should be allowed, unless a person convicted of a serious crime is under investigation.
There are even ways that privacy is breeched that are not nearly as secretive or scandalous as issues such as identity theft via online computer hacking or phishing. As an MSNBC article argues, there are plenty of times that a person’s private information is obtained simply because of their internet activity. Online banking and purchasing are two essentially easy ways of obtaining information about anther. It may not be the neighborhood computer hacker looking through your latest bank statement; it could be someone as “innocent” as your boyfriend browsing your records stored on the computer. This is scary because it goes to show that you never know who has access to your private information when there is so much readily available electronically.
An incident that a friend of mine experienced recently deals with the issue of surveillance. As Wikipedia defines surveillance, this occurs when someone’s behavior is observed from a distance, usually by means of electronic equipment. A friend was in his apartment moving furniture around when he observed a hidden camera behind a chair. Being unaware of how the camera was placed there, or who placed it there, he called the police. The police investigated the situation and discovered many similar instances in the nearby area, but they were still unable to identify the surveyor. This was an uneasy situation for my friend—he felt as if he had been monitored doing private things in his own home, but he didn’t know who and how many people were watching. The camera images were likely streamed over the internet to an observer’s computer. Privacy is important to people, but with the invention of technology, it is being compromised more and more.

Sources:
Internet privacy. (2008, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:36, September 26, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_privacy&oldid=241019362
Sullivan, B. (October 10, 2006). Privacy Lost: Does Anyone Care? MSNBC.com. Retrieved from www.msnbc.com
Surveillance. (2008, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:36, September 26, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Surveillance&oldid=240844724

Assignment 3: Copyright & DRM

While imposing digital rights management (DRM) regulations upon honest consumers of copyrighted materials is perhaps unfair to paying consumers, it is necessary to prevent illegal uses of copyrighted materials. Drawing a line to allow “honest” users to make duplications of copyrighted materials but disallowing copyright infringers to do the same would be ineffective, and thus decrease creators’ revenues.
Digital rights management is a term that refers to the restrictions enforced upon users of digital media or devices used to play digital media. These restrictions are imposed by law makers, copyright owners, publishers, and manufacturers of the hardware that deciphers the digital media for consumers’ use. The goal of DRM is to control the ways in which people consume copyrighted digital media to protect creators’ rights over their creations for limited amounts of time (Ovalle, 2005). Because the creators of digital media would not make money if everyone had free access to their creations, DRM tries to limit the ease at which unauthorized digital copies are made to prevent the pirating of copyrighted materials.
The conflict is that honest, paying customers have limitations on their consumption of the materials they rightfully paid for. Opponents of DRM argue that once someone has paid for creative digital media (like films, music, etc.) they have the right to use it for personal reasons in whichever way they would like. Opponents also believe that DRM drives competition down because copyrights protect manufacturers from their competitors’ products. Everything from garage door openers to printer cartridges can be copyrighted—which as a result decreases competition in the consumer marketplace and thus drives product costs up (Doctorow, 2004).
DRM proponents are concerned that anyone can claim the “honest” user title even if they are dishonest. It is nearly impossible to draw a line that appropriately punishes those who deserve it, but allow exemption to those who do not. Cory Doctorow, an anti-DRM activist posed a scenario of a mother who purchased a DVD for her children, but in anticipation of the DVD’s destruction, wanted to make a VHS copy for her children to get their sticky fingers all over. Then, when the jelly-smeared VHS was in fact broken, she would still have the original copy for future enjoyment. This mother was an honest consumer, as her copying purposes were for personal use rather than for distributing the copies to her children’s daycare center. When she tried to copy the DVD however, she was not able to due to a restriction imposed by software on the DVD itself as well as hardware inside the DVD player (Doctorow, 2004).
The mother was likely frustrated by her inability to make copies for her children, but imagine the consequences that media creators would face if people were allowed to freely make copies of copyrighted materials. Anybody could make copies from the living room “for their children,” but secretly sell them. This would result in the loss of massive revenue for the creators.
Without the existence of clear regulations, digital media creators could lose control over the distribution of their products. It is necessary to impose physical restrictions like anti-pirating hardware and software upon users to ensure the ethical use of digital media. It is too easy to claim that files are being shared for personal uses, and without physical limitations in place illegal sharing would quickly get out of control, and as a result digital media creators would never receive financial payoff. While it would be nice to trust those who are trustworthy, it would be impossible to distinguish them from the dishonest, so boundaries must be drawn.
Sources:
1. Digital rights management. (2008, September 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:53, September 12, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digital_rights_management&oldid=237615187
2. Doctorow, C. (2004). Digital Rights Management. Changethis.com, issue 4.03. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://changethis.com/4.DRM
3. Ovalle, C. (2005). Information in Cyberspace: Module Five: Introduction to Copyright. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from University of Texas at Austin, School of Information Web site http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ei312co/1.php

COM 125 Assignment 2: Netscape Navigator's Contributions to the History of the Internet

In September of 1994 we were introduced to a web browser that set the stage for future internet browsing advances. Then called Mosaic, what we now know as Netscape Navigator was a significant development in internet history that has molded the ways in which people use the internet today. Originally a mere web browser, Netscape evolved into an internet suite, transforming the internet’s uses and opening the door to competition. The competition between the two major web browsers at the time—Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer—drove remarkable internet advances that continue to be built upon today.

While in Beta, Netscape Navigator was called Mosaic after its parent company’s name, Mosaic Communications Corporation, which was renamed Netscape Communications Corporation after a name dispute with a competitor. Netscape Navigator was an immediate success because it was the most advanced browser on the web. Netscape built upon their success by evolving from solely a web browser into an internet suite (initially called Netscape Navigator but now named Netscape Communicator). In addition to having a browsing capacity, Netscape Navigator incorporated a full e-mail client, expanding their web capabilities into an internet suite. This was an important transition in internet history because people gained the ability to do more things on the internet than just browse the web.

In August of 1996, Netscape released version 3.0; around the same time, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 3.0, which was the first significant source of competition for Netscape. The companies set the bar high for one another each time a new version of the suites were released. Nonetheless, until the release of Internet Explorer 5.0 challenged Netscape Communicator version 4, Netscape was still the preferred web browser. However, when Internet Explorer 5.0 was released in 1998, Netscape had unresolved issues, like an outdated browser core, that led to its eventual downfall. Internet Explorer became the preferred browser, and AOL (who now owns Netscape) announced that it would not release a fifth version.

Netscape Navigator was the first web browser, and introduced the internet to everyday consumers. Because of its success, Netscape attracted competition that as a result has improved today’s internet browsing experience. The advances that Netscape contributed to the web’s progression, like the creation of an internet suite, were points of paramount significance in the history of the internet.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_(browser)