COM125 assignment 5: privacy

I constantly worry about my privacy online. For me, privacy is something that people provide one another out of respect. As individuals we are entitled to our private lives, which are defined by what we choose to do, where we choose to go and the space around us. I mean it is psychologically healthy for people to set boundaries. Privacy on the Internet however is one of the most difficult things to be taken care of. Just type your name into a search engine and voila there appears your name, address and phone number for the world to see. Consider your e-mail inbox for example. If your inbox is continuously filled with spam, it is because at some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mail address to the wrong website. Your telephone number and home address are no different. There are certain small companies such as Merlin who buy and sell your personal information. Merlin is just one of many commercial data brokers that advertises the sale of unlisted phone numbers, which are gathered from various sources such as pizza delivery companies (Sullivan, 2006). Even within our own computers HTTP cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences and the contents of their electronic shopping carts. Cookies have been of concern for Internet privacy, since they can be used for tracking browsing behavior (HTTP Cookies, 2008). Many programs and operating systems are also set up to perform data logging of usage. This may include recording times when the computer is in use, or which web sites are visited. If a third party has sufficient access to the computer, legitimately or not, this may be used to lessen that user's privacy. This can be avoided by disabling logging or clearing logs regularly (Internet Privacy, 2008).

According to Privacy International, the United States is an extensive surveillance society (Privacy International, 2006). I think the problem is that most people assume that they have control over who has access to their personal information and that these exchanges are private and secure. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Every time you access a website or send email, you leave information about yourself that includes your computer IP address, home address, telephone and credit card number(s), consumer pattern data and much more. If you use the Internet and/or email without taking the proper safety precautions then you have probably given up your right to privacy. Even more so, I think that people are just careless when it comes to keeping their information private. It has even been shown that “people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a measly 50-cents-off coupon” (Sullivan, 2006).

I know that being able to disclose personal information about your self is healthy and can even be therapeutic to some people; however, is it safe to do when the audience is anonymous? Yes, you want the freedom of speech but we know that there is a limitation to how much information should be revealed. By taking photographs and videos of yourself and uploading them to such applications as blogs, Facebook, and YouTube, we are actually enabling others to infringe upon our privacy. People may start to feel a certain emotional attachment to you when reading or viewing your personal artifacts, but can you really trust that stranger? Sure, you can read his/ her personal information in return but there is no guarantee that the information is authentic. For example, we have all heard stories on Myspace where a 40 year-old man pretends to be a 15 year-old girl in order to talk and eventually meet up with an underage girl.

A specific scenario in which my privacy was invaded occurred when my identity was stolen on eBay about four years ago. I had had an eBay account for several years prior to this incident and had never experienced any negative consequences of releasing my checking account information over the Internet. I am very meticulous about keeping my expenses accounted for in my checkbook so I knew if anything were to happen, I would find out about it within a matter of days. I distinctly remember going through my bank statement one day and seeing some unaccounted for eBay charges that were made to some strange websites that I had never heard of before; one of which was a German website. I then quickly contacted eBay’s customer service number who confirmed that these charges were made under my account but were certainly not being sent to my address. The man on the other line was very nice about everything and was quick to refund me my eighty dollars. I then asked if they (eBay) intended on doing anything about this, since I knew it would be easy for them to find out who did this by seeing where the stuff was sent. Unfortunately, he responded by telling me that eBay could not look into his personal information because it was an invasion of his privacy. I was absolutely stunned that the law was going to protect someone that just broke it. I was so scared about my stolen identity that I did not know what else to do then to completely cancel my eBay account. I then went as far as to contact my bank and get a new checking account number for myself. Even though it may seem that I went to some drastic measures I do not regret my decision and ever since that day I have not created a new eBay account. In terms of the social networking sites that I am involved in, I always make sure as to adjust my privacy settings so that people that I approve can only view my account.

References:
“HTTP cookie.” (2008, September). From Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved September 23, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

“Internet Privacy.” (2008, September). From Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved September 23, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy

Privacy International. (2006, February). “Leading surveillance societies in the EU and the World” Retrieved September 23, 2008 from http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-545269

Sullivan, Bob. (2006, October). “Privacy Lost: Does Anybody Care?” Retrieved September 23, 2008 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/

COM125 assignment 4: online economies

A gift economy is an economic system in which goods and services are given, rather than traded. On the contrary to our common perception of a gift, the gifts in a gift economy do not have to be tangible or purchased using money. In the context of the Internet, there is currently a great deal of sharing and cooperation that occurs within online communities. Many users offer free assistance and helpful information to complete strangers without the expectation of any direct reciprocal exchange. For example, in a number of online discussion groups for lawyers, individuals offer each other detailed legal advice about specific cases they are working on. These lawyers report that they often refuse to give similar information over the phone or charge up to several hundred dollars an hour for the same advice (Kollock, 1999).

In a gift economy, the benefits come from improving a person’s social relations by increasing the range and diversity of his/her social network. In other words, it can be seen as an outlet where people can come together "to learn, to understand, to change and take charge of the world" (Pollard, 2005). However, when people pass on free advice or offer useful information, the recipient is often unknown. Therefore, gifts of information and advice are often offered not to particular individuals but to a group as a whole. One motivation for someone to contribute valuable information to a group is the expectation that he/she will receive useful information in return; otherwise known as anticipated reciprocity. This idea of reciprocity occurs within online communities as a system of generalized exchange. If each member shares freely with one another then the entire group benefits because each person is given access to information and advice that no single member may of initially had. In addition, some people may also feel that they have a certain reputation and prestige to keep up on contributing valuable and trusted information on a certain subject (Rhinegold, 1993). Either way, members develop a strong sense of commitment to the group.


An example of a gift economy that I participate in is Flickr. For those who are unaware, Flickr is an image and video hosting website that has evolved into an online community platform. In addition to users sharing their personal photographs, the service is also widely used as an image repository. According to their website, the goal of Flickr is to create a new way of organizing photos and videos. Part of their solution was to make this a collaborative process, which was accomplished by their folksonmic means of tagging. What this means is once you are a member you can give anyone permission to organize your collection through the use of notes and tags which in turn makes your collection easily searchable within the site.

Flickr constitutes a gift economy because members are willing to upload and share their personal photographs with complete strangers with no type of guaranteed compensation in return. At most, they will receive positive feedback on their contributions and gain popularity among the Flickr network. What makes membership so strong is that all of its members are interlinked simply by a common interest. Coming from an artist perspective, I know that I benefit simply being able to be inspired by another artist’s work.

References:
Kollock, Peter. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved on September 15, 2008, from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Pollard, Dave. (2005). "The Gift Economy" Retrieved on September 15, 2008 from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/04/17.html

Rheingold, Howard. (1993). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Retrieved on September 15, 2008 from http://www.well.com/user/hlr/vcbook/

COM125 assignment 3: copyright and conflict

The public’s perception of copyright protection is often conflicted. On one hand, copyright is seen as a fair way to provide compensation for an author’s labor. On the other side, individuals want to access information easily and at the lowest cost. Unfortunately, both sides seem to be at a loss; the creators do not want to risk the possible corruption of their work and the public does not want to be limited in their access to information. The question is, is there a way to balance the interests of both parties and make every happy?

In an ideal world, everyone would have equal access to information. The public believes that free content should be a right not a privilege, especially in regards to the Internet. Yet, when the public is allowed free access to other people’s work, there is the risk that certain members of the public will take it and make adjustments to approve upon what was originally created. This ultimately drives down the demand for the creator’s original work because, lets face it, we as individuals always are in search for the next best thing. With that said, it is easy to see why content creators are so concerned with the preservation of their original work. However, these creators need to understand that not all possible uses of their work are abusive.

The original purpose of copyright laws was to benefit the public’s knowledge by promoting progress of the arts and sciences while giving creators exclusive rights to their creations for a limited amount of time (Why Copyright?, An Introduction to Copyright, n.d.). As a result, creators are allowed to benefit financially from their creations, which would in turn provide them with an incentive to continue creating. In the end the public benefits because they are given free access once the limited time has passed. However, since 1962, Congress has extended the term for existing copyrights eleven times, and twice for future copyrights. A copyright now lasts as long as the author's life plus 70 years, extending far beyond the “commercial life” of most creative work, which is only a couple of years (“The Mouse Who Would Be King,” 2004).

The relatively recent concept of file sharing has further decreased the willingness for people to pay for work. (The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales - An Empirical Analysis, 2005). Evidence of this can be seen in the music industry where sales have plummeted as a result of P2P sharing. There is no longer the need to purchase a CD when the songs are being pirated on the Internet and available to download for free. In reality, how can piracy be stopped when it is being indirectly encouraged by the constant expansion of bigger and better technology? MP3 players and iPods for example have only become repositories for stolen music. I agree with Simone's comment that "If there was some way to inspire people to stop patting each other on the back for stealing from others and to hold each other accountable, that would be an ideal solution."

One of the problems that exists in trying to find a solution to this conflict lies in education. There are many misconceptions surrounding copyright in regards to the Internet and the public needs to be better educated about the restrictions and the consequences of pirating. If people had a better understanding of these implications, it might help to alleviate the massive amount of pirating that occurs on the Internet.

The use of Creative Commons licensing should also be promoted as a possible solution. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization, providing free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry (Creative Commons, 2007). This site offers creators a host of licenses under which to release their work to the public. These private rights protect the full work but allow for sampling and further reuse for educational purposes.

In conclusion, in order to balance the interests of content creators and the public there need to compromise and moderation. Legislation needs to stop making the issue so one-sided and consider the rights of the consumer. The copyright laws need to be more relaxed in order to better serve their original purpose, which is to benefit the public.

References:
An Introduction to Copyright. (n.d). Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/~i312co/2.php

Creative Commons. (2007, January). Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://creativecommons.org/

The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales-An Empirical Analysis. (2005, June). Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_June2005_final.pdf

The Mouse Who Would Be King. (2004, April 8). Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/04/08/copyright_culture/index.html