In week five I was introduced to both positive and negative freedoms through the video entitled: The Trap part 3: We Will Force You to be Free. The video emphasizes that freedom is not easily defined for a large group of individuals who all want or need different things in life. The way that government tries to impose freedom sometimes only leads to the exact opposite of freedom. While this video didn’t necessarily cover the topic of the information world, I could put it into context as to how freedom exists over the internet. I think as internet users we must be aware of our responsibilities and freedoms that we hold through the internet. We must be careful as to not abuse this power as it can, and most likely will be stripped away. Equally, however, we must also be diligent in stopping injustices to our freedoms such as security breaches, or regulations that seem to benefit only one particular group.
Week 6 covered areas such as Hackivism, Internet Vigilantism, & the Anonymous group. I always knew that the term hacker was never supposed to have a negative connotation, but it’s unfortunate that it has become somewhat of a negative term. If someone thinks about ‘hacking’ they immediately think of someone breaking into a computer and doing unlawful things. The guys in the video: The Secret History of Hacking seemed as if they wouldn’t hurt a fly. I do think though that Kevin Mitnick took hacking to a different level. He was punished numerous times for his hacking into computer systems and he refused to stop. It wasn’t until after 5 years in prison, and 1 year in solitary confinement that he finally changed his anti-social behavior to use his hacking skills to better society. He says in the Colbert Report video that he is a consultant that hacks into computer systems to show companies the vulnerabilities of the systems.
I’ll have to admit that week 7 didn’t seem too interesting because there will always be varying opinions on whistleblowing and if Wiki Leaks is motivated by true journalism. I did happen to come across an article this past Wednesday about Wiki Leaks in the Wall Street Journal (http://tinyurl.com/3qmy425). The article says that funding for WikiLeaks is pretty mush being blocked by major financial companies such as Paypal and Visa. Wiki Leaks will be shutting down all publishing in order to fight the blocks of these companies. In a way it doesn’t seem right that the financial companies can do this, but in another sense, Wiki Leaks is an entity that has a very powerful potential and it was almost naïve for the people of Wiki Leaks to think that it would survive independently.
That last thing that was covered within the weeks was the subject of the digital divide and social media revolution in developing countries. I thought that the three articles that were posted were all good in showing the different sides of this “social media revolution.” The first article was good in showing that there can be a need in closing the digital divide between countries with different economic backgrounds. The good thing about the article was that it did not put emphasis only on social media and how it can potentially overthrow a government. The second article was about social media and how it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. Social media can be used just as equally by opposing forces of a revolt to fight it. Social media is not something that governments are unaware of, and regardless of what media says, it’s not the main reason behind the success of toppling governments. The last article showed a humorous side of how the media works. It was from Cracked.com which I always remember as being Mad Magazine’s ugly step sister when I was a child. Even though it was funny, there was still some truth to it. Sometimes the media uses Twitter like it’s a reliable news source, when in fact it’s more like something as the article stated: “Every kernel of real information out there is floating somewhere on an ocean of bullsh*t.(http://tinyurl.com/3jvo3eg)” That made me laugh really hard.
Works Cited:
The Trap (Part 3) – ―We Will Force You to Be Free‖ http://tinyurl.com/288fak
The Secret History of Hacking http://tinyurl.com/3p7oyzl
Stephen Colbert interview with Kevin Mitnick http://tinyurl.com/3rajmdv
WikiLeaks Says It Could Close (WSJ.com) http://tinyurl.com/3qmy425
The Power of Social Media in Developing Nations: New Tools for Closing the Global Digital Divide and Beyond (harvardhrj.com)
In The 'Net Delusion,' Internet Serves Oppressors http://tinyurl.com/2bbxkc7
5 Reasons Twitter Isn't Actually Overthrowing Governments http://tinyurl.com/3jvo3eg
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