Exploring the Internet

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Exploring the Internet

• 91.113-021
• Instructor Michael Krolak

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Tonight

• The Internet and Society
• Creating a Web Form

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Class Announcements

• Class Notes Have been posted.
• 7 Days Left Until Scavenger Hunt is Due!

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Follow Up from Last Class
The blogosphere is continuing to grow, with
a weblog created every second, according to blog
trackers Technorati. In its latest State of the
Blogosphere report, it said the number of blogs
it was tracking now stood at more than 14.2m
blogs, up from 7.8m in March.

Source news.bbc.co.uk
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Follow Up From Last Class (cont.)

• Seoul, South Korea - A 24-year-old South Korean
  man died after playing computer games nonstop for
  86 hours, said police on Wednesday.The jobless
  man, identified by police only by his last name
  Kim, was found dead on Tuesday at an Internet
  cafe in Kwangju, 260km south-west of Seoul, they
  said.Quoting witnesses, police detective Oh
  Myong-sik in Kwangju said the man had been
  virtually glued to the computer since late on
  Friday and had no decent sleep and meals.

Source http//www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id3
art_idqw103415130387B262set_id1
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Blog of the Week

• With all of the capabilities of the world wide
  web it is typical of our society to use the web
  as a tool to cause mischief. The internet gives
  everybody an equal chance at life because of the
  information it brings right to your eyes. A
  person can literally pull up any kind of
  information he or she desires. No longer is a
  student subjected to do a problem out the long
  way or to look up a word in the dictionary,
  everything has become visibly easier. Does this
  easier type of life have its downfalls? Im sure
  it does, but how can you ignore the amount of
  usefull information at your finger tips?
  Sometimes I just wonder what we would all do if
  this tool was just taken away from us. I think we
  as a society would be really vulnerable and
  better yet I think we would all go insane. Have
  we entered a period in time where we cant turn
  back to a simpler way of life? I dont think there
  is any turning back from this point or at least
  not by choice, but what if some sort of a
  catastrophy happened and the world lost the
  internet? Would the internest ever be rebuilt and
  if so, how long would it take? Maybe I will use
  this great tool while I've got it to look up tips
  on survival or better yet maybe I will reteach
  myself how to do everything out the long way

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What is Society?

• society
• n.
• 1.
• a. The totality of social relationships among
  humans.
• b. A group of humans broadly distinguished from
  other groups by mutual interests, participation
  in characteristic relationships, shared
  institutions, and a common culture.
• c. The institutions and culture of a distinct
  self-perpetuating group.

Source www.dictionary.com
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What are Societys Obligations

• Thomas Hobbes developed the theory of the Social
  Contract.
• The Social Contract is an agreement by the
  members of a society to obey a central authority
  as long as this authority could maintain security
  for the people.
• Without the social contract, Hobbes theorized
  that man would fall back into a state of nature
  or constant war.
• Rosseau added that the people are only subject
  to this social contract as long as it is
  beneficial for them.

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US Bill of Rights

• The conventions of a number of the States having
  at the time of their adopting the Constitution,
  expressed a desire, in order to prevent
  misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that
  further declaratory and restrictive clauses
  should be added.
• Article the first Not Ratified
• After the first enumeration required by the
  first article of the Constitution, there shall be
  one Representative for every thirty thousand,
  until the number shall amount to one hundred,
  after which the proportion shall be so regulated
  by Congress, that there shall be not less than
  one hundred Representatives, nor less than one
  Representative for every forty thousand persons,
  until the number of Representatives shall amount
  to two hundred after which the proportion shall
  be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not
  be less than two hundred Representatives, nor
  more than one Representative for every fifty
  thousand persons.
• Article the second Amendment XXVII - Ratified
  1992
• No law, varying the compensation for the
  services of the Senators and Representatives,
  shall take effect, until an election of
  Representatives shall have intervened.
• Article the third Amendment I
• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom
  of speech, or of the press or the right of the
  people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
  Government for a redress of grievances.
• Article the fourth Amendment II4
• A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the
  security of a free State, the right of the people
  to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

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Accepted Forms of Censorship in the US

• Inciting violence
• Chicago Seven
• Inciting unlawful actions
• Criminal Conspiracy
• Speech that impacts others freedom.
• Sexual / Racial / National Origin Harassment
• Obscenity
• Censor children from adult material
• Censorship in a private situation
• Microsoft /St. Louis Post/ Houston Chronicle
  firing bloggers
• Defamation

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Communications Decency Act (1996)

• The CDA outlawed intentionally communicating "by
  computer in or affecting interstate or foreign
  commerce, to any person the communicator believes
  has not attained the age of 18 years, any
  material that, in context, depicts or describes,
  in terms patently offensive as measured by
  contemporary community standards, sexual or
  excretory activities or organs."
• Ruled by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional.

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Childrens Internet Protection Act

• Under CIPA, schools and libraries subject to CIPA
  do not receive the discounts offered by the
  "E-Rate" program (discounts that make access to
  the Internet affordable to schools and libraries)
  unless they certify that they have certain
  Internet safety measures in place. These include
  measures to block or filter pictures that (a)
  are obscene, (b) contain child pornography, or
  (c) when computers with Internet access are used
  by minors, are harmful to minors
• Schools subject to CIPA are required to adopt a
  policy to monitor online activities of minors
  and
• Schools and libraries subject to CIPA are
  required to adopt a policy addressing (a) access
  by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet
  and World Wide Web (b) the safety and security
  of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms,
  and other forms of direct electronic
  communications (c) unauthorized access,
  including so-called "hacking," and other unlawful
  activities by minors online (d) unauthorized
  disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal
  information regarding minors and (e) restricting
  minors' access to materials harmful to them. CIPA
  does not require the tracking of Internet use by
  minors or adults.

Source http//www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.
html
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Censorship of the Internet in China

• Chinese authorities are blocking access to
  around 10 of Web sites in a bid to control
  access to information on politically sensitive
  subjects such as Tibet, a study from Harvard
  University has found. According to Harvard's
  Berkman Center for Internet and Society, around
  19,000 Web sites out of the 200,000 tested
  couldn't be accessed.

Source New Media Age, Dec 12, 2002 p13(1)
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Hate Speech

• Speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or
  incite violence or prejudicial action against
  someone based on their race, ethnicity, national
  origin, religion, sexual orientation, or
  disability. The term covers written as well as
  oral communication.

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Gary Lauck

• For two decades, Lauck sent Nazi propaganda from
  Nebraska to Germany.
• The US refused to extradite Lauck, because he was
  protected under his First Amendment rights within
  the US.
• On vacation in Denmark, authorities arrested him
  and extradited him to Germany for trial
• Was sentenced to four years in jail.

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Yahoo! and Nazi memorabilia

• In France, it is illegal to sell items that have
  a racist overtone.
• In 2000, the League Against Racism and
  Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and the Union of Jewish
  Students sued Yahoo! in France over the sale of
  Nazi daggers, photos of death camp victims and
  Zyklon B poison gas canisters.
• A French court ordered Yahoo! Inc to prevent
  people in France from accessing U.S. sites
  selling the Nazi materials.
• Yahoo! France Managing Director Philippe
  Guillanton argued that the ruling ran against the
  international nature of the World Wide Web.
• US Court held that Yahoo! did not have to obey
  French laws in 2001
• In 2003, a French court finally cleared Yahoo!
  from charges that it condoned war crimes and
  crimes against humanity

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Online Suicide

• Amazon.com is coming under fire for distributing
  books that describe methods and techniques of
  killing oneself.
• Amazon.com entered the British media spotlight
  after a 19 year old girl purchased a copy of
  manual on suicide

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Timothy Leary (1996)

• Timothy Leary announced that he would set up a
  web cam so that his fans could watch him commit
  suicide.
• Instead, Leary died in his sleep of inoperable
  prostate cancer.

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Online Cannibalism

• A 41 yr old, German computer technician, Armin
  Meiwes, advertised on the Internet for a
  well-built male prepared to be slaughtered and
  then consumed.
• 43-year-old Bernd-Jurgen Brandes volunteered
  through an Internet cannibalism bulletin board
• Meiwes videotaped the entire event
• Convicted and sentenced to 8 and ½ years in prison

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Brandon Vedas (1981 2003)

• Vedas (a.k.a. ripper) took a massive overdose of
  prescription pills while in an Internet chat
  room.
• Used a webcam so his friends could watch.
• The people watching encouraged him to keep taking
  more pills, even after he had consumed enough
  pills to OD.
• 0414 cheers and righty hoe
• 0414 hell yea eat more
• 0414 lol
• 0414 eat more

Source http//www.brandonvedas.com/ripperlog.txt
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Suicide Pacts

• Gerald Krein, 26, was charged with solicitation
  to commit murder and conspiracy to commit
  manslaughter, after organizing an effort for a
  mass suicide on Valentines Day 2005 via an
  Internet chat room.

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Suicide Pacts in Japan

• 55 people killed themselves in group suicides in
  Japan in 2004.
• 59 people have killed themselves through
  cyber-suicides in the first four months of this
  year.
• Most, if not all, met through online chat rooms
• It is not illegal to kill yourself in Japan

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Cyber Suicides Throughout the World

• South Korea has reported 10 cyber suicides within
  the first four months of this year.
• In China, 10 web sites devoted to suicide
  instructions have been uncovered and shut down.
• In Wales, a 13 yr. old girl and a 14 yr. old girl
  met through a chat room and then met to overdose
  on prescription pills.
• 14 suicides have been linked to the same user
  group that supports and encourages its members to
  commit suicide.

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Australian Legistlation

• It is a criminal offense in Australia to access,
  transmit or make available materials that counsel
  or incite suicide.
• Australia censors materials that promote and
  provide instruction on a particular method of
  suicide.
• A maximum fine of 110,000 Australian dollars (
  roughly 85,000)

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Online Dating Industry

• 100 million single adults in the United States
• 26 million people visited dating sites in January
  2005.
• 6,000 marriages credited to eHarmony.com alone.
• 500 million in revenues each year and growing
• By 2008 online dating and personals annual
  revenues will reach 642 million.
• 0.8 of all online visits are to online dating
  services
• Average cost 25 per month

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Online Dating for Married Individuals

• 12 percent of people who have registered with an
  online dating service are married.
• A Gallup poll in May found that 91 percent of
  U.S. adults consider infidelity to be "morally
  wrong." But a 2002 survey by the National Opinion
  Research Center found that 18 percent of people
  had committed adultery.
• For Married People
• Ashley Madison Agency
• Private Affairs
• Allows Married People
• UDate.com
• Matchmaker.com
• Prohibits Married People
• true.com

Source Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News,
August 1, 2004
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On Line Dating to Require Registration?

• True.com is pushing for every state to require
  background checks of online dating consumers.
• By requiring online dating services to do
  background checks, the government is attempting
  to ensure that the dating services are not
  setting up rapists with victims.

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Arranged Marriages

• Over 4 million online matrimonial search
  subscribers in 2004 have shown that they find the
  Internet as a viable medium for looking for
  eligible brides and grooms.
• The number of matrimonial site subscribers has
  registered a growth of 77 percent since 2003.

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Am I Hot or Not?

• People post photos of themselves or others.
• Visitors to the site rank them individually from
  1 to 10.
• Large Audience
• Large number of photos posted.

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The CyWorld Phenomena

• A web site that allows users to build their own
  homepage (homepy) where they can upload unlimited
  images and maintain a blog.
• Additionally, users create a room (called a
  mini-me) that they decorate with images of
  televisions, beds, etc. Users pay for these
  images (even though they could obtain most of
  these images for free) to give gifts to visitors
  and decorate their mini-me.
• Currently restricted to Korean citizens (proof of
  citizenship is required for registration)
• Within 5 years, it has attracted 13 million
  CyWorld users (25 of entire Korean population).
  90 of 24 29 year olds are regular users of
  CyWorld.
• 300,000 / day in revenues.
• Acorn (.10) is the currency of CyWorld.
• Cy World is not an abbreviation of CyberWorld,
  but Cy is Korean for Relationship.
• Coming to the US by the end of the year.

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An Example of a Mini-me
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Internet Societies

• iVillage
• Salon
• Slashdot
• Craigslist
• Friendster
• Tribe
• LinkedIn

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Teen College Internet Societies

• MySpace.com, which has 70 million users, says it
  has a strict policy of not allowing members who
  are under 16. 
• LiveJournal allows 13-16 year olds to post. 
  400,000 of its 7 million users are under 16.
• Facebook.com is an online social network for
  students.

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Taylor Behl

• On August 17, 2005, Taylor Behl left home for
  college at Virginia Commonwealth University.
• On September 5, 2005, a 38 year-old amateur
  photographer, Benjamin Fawley, killed Taylor Behl
  and dumped her unburied body in a shallow ravine
  near his ex-girlfriends farm.
• Behl met Fawley as a prospective student. She
  kept in contact with him through LiveJournal and
  Myspace.

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Long Range dangers of Social Networks

• Government agencies, private employers, college
  admissions all now routinely go to sites like
  myspace, facebook, etc. and make judgments about
  the individual based on writings that were never
  thought of as personal information for these
  organizations.
• Be careful what you post -- think what your
  parents and future employer may think about it at
  some time in the future. Remember, the net never
  forgets.

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Society and the multitasking lifestyle

• Frazzing A new term for frantic multitasking,
  says ABC News, in a world where digital gadgets
  are all demanding our attention. By one estimate,
  the average office worker loses 2.1 hours a day
  to interruptions.

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The Internet and the Idealist

• The Internet has created a brave new world of
  idealist whose ideas have launched such
  innovations as Craigslist and the Open Software
  foundation.

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FTPing a file to your webserver
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Adding a link to a file on your webserver

• Add the text that you want to display
• Then copy the name of the file into the lower
  field.
• Click OK.

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Reading for Next Week

• Dot Com for Dictators
• By Shanthi Kalathil
• Publisher Carnegie
• Foreign Policy Magazine, March/April 2003
• http//www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/ind
  ex.cfm?faviewid1207progzgp