A recent article by BBC News states that the Chinese government is still firm in their choices of Internet censorship. While most countries keep blocked websites to a minumum, China is known for being ruthless in what the public can and cannot see online. Examples include social networking sites such as Facebook for allowing free communication to outside countries and Flash-hosting sites such as Newgrounds for showing violent content. As an April Fool's joke, Newgrounds showed what they would have to do to comply with Chinese regulations to un-censor them. All movies and games for mature audiences were blocked, along with the forums which also included word filters for pre-existing posts (e.g. 'game' would become 'physical exercise'). Additionally, searches in Google Images for events such as the Tiananmen Square Protest show very different results inside and outside of China.

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"For more than a decade, we’ve been waging a war on our kids in the name of the 20th Century’s model of “copyright law.” In this, the last of his books about copyright, Lawrence Lessig maps both a way back to the 19th century, and to the promise of the 21st. Our past teaches us about the value in “remix.” We need to relearn the lesson. The present teaches us about the potential in a new “hybrid economy” — one where commercial entities leverage value from sharing economies. That future will benefit both commerce and community. If the lawyers could get out of the way, it could be a future we could celebrate."

This is the introduction to Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy by Lawrence Lessig from the official website. It is a book, nearly 300 pages long, that I have been asked to read at my own pace. It discusses and provides solutions to the problem revolving around musical piracy. Taking time to sit down as read it, I managed to look at the introduction and beginning chapter. The first part describes innocent situations when people have been affected by copyright claims because they have provided music unjustly. The very first story is a mother's YouTube video of their one year-old child dancing to Let's Go Crazy by (the artist formerly known as) Prince. The video survived for a few months before Universal Records filed against the illegal use of their music in a video. YouTube notified the mother before removing it from their servers.

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Recently the topic of "Business" and "Employment" have been brought up recently; and on the Guardian theres an interesting story about how an employee stole and sold personal account details to rival firms. Now, this is major as some person just working in a company immediately takes your information and decides to sell it without permission! This has actually effected the business as a result of many angry customers losing their trust in what they thought was a secure firm. However, this would be no ITGS Blogpost without the triangle of doom death evil involved. So, lets have  a look shall we?

Main Article:

"Personal details of thousands of mobile phone customers have been stolen and sold to rival firms in the biggest data breach of its kind, the government's privacy watchdog said today. An employee of phone operator T-Mobile sold the customer records, including details of when contracts expired. The millions of items of information were sold on for "substantial sums", the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said. Rival networks and mobile phone retailers then tried to lure away T-Mobile customers by "cold calling"."

For more, click here!

Social Ethical Schtuff:

Privacy- This employee has taken the accounts of thousands of people who use phones for their own personal lives, how is their privacy invaded.
Security: How good is the security of T-Mobile?
People and Machines: How has this employee used this data base to his advantage?
Reliability: How reliable is T-Mobile at protecting its information?
Control: How do we choose who is in charge of our information? How do we know they may control the information wisely?
Policies & Standards: Are standards good enough at T-Mobile to stop other employees from behaving like this?

AOI (Areas Of Impact):

Socially, people will be paranoid about protecting their phone as well as their information.
Business wise, this effects T-Mobiles reputation as a telecoms company.

Stakeholders:

T-Mobile
T-Mobile Users
Spam Companies.

Visit our Diggo space because you know you want to. and it may improve your internet skills. and you know you want to =D

I'll be bock.

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One major social ethical issue that has appeared in the last 9 years is "How far will we go to protect our society?"

Socially, the country I am in seems to have some issues (in the sense that there are marauding teenagers or drunks who decide to tear up a street whether they seems to be aware of their actions or not). Yes, I have seen these type of situations in first person, but I digress, but it seems like the government's answer to it is CCTV.

Now, CCTV is probably the biggest double-edged sword in England more then the rest of the world? Why? Because we seem to have the most in the world. It has become so recognizable that it can be suggested to be an icon of some sort; and despite the billions of pounds used to develop it, it seems to not have completely payed off. But the idea of it still remains, and though that article indicates that CCTV hasn't , it still remains, CCTV can reduce crime and add to our security. However, it goes one step further.

Modern CCTV now has the ability to communicate with people on the street. The fact that they are able to see people dropping litter on the street is insane; it seems out of a movie no? The government is watching your every move in their city and how far they'll go to make sure you don't do something (V For Vendetta? Anyone?); The fact that the police does this to 'keep the city secure and safe in a healthy environment to make sure citizens stay okay' but they seem to be bordering on privacy. Its almost a marytr, where people see these things and feel terror in their eyes. Might seem like a slight exaggeration, but consider for one moment, with the direction they've headed in with CCTV and being on the borderline of privacy and security, one must consider, once they eliminate crime, are they going to extend that on to more minor incidents?

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There has been plenty of news about the link between employment and having a Social Networking account. If a person is applying for a job, many businesses will search for that person's MySpace or Facebook page, giving them an insight into their personal life. Depending on the content of your pictures, this can make the final decision for many companies before they accept or decline your application. If your account is filled with pictures of you having a lovely time in peaceful settings, you should be fine. If your photos often show you getting drunk on the weekend, you have lowered your chances of employment. Even if you are employed, you still have to be careful about what you type. Is this a good procedure for businesses to take? For the companies, it is an effective way to view applicants without suspicion, making sure their workers will actually work. In terms of privacy, problems then begin.

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The book I have to read for ITGS is 'Secrets and Lies' and I went into this book with  no expectations what so ever. This is because I had never heard of this book and know almost nothing on the subject of digital security. But I was surprised at how the first introduction (there are three) was so accessible and showed how  the things he talked about in 2000/2001 can still be applied to technology today. He even went on to explain the whole problem with network security and this is only the first chapter. He  described about how software companies that produced security software were not liable for their product. Meaning they could release an unfinished and unsecure product that could be changed with updates. So the company does not make a fully finished security program but rather makes a very basic one and release updates or upgrades for the software. Since this makes the software unreliable the security incidents that consumers may have cannot be blamed legally on the company.

I could not believe that after the first chapter that there was more to talk about the subject but I still have over 300 pages left of the book. The second chapter talked about how his previous idea about network security was wrong and that this book was to correct that mistake. If find this respectable because the author is showing that he can make mistakes and is not a total god of the subject. Chapter 3 the book actually started to begin and explained systems in a way that I could understand by using examples that I can understand. Though my opinion of this book is higher than it previously was, I will have to read more to see how my opinion evolves

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For my article in ITGS, I am looking at the impacts of Social Networking websites in the workplace. There are a few social and ethical issues relating to this topic

Firstly, I can relate this to Privacy & Anonymity. This is because Employees' internet usage is being monitored constantly. Facebook is perceived as a distraction rather than a business tool; but in the view of employees, Social networking enables easy communication and the sharing of ideas. While most offices ban facebook, some can see it's advantage. This also interlinks with Policies & Standards; as it raises ethical questions over what counts as productivity, as well as how offices plan to use the technology itself.

Secondly, I can relate this to Globalization. The globalization of the technology is allowing colleagues to work together and communicate abroad; boosting productivity. 30 years ago, it was difficult to work abroad. But now with the new technology in computers, such as social networking; business conferences are one click away.

But the big question is whether companies can successfully embrace social networking as a business tool rather than a distraction. Will we become too dependent? Could it impair human communication? There are many issues lying within this article; which is why I am writing on it for my first Portfolio.

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P4P is the new kid on the filesharing block. P4P is a new technology that will make filesharing applications that makes torrenting and peer to peer transfering alot cheaper and faster. But is this neccissarily a good thing?

P4P is basically an improved version of P2P. P4P works just liek P2P except it focuses on connecting local peers as much as possible, thus speeding up downloads and decreasing the price ISPs have to pay to support them. ISPs will definitly support this, as it saves them money, but what does this mean for users?

The P4P working group is made up of members of the entertainment industry and many anti-piracy supporters. This rises many issues with P2P users because they know it is inevitable that these members of the working group will push the developers to incorperate anti-piracy filters into their clients and have them make other measures to stop piracy through the P4P networks. For users, this means that through P4P they wont be able to get the files they want but as the use of P4P increases P2P will become significantly slower. For members of the entertainment industry and anti-piracy supporters this means that there will be more protection of intellectual property on the internet.

The use of P4P means bottlenecking the use of P2P. When the traffic for P4P increases it will slow download and upload rates for P2P causing users and ISPs, not part of the P4P movement, to see a decline in performance. P4P users will share less with P2P users because they will be focused more on local sources rather than global. This raises serious net neutrality issues. P4P might increase speed and reduce cost of file transfere traffic for ISPs but it negitivly affects non-supporters of P4P. The P2P users will not be able to benfit fromt he P4P users because P2P doesnt localise and P4P does.

To sum up, P4P is a new technology that will increase torrenting and file transfer speed but only at the sacrifice of the P2P community. And P4P is also going to, inevitably, be controlled by the entertainment industry destroying all file trasfer that doesnt protect intellectual property. So no more downloading free music from thepiratebay.

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Arthur R. Miller’s article “ The National Data Center and Personal Privacy” written in 1967 focuses on the new-at-the-time technology of databases and the worries it brings about such as individual freedom and privacy, permanent information that can always be tracked down. All these problems listed by the author relate to the fear of surveillance the technology is able to offer to the government.

The article I found which emphasizes the uses of databases, also rises the ethical question about whether the line should be drawn before people’s privacy is breached.

The article is called “Database tracking students causes privacy concerns”. It talks about UK plans on entering student information on an electronic database form the age of 14; this information includes the student’s grades, personal information and exclusions. Now, the big question is; is this really ethical? A record like this can mean that the information is permanent where even when the student has graduated it is still out there electronically for someone to track down should they want to know more about them. For example, a student’s record for exclusions can affect a job he/she is applying to get if the employer was to look up for some background detail. And is it necessary to have such personal detail as if every punishment or detention one gets in school is an unforgivable sin. It creates an argument of whether it is worth to record minor data when it not going to matter for the person but could have a negative impact on their lives.

Now, because the databases are dynamically linked websites; it is accessible on the internet as mentioned in article by teachers, employers and training agencies. This means that all the information belonging to the students of UK is at the fingertips of almost anyone.

This kind of necessary surveillance, if it’s even necessary, should always have a policy guaranteeing that information would be strictly private and secure where after the student graduates is disposed of. This means that it would not be accessible by employers, agencies, and basically everyone else other than the student.

If you want to read further on the topic and make your own mind up about this argument; here are the links I used:

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/31/the-national-data-center-and-personal-privacy/

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2256044,00.html

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 This article itself is short but touches on all area's of the ITGS triangle. The articles talks about how the Foreign and Commonwealth Office breached the Data Protection Act by leaving visa applications open for anybody to view.

Social and Ethical Issues: Privacy, Security, Policies and Standards.

- Privacy and security is breached because personal data about a visa applicant is visible to anyone and can be used for criminal acts such as identity theft. Also policies and standards are questioned by the public on the government's protection of citizen's data.

Areas of Impact: Government

Stakeholders: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), visa applicants,  Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), UKvisas Home Office.

IT Systems: Web site used before for visa applications and the new one, visa4UK.

Solutions: Replace website with new one and security checks regularly.

- The FCO stated it will replace the previous we bsite with an entirely new one called visa4UK and this web site will be security checked regularly for any breaches etc. Also the FCO have signed a formal undertaking to comply with the rules of the DAta Protection t and will face further action from the ICO if it doesn't not follow this.

The link to the article is right below:

http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2203336/fco-breached-data-protection

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Reliability, integrity, security, honesty, ambiguity. What kind of description can we give to Internet safety? After interviewing my parents concerning their views of technology in the past, present, and future, I found that they both more than agreed upon the invasion of Internet privacy as being their greatest fear. Both trust in the Internet and can never get enough of it but feel that much of the information they are giving up is becoming more and more insecure. It is true that one can never be completely sure of the reliability of the World Wide Web. We live in a society today where our lives are becoming increasingly more digital. As we make this transition we begin to question: Where does our information go anyway? Is there anything anybody can do about it? How can we be sure that our information is not being violated? A discussion with my parents warranted these questions along with many others concerning how safe our information really is online. “Online privacy fears are real”, an article written by Bob Sullivan of MSNBC outlines the “murky, complicated issue” of Internet privacy.

Sullivan states that “websites want to know all they can about you” and consumers often give in to this peer pressure of sorts even if they are unwilling. This article draws a clear picture about how easy it is for our personal information to be violated. The purpose of the Internet is to allow people the freedom to enter another realm of information, to learn and to teach. Email, one of the many Internet perks, connects family, friends, and co-workers all over the world. With the invention of the Internet, distance was replaced with the click of a mouse. Internet also heralded new ways of storing information and the selling of consumer goods. A new generation of business, employment, leisure, and government was born. This generation of hope also brought a generation of piracy and crime. One may assume that information posted on a chat room is safe based on policies failing to read the fine print. Sullivan uses the example of a health support group “shocked to discover their supposedly private discussions about prostate cancer are now full-text searchable from a Web Site.” The article poses the question “How did you find me?” just as many Internet users do. The answer is not complex. Personal information is never completely personal. To quote an excerpt from novel Salem Falls by Jodi Piccoult:

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Title: Intro

Excuse the dodgy video introduction above...but hopefully it will have intoduced you to your one-stop-shop, of information for your Information Technology in a Global Society course. Whether you are in the first or second year of your course I will be posting news stories, homework items, research help, video resources and much more to help with the course. Hopefully you will also be able to post to this weblog, upload podcasts and most definitely comment on posts to enable interesting discussion around your studies. Make sure you place this as a bookmark in your web-browser of choice(hopefully Firefox) and if you are a little lazy at checking websites for the latest information then you can  sign up to have every post emailed to you. Until August the 23rd, enjoy your summer.

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