Fw: com 125 hw

I, like most people my age use AOL Instant Messenger I have had several
screen names in my time on AIM. Most of the time I choose my screen
name by what most interests me at that point in time. For example when
I first started using AIM my screen name had something to do with a
Metallica album because that was what I was into at that point in time.
Since then I have changed my screen name multiple times, mostly because
of what could be considered a troll. Someone had gotten my password and
was signing on pretending to be me. Also, I had other problems with
deception where people would create a screen name and send you an
instant message just to mess with you. Similar to a Killfile on Usenet,
AIM has a blocking tool as well. "Killfiles are filters that allow
you to skip unwanted postings: if you put someone in your killfile, you
will see no more of their postings (Donath, p.24)." Similar to
Usenet, AIM will block a user under a certain screen name from being
able to contact you. However the same rules apply for both it is fairly
simple for anyone to just make up a new screen name and the problem then
continues. This I find to be a great tool even though there are loop
holes around the blockers, I have found that most people do not go out
of their way to harrass you past the initial block. Recently, there has
been an growth in online communities such as Myspace and Facebook.
Where as most use these sites simply to keep intouch with friends, and
family, a great deal of private information can be found within these
profiles. Although the creaters of myspace have gone to great lengths
to make profiles secure, as with most things on the internet security
technology can become obsolete overnight. As with UseNet, Myspace
offers the option to put in a user identifcation that is not your name,
and sites like this can be very misleading because you can make your
username what ever you want and you can even make your profile picture a
picture that you downloaded off of the internet. "A close look at the
account name, a seemingly simple identification signal, proves to be
quite interesting for it touches on issues ranging from the reputations
of various virtual neighborhoods to techniques for detecting identity
deception (Donath, p.7)." One can pretend to be almost anyone that they
want on these web pages, sometimes easy to pick up on other times it is
rather difficult. Some people feel that added security and keeping a
close eye limiting what the younger generation can view is the way to
go. However, I feel that this uncalled for, protecting our kids is one
thing however world experience can only be learned, not taught. Being
told that the world is a cruel place and experiencing it are two
different things. Also, dealing with it is on a completely other
level.

Works Cited:

Donath, Judith S. "Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community."
Communities in Cyberspace.: 1-34.
--mpgiaime

Gift Economy

The term "gift economy," some wonder what it means mean, while they do it several times a day. "A gift economy is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo (the Latin term for the concept of "a favor for a favor")." (http://en.wikipedia.org, 2007). I find that personally I am a part of this on a day-to-day basis through the Fraternity that I am in. Not only do the brothers help each other out by giving the brothers that don't have cars rides, or giving a few bucks to a brother for lunch, but we lend our time to do local volunteer work as well. As stated by Kollock, 1999, "A gift is tied in an inalienable way to the giver." This is basically stating that the time that my brothers and I donate when we do volunteer work is a gift that we gave to someone else. That is an example of a gift economy on a small scale I would now like to talk about a gift economy on a larger scale. The New York Times a paper in which many of you have probably heard of, I believe to be a gift economy in the form of a public good. On The New York Times website you can find full news articles and they correspond directly to what you would find in the actual "Times" that you would find at your local newsstand. Meanwhile this does give "free-riders" the opportunity to not have to but the paper and well free-ride. The net in essence has really opened the gate for the "gift economy." "For most of its users, the Net is somewhere to work, play, love, learn and discuss with other people. Unrestricted by physical distance, they collaborate with each other without the direct mediation of money or politics. Unconcerned about copyright, they give and receive information without thought of payment. In the absence of states or markets to mediate social bonds, network communities are instead formed through the mutual obligations created by gifts of time and ideas (The Hi-Tech Gift Economy, December 2005)." In this statement I think Barbrook was trying to say that the way that the internet works is based on a honor system. Which as you can see has pretty much turned into a free for all. Sharing music over the net was intended for artists to be able to send their work to other artists and in due time the favor would be returned. However I do not think that p2p file sharing has had that dramatic of an effect on record sales, I do understand the record companies concerns with it.

Copyright or is it wrong?

Many people argue what copyright does and if it applies to something
that they are doing. Fact of the matter is that the majority of
infringe copyright laws on a daily basis whether they know it or not.
For example, have you ever watched the reality TV show "The Apprentice,"
well for those of you who do not know the phrase "You're Fired" has a
copyright (www.thespeciousreport.com/2005/05050217paris_hilton.html).
In my eyes copyright on stuff like that is a little rediculous, how ever
media companies do have a legit 'beef'. There purpose of existance
basically relies on these laws. So argue that filesharing is killing
the media business, specifically the fact that if you know what you are
doing you can pretty much download anything you want music wise online.
Also what many people do not know is that "since 1999, CD prices have
risen 10%, while the price of DVD's has dropped 20% (Oberholzer-Gee,
Strumpf, The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales An Empirical
Analysis." Another hot topic when it comes to file sharing is the "Fair
Use" doctrine. This doctrine permits limited use of copyrighted works.
However the guidelines to this doctrine are not very clear, in reading
an article by a Kevin S. Brady. The article is entiled "Copyright FAQ:
25 Common Myths and Misconceptions," the author helps define some of the
misconceptions that many people have about P2P filesharing.
--mpgiaime