Com125: Privacy

My own definition of privacy is having personal information kept personal without others knowing. According to an online site called Answers.com, privacy is "the quality or condition of being secluded from the presence or view of others; the state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion: a person's right to privacy; the state of being concealed; secrecy." Along with the development of the internet came development of breaching privacy of others. Who knows when you are really secure and your information is really safe?

As seen on msnbc.com, under title 'Privacy Lost: Does anybody care?' "perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills, or a political consultant might select you for special attention based on personal data purchased from a vendor." When it comes to my finances and my identity, I am freightened by what could happen by someone breaching my privacy. Not too long ago, there was a situation with the DSW Shoe Warehouse store, where someone stole the entire client list and all of their credit card information. If you have purchased shoes from there, chances are, your information was included. As being an occasional shopper of this store, I was extremely nervous and upset about this. Luckily, I did not end up having problems with my credit card in result of this upsetting incident.

Another point I would like to make inolves my student loan information which is mostly done through transactions via the internet. One of the sites I use on a regular basis is through AES, the American Education Services site. I feel more at ease using this site because every time you log on to view your information, you are prompted to answer a series of random questions that you have previously created. I think and hope that this will prevent others from hacking into my information; all of my personal information. I do not know much about hacking into a system, but I hope to God that the measures that sites like AES take are enough to protect me against all the selfish, greedy, crazy people who like to steal the information of others.

Because of the people who destroy the privacy, really, what is 100% private anymore? It's hard to imagine what is going to happen in the years to come ...will something be done about the lack of privacy and the protection of people will be easier to maintain, or those who hack into information of others will only get better at it? I'm afraid that choice "B" is going to be the case. With everything that is happening on the internet; for example online banking, is this going to be more of a risk than a positive advancement? I feel happy banking online because it is quicker and more efficient than killing a tree each time I get a statement in the mail. I am worried, though, that these efficient ways of doing things will be destroyed by selfish people. What is the world coming to?

Com125- Assignment 3: "Oh no she didn't..."

When it comes to the subject of copyrights, my mind immediately jumps to the problem recording artists are having battling people downloading music for free. I stand firmly on my soap box and unfortunately for the popular vote, I say that all music should be paid for. Am I saying that $.99 per song on iTunes is the appropriate cost per song? No. A dollar per song does add up quickly, especially when you are downloading a whole album. I do not know enough about the cost to produce a song; however, I do know that the people who produce and write these songs do this for a living. If you want to get music "for free", record your own stuff. It is not up to all of us college kids to determine what is fair. Yes, these artists make a lot of money, but they also work very hard doing what they do. And thanks to them, we have a variety of music always at our fingertips.

I used to be one who ignored the fact that downloading music for free was like stealing. "It's not really stealing... I am not one of those people." Once I sat down and thought about it, there really is no difference than filling up your gas tank and driving off. Also, a close friend of mine is pursuing his dream and became a recording artist. From talking to him, I see how what really goes into writing and recording songs is not that obvious to people, like me, who are not in the industry. He is one of the reasons that I am now so passionate about paying for every song that I download.

"If you think being caught infringing on these copyright laws will result in a small fine or "slap on the wrist", think again! In the U.S., the online infringement of copyrighted music can be punished by up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned up to six years. Individuals also may be held civilly liable, regardless of whether the activity is for profit, for actual damages or lost profits, or for statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringed copyright." (http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2004/music_downloading.asp)

I don't know why one would risk that kind of punishment. From talking to others in our Com125 class alone, I have heard of a few cases of friends of classmates getting caught for illegally downloading music, movies, etc. So, when I hear people say "oh, what are the chances of getting caught?", I would have to say that a chance alone should be reason to not do it in the first place. A 12 year old girl even faced a law suit. (story found at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96797,00.html)

Spending $.99 on a song would save you $149,999.01. As someone who pays for all her music, I know how quickly this $.99 adds up. It just seems way more worth it, though, to just play it safe. As technology continues to quickly advance, who's to say that software or some kind of tracking devices to find people who illegally download music and movies won't make prosecution easier and faster? Again, that's a risky chance.
Visit http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/trade/singingtheblues.php. It may put some of this in perspective...

Com125 Assignment 2: E-mail changed the internet

According to Wikipedia, e-mail is a "method of writing, sending, receiving and saving messages over electronic communication systems. The term 'e-mail' applies to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, to network systems based on other protocols annd to various mainframe, minicomputer or internet by a particular systems vendor, or on the same protocols used on public networks." In much simpler terms, e-mail is a way to send a message to a specific person(s) via the internet. Not only can you send someone a message faster than mailing it, but you can do so to people all over the world to as many or as little number of people desired. An example of this mass communication is through the charity contest I entered and blogged about in my first blog. I had to get the word out as quickly, to as many people, and as low cost as possible. Thanks to e-mail, I was able to send over 100 people a message about this contest.

Since this advance in communication, the use of the internet has expanded and blown up into something that people can barely live without. Back in the day, hand-written letters were the main way to send someone a written message through the local postal service after paying for a fee, otherwise known as a stamp. Presently, it is easy to send messages to people for free, it gets to them faster, and it can be done at your desk or in the comfort of your own home. Currently, it is almost undheard of for someone to not have an email address because of how fast it had advanced as a way of communicating. E-mail has served as communication for both professional and non-professional purposes.



After the development of the internet and e-mail, as more and more people acquired an e-mail address, it "naturally" encouraged people to use the internet for more functions than just sending a letter to someone. As more and more users get used to communicating this way, people are more dependent on the internet for e-mailing, which encourages them to use the internet for other faster, more efficient functions such as shopping, watching movies, etc. Pretty soon, we won't have to leave our houses to do much anymore, by the advances the internet is making so far.