Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Given the amount of legislation that has been passed to protect children from
pornography, it is ironic that many teenagers have become a source of suggestive images.
The legal system has not yet caught up with sexting: the use of email or cell phones to
send messages containing photos of nude or partially nude people. Child pornography
laws were written with pedophiles in mind. What is the proper response to minors who
are sexting photos of themselves?
The Internet provides new ways for people to be misled. Every year, millions of
people are conned into revealing their credit card numbers to scam artists who use this
information to get cash advances or purchase goods using someone else's identity. Sexual
predators have used chat rooms as a tool to contact children. In response, police have
begun to set up sting operations to snare these predators.
The Web provides a remarkably simple way for people to post and access informa-
tion. People looking for answers can often get more information, and get it much more
quickly, by retrieving what they want from the Web instead of searching printed ency-
clopedias, books, journals, and newspapers. Ordinary people can also use the Web to
broadcast their ideas around the globe. There are many advantages to this information-
rich environment. Unfortunately, because anybody can post information on the Web,
incorrect information is mixed in with correct information. Web users cannot believe
everything they read on the Web. Web search engines incorporate algorithms that at-
tempt to steer people toward higher-quality sites.
The Internet and the telephone system have provided a new way for people to in-
timidate or humiliate others. After Megan Meier was cyberbullied, she took her own life.
The adult involved in the cyberbullying was not prosecuted by local authorities because
there were no state laws against cyberbullying. Efforts to create a national cyberbullying
law in the United States drew objections from civil libertarians, who feared that it would
greatly restrict freedom of expression, and the law was not passed.
A wide variety of enticing activities are available online, and some people exhibit
a compulsion to spend extraordinarily long hours connected to the Internet. Numer-
ous commentators have compared compulsive computer users to compulsive gamblers.
Whether or not a compulsive online activity is a true addiction, excessive computer
use can have harmful consequences. According to Kantianism, utilitarianism, and social
contract theory, people must take responsibility for the voluntary choices they make, in-
cluding the decision to go online. However, we should also remember that social and
cultural factors can make people more susceptible to addictions.
1.
What is spam?
2.
What does a spam filter do?
3.
What is a URL?
4.
What is a wiki?
5.
What is a blog?
