Notes on the Internet* ca.

2007 Politics Racial slurs, slips can be caught on camera o Faster dissemination of information o Avenue for criticizing and watching politicians o Detection of falsehoods and factual slips Campaign tool o Limitless numbers of voters, unfiltered messages, no cost o Provide detailed knowledge of electorate >5 most important issues Swifter organizing/easier electronic mobilization o Spain, South Korea, Philippines Facilitates collective action locally and globally (causes) o Eliminates need for constant meetings o Darfur, Genocide International Network Active consumerism (emphasis on active) o Participation > voice of the people o Potential for medium of equality o Exercise of freedom (expression, etc.) Trivia: Wikipedia assembled 6M entries in 100 languages with only five employees Can bypass government o Can weaken the limitation of territoriality on democracy o Two ways it can go: Divide people into like categories Unite a people, break boundaries, under a cause

Caveats: Mega-billion profits to Google/Microsoft (capitalism) Open source tech (freeware) o Un-capitalistic o Collaboration o Shareware

Cybercrime The Internet has 1,022,863,307 users as of March 31, 2007. Counterfeiting of money Online pornography market (1B pesos) Mail-order brides Child trafficking e.g. Orgasmic Ventures, Inc. (Las Pias) Data piracy

Government efforts e-Commerce Law (R.A. 8792) *I was digitizing my files and found these notes among them. Unfortunately I did not care to indicate where these notes were taken. Either these are notes of something I read or they are notes of a lecture (class or forum) I attended as an undergraduate student in UP-Diliman.

Pertinent Issues Positive: altruism, kindness, aid broader spectrum of people are involved crossing boundaries such as socioeconomic status o status equalization o less stereotyping and prejudice The internet supports the wider distribution of protest messages to large numbers of people, and the dissemination alone can facilitate and energize grassroots movements. Example: Usenet groups served a vital role during the Tiananmen Square event in 1989, prodemocracy demonstrations 100K (May 4) students and workers users feel a sense of influence over distant worlds of politics, commerce and entertainment o accessibility o educational tool o research-oriented culture of speaking out

Nature of Internet Protest spreads like wildfire no centralized leadership Negative: flame wars, traffic, lag

creating libelous sites venting anger at some entity through web sites

Online Relationships In some instances the internet gives people an opportunity to get to know one another without the weight of all the physical attractiveness stereotypes. Easy to drop interaction (lots to interact with) Supports long-distance relationships

Pornography Debate on its harmful effects Opens avenues for sexual exploitation/expression Consensual Bigger issue: children and minors Prevention: filters Wider distribution Triggers disinhibition (freer) People will get bored with it Victims: women and children