L5- New Social Concerns

Would you commit a crime in the internet if you knew all the rules and regulations AND a way to escape?

Today's lecture had an interesting topic- Internet and computer crimes. It's something that all internet users are fully aware of-it's either you're smart enough to know or you've been the victim.

Let's get to the point, the four main crimes and social concerns learned today was violence, pornography, social movements and activism and hate crime. Let's face it, all these are a perennial concern. It's been there since we've learned about the magic tool, Google.

I agree with Rose(1995), in which she stated that there is no difference between what occurs in the physical world and what happens in the internet. Virtual or Reality, we're all humans. If one can commit crime in the real world ( and then getting caught, going through a trial and being jailed), that same person would not even think twice to commit a computer crime. 

Why?

This is where Quarentiello(1997) comes in. "Criminals are drawn to the internet because the cloak of cyberspace is virtually impenetrable and gives a sense of safety"

Ain't that true?!

Why commit a crime on the outside world and get caught at the end when you can anonymously commit a decent crime online and never be blamed for?

Does that mean the non offenders are safe? Will you wholeheartedly trust the bottom line of a web page when they say that you're privacy is assured?

PORNOGRAPHY has 140 million websites up to date where 13% of internet surfers watch. Internet's biggest business collects 3 million per month. That is up to 4 billion a year, higher that any sportsmen revenue. I have a proposition to make on this matter. I can say that most teenagers learn about sex through the internet and porn being their primary source of education. I dare say that even I browsed through porn- and only for one valid reason- CURIOSITY. I had a rough idea on how it all went down. But the downturn is that this will give kids a misconception about sex and this leads to the question on sex education and mind you, kids these days are tech savvy. Some men watch porn to help them with their erection stuff, so does that mean porn site owners are being altruistic? 

Hate crime is just so off the question- answer is always a NO.

Lobbying which comes under social activism. There is a movie called "thank you for smoking". A recommendation to watch that movie-very interesting. you would know all about lobbying. come to think of it, that's an interesting profession!