Just like have independence of a country, this article speaks about the independence of cyberspace.
Vested interest group = they have their own agenda which might conflict with the true meaning of independence of cyberspace.
The cyberspace is borderless and belongs to every net citizen of the world. Indeed, separate world of it's own own and it's not govern by any country or authority.
Asserting a right which is similar to the right of Freedom Of Speech found in most constitutions of so called "developed" world.
Just as much as that freedom has been eroded over the years, the new found freedom of expression of ideas and thoughts in cyberspace may also be restricted by governments. He gives examples, of this developed countries including the United States which have legislation that interferes with the independence of cyberspace.
The author's stand is that these restrictions are result of vested interest, unfounded fear, ignorance, and outdated values. He is confident that while the human body may subject itself to various forms of restrictions and hardship, the human mind will always remain free especially in the world of cyberspace. This is the gist of Barlow's declaration.
A moral declaration of a purported goal, example of independence of expressions and thoughts. It is very interesting, appealing and challenging idea to all active cyber citizens. The article admits that there are various restrictions and hardships to really enjoy "full" independence.
One has to agree as pointed out by Barlow that there are in many countries, developed or undeveloped, legislation's that are serious obstacles to this freedom. Malaysia included.
Since it is merely a declaration, Barlow does not claim or give us suggestions how to overcome the many forms of restrictions and therefore truly become independent netizens.
1) No central authority
In our world, we have a lot of different laws to keep us on tract. However, on the internet world, there is not as many laws as we have in our world and the internet laws are very much different from our laws.Due to this, we have more freedom on the internet to do almost or close to anything we want.
2) Different rules/ ways/ ethics
Search engine versus advertising, search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and so on allows us to rearch for information which are valid and mostly accurate too.
However, for advertising, it is more of a push information as advertising is merely used to advertise a certain product or service whereby the benefits, advantages or unique selling point of the product or service is written on the advertisement.
3) Internet culture
Internet culture to means the culture of the internet citizens. It is a different currently in the internet. There are so share information such as songs, files and so on. Apart from that, there are software application tools too.
4) Transaction & Relationships
With the collaboration between different tools in the media, it is easy for one to get connected to another even if they stay very far from each other.
It is a known fact that the internet can bring people closer or also break peoples relationships. Easy connectivity and excess enables people to get closer to each other.
5) Virtual identity
Virtual identity could be CREATED AND CHANGED. The internet allows a person to be another person on the internet. As we know, many people are victims of online frauds due to the reason people are gullible and do not stop to think that these people who they don;t know on the internet can create and change their identity according to what they want.
6) The emergence of new industries and new distributions of wealth
Nowadays, there are online shopping, online gaming, online search engines and so on. Apart from that, you can also apply for new jobs online with websites such as Asiaparttime. Whereby people have the opportunity to search for jobs and apply for jobs online.
Question:
Does the blame sorely rest on the government? Except for some dictatorships and communist governments, most of the "developed" countries have democratically elected peoples representatives who legislate and run governments. Does the buck stop with the citizens who elected the government?
Something to ponder on:
On the other hand, is absolute freedom on cyberspace totally good and will have no negative effects on the society? Absolute freedom assuming all humans act responsibility. Do we? If so, why then do we need to stop and go on signs, why do we have traffic lights, etc?
Hi Sharmila! Barlow had pointed out the important issues.I think you also have pointed out good questions too :) From my point of view, I think government is not only the one that people should blame because they also use a different way to protect the cyberspace users. But some users may use in the wrong purpose which lead a wrong culture.Understand your question that cyberspace not only give out the benefits but also the drawbacks. It's really depend on how the people consume in cyberspace. What's the purpose they using in cyberspace? I think every user should have the balance between real life and also cyberspace. At the end of the day, I think that some regulations are needed to control or to regulate the users behavior. What is your opinion to it?
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharmila for this posting! Learn some new views! Hope to read your post again! :)
Hi Chiu Yein,
ReplyDeleteI was not blaming the government, rather I was pointing out the fact that I was questioning the people themselves, because people in general tend to take most things for granted and also abuse things including the cyberspace. (human nature)
Definitely, I agree with you that we need to control and regulate what's on cyberspace to avoid people abusing the net. Just like how we have gatekeepers to control and regulate the newspapers. (the content)
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. And I hope my blog helped you understand my point of view.
It do helps a lot! Thanks you Sharmila!
ReplyDeleteYour most welcome.
ReplyDelete