Thank god for copyright, right?

You've probably seen this symbol many times, but what does it mean? Well, this symbol is made to protect (by law) published and not published works. If you see this mark it means (easy said) that you can't present the work as your own. If you do that it means that you're stealing someone else's work. And that is a felony according to the law.


On the internet it seems like copyright has changed its name (according to me) to copyInternet. What I mean by using that name is that when you're surfing online, almost everything is protected by copyright. But that is rarely something one is thinking about. Musicians and their distributors and movie company's fights daily against plagiarism. And we could say that their being too strict about it, and that they should just give up. But it really is their job. That's the way they get paid. I wouldn't like it if someone came and said that my work wasn't that important that I shouldn't get paid.


CopyInternet exists because humans don't think about the illegal consequences of what they are downloading or copying. It doesn't feel like stealing when you are sitting at home doing it. It's stealing when you physically go into a shop to steal a DVD. Maybe if we changed the entire world's homepages to say; Warning, you're now entering the internet, please remember that all of the pictures, documents, movies and music is protected by ©Copyright. If you download or use the information provided by the makers illegally, you will be prosecuted for stealing. Have fun!


So how can we change it? Well, that don't have a easy answer. I think that it's probably too late to teach it to the old ones, but we should have a larger focus on the young ones. The ones that hasn't begun to experience the world of internet yet. Do you have the answer? Cause I really don't.

Addicted to online globalization

Globalization is the world word for how the different nations now are depending on each other. How we can communicate with each other in a second. The world that for many years ago seemed so big is now open to explore if we want. But I want to pull forward the social, online globalization that we're all depending on. You'll find it in different ways, but my favorite is "facebook". Facebook can connect you to whomever you want. They approximately 901 million monthly users, there is more than 125 billion friend connections. That makes facebook a small world in the eyes of globalizations and networking. I can't even remember how life was before facebook? Do you?

But does this easy access to worldwide information make us addicted? I do belive so. You can access internet wherever you are. There is no one that gives you boundary lines for internet use. Well, that is if you are an adult. It's like a drug in some ways, a lot wants more. If you start "using", the mind just needs more and more. So how can you tell if someone is an internet-druggie? If you have an internet addiction disorder you'll find that your whole life surrounds and is affected by the internet. When you're using the internet you get some kind of high and when you're not you'll get a yearning when you're not. After a while you'll need more and more use to get in a good mood. And you will need abstinence to function in normal behavior again.

Some scientist means that there have to be other elements of psychic problems present for the addiction to appear. I don't know if I agree with that. Do you? It seems weird that no one can get it just by overuse, like other addictions can. But if that is the case, I'm happy that my mental health is fine, so I don't have to think about that I'm using the internet to much.

Participatory culture – You don’t have to act like an ass, just because I can’t see you.

Every man and women has something that they care about, something that they have a strong opinion about. The internet has brought evolution to the participatory culture, that before was for the strong hearted, networking people with resources or a strong will. The 21th century's network society is bringing peoples opinion open for the world to see. Sharing is the ultimate word for discussion. Participatory culture has different forms, but they all demand that you share. You can share anything your heart desires. On the show "Ellen" she brings people that have shared on you tube, their, maybe, different type of talent. If she thinks it unique, she'll give them TV-time on her show. Like the Norwegian singer Jarle Bernhoft, she thought that his sound was so good and different, that she invited him to sing on her show.

This is how the participatory culture works in a good way. But there are some concerns about how the ethic lines are being pushed further and further away from what is ok. The ethics challenge tells us that kids see internet behavior in a different way than us adults. They are growing up in different world where they have to produce something on the internet. That could be blogging, commentate in internet forums or newsletters or just being on Facebook or twitter. If you don't have an opportunity to share information in whatever kind of form you choose, here will be created a digital divide. The social standard "demands" that you do your part of the social networking that our community relies on. A day, a week, a month away from internet and Facebook is from my side a nightmare. I have to check it every day, every hour and maybe even every ten minutes or so. While I'm at work I check it by phone. I can reach it whenever I want. I'm addicted. Can you say the same? The divide is made from what you talk about, maybe even how you get invited to arrangements.


But my point in all of this is the ethical line. I'm bothered by the way people interact on the internet. How can we teach others how to restrict themselves inside the ethical lines? I think it's weird that we can be so nasty in the way we communicate online. The participatory culture brings so much positivity into the network society, but it has an ugly backside. We talk to kids about the rules of networking, but as role models we don't function at all. It's like we're saying that online you can do whatever you want. Nobody cares or get hurt. If you're engaged in a discussion online there's no restriction on who could join in. That means that you're opening yourself for attacks. They don't care who you are or your feelings, they say whatever they want. There is almost always a leader in these discussions; I'm wondering why they don't set a stricter line for what you can say? If they had been more aware, many participants would have been kicked out. Don't you all agree? In many ways the internet is made for bullying. That shouldn't be the way. We're talking about culture, please; don't drag it down in the dirt.

Illegal use of peoples privacy

Privacy...

The school my husband is working for have some pupils with authority problems. They made a substitute really angry, while they had the camera on their mobile phone ready, when she exploded they filmed it. The next day another teacher came over that video on facebook. The hole insident where sent to the police. So my question is; does the information come to us to easy on the internet, so that our kids don't get the full picture about the importance of illegal use of other peoples privacy? ICT is a important thing in schools, but do we really have the expertise to illuminate the wrong behavior that could be made by the pupils, or do we always try to fix it post mortem?