How the Internet has Changed Life

Paper Summary:

This paper catalogues the pros and cons of the Internet. It first considers the myriad ways in which the Internet has benefited us, or has irredeemably changed the way we do things. It then goes on to consider the harmful consequences. Having done so, the paper makes the proposition that the Internet is an overall force of good. The paper does this by showing how the Internet becomes the embodiment of freedom of speech, which is the cornerstone of democracy and the Western way of life.

From the Paper:

"Of course, as with every technology, there are attendant evils. Along with authentic and reliable information, there is a flood of vindictive and motivated propaganda. Just as scholars are able to meet on the net to advance knowledge, so do terrorists come together with their evil designs. Healthy entertainment is overwhelmed by the perverse form of it. In a recent study (Flichy 2007) it has been estimated that a quarter of all the websites are pornographic. The revered institution of copyright is being ravaged more and more everyday, where copyrighted material is being made freely available by unscrupulous parties, to the detriment of artists and inventors everywhere. The music industry is losing everyday its battle against the Internet piracy of music. Hackers also pose another looming menace. Not everything fed into the Internet is meant to be available to everyone. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chapman, G. (1996). "The Internet: Promise and Peril in Cyberspace." Encarta Yearbook, May 1996. New York: Microsoft Corporation.
• Flichy, P. (2007). The Internet Imaginaire. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Lessig, L. (2004). Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture. New York: Penguin Publishers.
• Lipsman, A. (2008). ComScore Networks. Retrieved Jan. 14, 2008, from http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=849
• Stevens, Justice J. P. (1997). Supreme Court Of The United States. Case no. 96-511. Speech delivering the opinion of the Court on June 26.

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