A Review On The Computer Revolution Information Technology Essay
Ethics is the philosophical way of how people should relate to one another more importantly in this error of internet technology. Computer revolution is bringing so much indifference in the way people live in the society, people are relating differently. Internet use has brought about so many adverse effects mostly to the young generations of today. This paper is about how harmful the internet can be due to some activities related to it for example sharing of information. Teenagers are exposing their families to high risks due to sharing of important family secrets. As will be seen in the paper, internet services are leading to copying of other peoples’ property such as CDs which is called piracy. The use of information is also causing jitters in some governments due to cyber crime. Internet services make life easier and learning simple but its negative effects are very drastic, and therefore, it is important to regulate content in the internet.
Discussion
Sharing of information
People globally are faced by the same problems, risks and disasters. The introduction of internet services and other supplementing technologies make news about disasters and other crisis across the world a reality in our homes, since people are able to check this information in the internet. There is no doubt that, sharing of information through the internet has brought people together and even closer to each other (Wolak et al, 2003). With such information on board people are more aware of these disasters and it also increases their awareness. Some countries have used internet advertisements to inform people more about disaster management and preparedness.
Internet usage is being used to increase the value of education in many countries across the globe. Over 136 million people are watching professional videos in the internet which is very essential in improving their productivity. Some universities have introduced online degrees which are making it easier for the working class to improve their education since it is more convenient. Moreover, internet services are being used for research purposes. Many websites are posting education materials every day, which is making it easier for scholars to do their research more conveniently. In addition, there is also an introduction of online libraries and these are being used by millions of people across the globe.
The internet has introduced various means of interaction thus promoting social networking and sharing of information. The society is doing away with archaic means on communication and is now embracing internet services such as email and social websites. The use of email services is preferred by many, because there is instant and immediate reaction of the person being send the email and he/she can immediately respond to recent messages. Some services such as bulleting boards are providing important information to the users since people can share documents, and stimulate live debates and discussions. The advances in internet technology has seen the introduction of video conferencing which is saving companies a lot of money which is normally spent in hiring venues for meetings and it I s also making it attractive while chatting and in real time debates.
Though the introduction of the internet in world was a good thing, its utilization has had adverse effects on friendship and household. The internet has created changes in the way in which adolescents relate to their parents. Research has shown that parents are concerned because their children might disclose some important information through the internet. The internet is seen as an intrusion to the privacy of families. Such concerns and thoughts have created conflicts in many families across the world. Adolescents regard their parents as enemies, thus leading to a decrease in family unity or cohesiveness. The internet is a time consumer and this has created a distance between adolescents and parents, not only those from America since it is the most developed country, but all over the world. The internet also affects the personality of the user. People who are frequent users of the internet develop a character of low self concept which negatively affects the relationship between parents and adolescents (Weiser, 2001).
Sharing of information though the internet may end up creating weaker social network ties, this is because people have little or no reason of leaving their houses and interact with other people face to face. The internet has given people a chance and opportunity to do their businesses and other activities including romantic attachments while in their homes thus having no need of moving around. Even political discussions are being done at ho e rather engaging other communities around in order to have a healthy debate. This shows that the internet is creating a society which is not friendly thus weakening it.
The arrival of internet services has increased massively exposure of pornographic materials especially to children and adolescents. Internet usage has allowed people of different kinds to be able to view, download and discreetly store erotic materials and photographs from the internet. The increase of such materials has been brought about by the low costs involved in production of these materials compared to video tapes and paper copies and also the lack of proper internet regulations in some countries. Due to the increase of pornographic materials, rape case have also been on the increase, since such individuals are psychologically disturbed hence resting to such heinous activities.
Internet usage has interconnected the world and it is becoming easy and convenient to do business and interact. This has created merits and demerits of the use of the internet. Cyber crime is one of the demerits which have been brought about by internet services (Bishop, 2003). With the increase of internet services people have developed the urge of committing crimes via the internet. Governments are worried of this trend since citizens are no longer safe and government information is not secure any more. For example the U.S government has been a victim of cyber crime more recently through the Wiki leaks dossier.
Copying
Technology has continued to grow in all means possible, people all over the world and companies also, are in a hurry to embrace and develop new internet and computer technology. People all over were very hasty in embracing technologies such as MP3 format, file sharing, tape recorder, peer-to-peer networks and CD/DVD burners. However, the use of these new technologies has brought about new and wide spread illegalities and practices of copy writing protected and private information and materials (Gallup, 2003).
The recent technology has enabled individuals to conduct multiple internet crimes from all over the world and of different magnitudes. Little research has been conduct in order to unravel these massive computer crimes which are on the increase. Many factors have triggered this behavior of cyber crimes and other unethical issues such as illegal downloads and sharing of illegal information. Cyber crimes are not as a result of lack or proper education in connection to the application of legal ramifications. The environments we are leaving in have been created almost ideal for people to engage in copying, software piracy and illegal information downloads. Computer technology has satisfied the needs of many crime perpetrators. For instance, some years back some one copying a song was more likely to make use of tape recording machine. With advances in technology, storage of information and data has become easier through the introduction of disks which can hold information of up to and more than 1.44 megabytes. Today a single compact disk can hold information of a capacity more than 700 MB thus giving unscrupulous people to commit more copying crimes (Simmons, 2004).
Furthermore, the past 20 years has seen the birth and development of internet and computer technologies. According to a recent study done in America, over 55% of the citizens in the country have internet access either individually a t home or at the work places. Some technologies such as ISDN and DSL have increased the internet usage in most homes. A survey done by the Stanford institute in America showed that, an estimated five million individuals had home based internet connection in the year 1999. This was followed by massive internet connection speeds in the following years. As the internet connection increases, so does internet utilization increase hence increasing criminal activities over the internet.
Conclusion
The use of the internet in the world has grown and with this growth governments’ are faced by new challenges. These challenges must be countered and the best way to do so is creating laws which will regulate the internet content. This is what the government in America has done, although many people are criticizing it. Even though regulations are good, they should not violate the rights of the public to access of information. As seen in the internet services have been revolutionized and internet is becoming a basic need to many individuals. Internet services are very crucial in interaction and also in developing education systems in many countries. The need to regulate internet usage is due to the negative impacts it is inflicting to the modern society such as children being exposed to pornography and cyber crimes (Cordesman et al, 2002). As explained in the [paper pornography if not checked can be a menace since it leads to rape.
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