On-line 1000 Word Essay - Why privacy is such a contentious issue for internet users!

INTERNET PRIVACY A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE

The right to privacy is a fundamentally accepted moral and legal right, and the right to privacy on the Internet is in most cases considered to be part of these rights. However while the Internet provides a wealth of information, products, and services to its consumers it is also a rich source of information about consumers. Thus it is the intention of this analytical essay to argue that privacy is becoming more and more a contentious issue for Internet users. Subsequently this essay will explore specifically how our privacy is being breached on the Internet in part by analysing a social networking site called Facebook. It will also analyse and discuss what can and is being done to protect our privacy online.

Accordingly to better enable this essay to answer the overriding question of why Internet privacy is such a contentious issue it will be broken into three main parts. Part one will analyse specifically what is causing us so much concern when it comes to protecting our privacy on the Internet. Part two will analyse a recent specific example relating to what can potentially happen when a person’s online privacy is not respected, and part three will sum up by exploring what can and is being done to stop it. Furthermore, these points will be backed by scholarly evidence, quotes, and statistics which will help to give evidentiary support to this essay’s argument.

First let’s look at a few reasons why online privacy is becoming such a contentious issue. When we browse the Internet we leave behind a trail of information that anyone who is technologically savvy enough can follow. This data often includes technical information that programmers use to evaluate their website activity and customize their webpage layouts accordingly. However some software takes a more active role in sending information about the user back to the hacker, company, or program developer. It is called ‘Spyware’ and often comes imbedded in various programs provided to us online for free in order to entice us into downloading them. (Hintz 2001, p. 16). Spyware will even operate when we are not online. It will discretely gather information about us such as our tastes in music, movies, and even our personal details. Once re-connected with the net Spyware will then send all the information it has gathered back to the source.

Another more recent way for scammers, hackers, and even Governments to gather our personal information is through social networking sites such as Facebook. It has been recently disclosed that Government agencies such as the CIA are increasingly documenting or mapping social networks to obtain our information (Lynch 2010, p.1). It has even been suggested that the CIA has an indirect connection with Facebook through its brother company In-Q-Tel, however this has not been proven. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook

Recently the DEA released a PDF presentation condoning the use of security exploits to collect information but ironically further into the report cryptically mentions the ability to potentially recover private content only shared amongst those chosen by the page owner. Furthermore a document released by the FBI also states using covert accounts to obtain protected information. While none of these documents directly address the legality or ethics of using security exploits to violate social networks terms of use, they certainly raise questions about their lack of set limits in obtaining private information and absence of appropriate oversight in their techniques (Lynch 2010, p.2). 

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/government-finds-uses-social-networking-sites

Secondly, now that we have considered how, who, and possibly why our online privacy is being invaded, let’s look at a specific example of what can potentially happen when a person’s online privacy is not respected. The following is a true story taken from an excerpt of the BBC Online News report. Tyler Clementi was a first year student studying at Rutgers University in New Jersey who leapt to his death after two students secretly filmed him having sex with a man and broadcast it over the internet (Mackenzie, BBC News 2010). Two of Tyler’s dorm room mates Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei secretly used their personal webcam to film Tyler while instantaneously streaming it live online using a social network program called iChat video. Tyler’s body was found in the Hudson River a day later after he jumped off the George Washington Bridge.

This story is an excellent example of why online privacy is such a contentious issue. There is no doubt that Internet technology played a part in driving Tyler to commit suicide. However living in a society where young homosexuals are persecuted and marginalised was most likely also a large factor. Whatever the case it was clearly an avoidable situation, and Tyler may have still been alive today had his private life not been irresponsibly put on display online. Today Tyler has been used as the face behind gay rights and online privacy advocates alike. Hence the above example shows why online privacy is so important. However in conclusion let’s look at some of the ideas individuals, companies, and Governments have come up with to possibly stop this kind of thing from happening in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11446034

As public confidence in matters of online privacy lessens there is mounting evidence that a successful remedy may be harder than first thought to find. One way to perhaps reduce the risks is through a protective framework of the legislative kind (Clarke, 1999, p.60). Another way has been suggested by communications scholar Brin. He argues that privacy protections are futile and that privacy can only be sustained by Business and governments in most advanced countries by focusing on providing freedom of information for everyone. He says “to achieve privacy, rely on freedom, not secrecy.” Brin’s argument can be succinctly expressed as: Who will keep a watch on the watchers? Answer: The watched (Clarke, 1999, p.63)

In the United States online privacy is seemingly protected through a combination of constitutional guarantees, federal and state statutes, regulations, and voluntary codes of conduct. However all the laws in the world cannot stop people from illegally attacking others online privacy. In the 21^st century as the Internet expands at a rapid rate, online privacy is only becoming more and more of a contentious issue as time progresses, and is one that will probably not be going away anytime in the foreseeable future. It will be an issue that Governments the world over will have trouble dealing with for a very long time.

Reuben Franklin

S2754967

REFERENCES:

Thomas R Hintz, 2001, ‘Internet Privacy: Web users unknowingly give personal information to strangers’, Academic Research Library, vol. 8, pp.16-17

Debra A Valentine, 2000, ‘Privacy on the Internet: The Evolving Legal Landscape’, Computer High Technology Law Journal, Vol. 16, pp. 401-417

Dwyer, Hiltz, Passerini, 2007, ‘Trust and Privacy Concern within Social Networking Sites: A comparison of Facebook and Myspace’ New Jersey Institute of Technology, Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) pp. 1-13 <http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2007/339>

Roger Clarke, 1999, ‘Internet Privacy Concerns Confirm the Case for Intervention’ Communications of the ACM, Vol. 42 no.2, pp. 60-67

Govani, Pashley, 2005, ‘Student Awareness of the Privacy Implications When Using Facebook’, Vol. 2 no. 5, pp. 1-17

Gross, Ralph and Alessandro Acquisti. “Information Revelation and Privacy in Online Social Networks.” WPES ’05 7 November 2005.

Jennifer Lynch, Aug 2010, ‘Government finds uses for social networking sites beyond investigation’, <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/government-finds-uses-social-networking-sites>

Mackenzie, 2010, BBC News, Washington, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11446034

Adonis Niko Antonio Ho, Aug 2007, ‘Big Brother is Watching You’ 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4278814806

Tom Hodgkinson 2008, ‘Facebook’s Relationship with the CIA’, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook

Week 10 - Evaluation of New Communication Technologies Course

Overall my opinion of the New Comm Tech Course is a non-plussed one. I enjoyed doing the culture Jam. Making fun of Tony Abott and posting it on You-tube was a blast. I also enjoyed making the short slide show from a topic given to us in class. However I found writing a blog every week for each lecture to be a very tedious and boring task, although it did help me to better remember what the lecture was about. I also found most of the Tute-spark tasks to be dull and tedious, with the exception of one or two of the tasks which taught me a lot about certain things I had not heard of before.
Also some of the lectures seemed to be rather unorganized and lacking in much relevant content, especially in week 11 when we showed up only to be sent home ten minutes later because we were told that the lecturer did not have anything to teach us. I also found one of the lecturers in particular to be very opinionated about certain things he was teaching us. He had a very alternative opinion on certain software and companies which I had the feeling he was trying to get us to believe.
 Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the lectures given by Josh and Jules. But some of the guest lecturers were extremely boring to listen to and tended to spend their time talking about conspiracy theories and speculation rather than actual facts that I could take with me and actually use the work force. In my opinion I think the course could be improved by giving us a more hands on approach in the tutorials.

Week 10 - Response to Lecture

This weeks lecture talked about the proposed internet filter that the Australian Government intends to introduce some time in 2011. We discussed the possibility that the filter will not protect us from anything and will only serve to slow down Australia's already slow internet.

According to the Electronic Frontiers Australia website, which can be viewed at http://openinternet.com.au/learn_more/, the filter will not protect children from inappropriate content, and will not block X-rated pornography. It will also do nothing to protect children from what parents are really concerned about such as cyber-bulling, online predators, viruses, spam or identity theft. 

In relation to slowing down other websites there is also concern that the filter might seriously reduce the speed of online banking, shopping, and business websites. Furthermore if parts of  popular social websites were blocked such as You-tube or Myspace, access to other parts of these sites could become much slower.

In all cases an Internet Filter for Australia would be a breach of the Freedom of Information Act and a monumental waste of taxpayers dollars.

We also talked about the privacy train wreck that is Facebook, as there is already evidence that Governments are using it to track criminals and find potential evidence to catch out people that like to post pictures and information about themselves involving illegal activities such as taking drugs and stealing. Also mentioned was that the government has the ability to potentially recover private content only shared among those chosen by the page owner.

The reason why privacy matters was also mentioned with an example given about a student who killed himself after he was secretly filmed in the privacy of his own bedroom by his dorm room mates. This story can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11446034

Finally we also talked about the possible relationship that Facebook has with the CIA and In-q-tel.

Week 9 - Response to Lecture

This weeks topic is Cyberpunk.


What is Cyberpunk?


It is a gritty aesthetic: shadows, decay, lust (for technology), capital (cash).
OR
Some high technology: human fused to machine (You are what you consume).
OR
A questionable morality: opportunism, theft, murder (You cannot trust anyone)


It is a hybrid genre:
- hard-boiled detective fiction (anti-hero, crime, portrayal)
- Film noir (lust, money, power, seduction, murder, existential malaise)
- Science Fiction/SF (world saturated by technology, post apocalyptic or apocalypse never came, giant anonymous multinational corporations)
- Literary post modernism (fragments, quick descriptions)


We also discussed books written by William Gibson about cyberpunk such as Neuromancer which was written in 1984 entirely on a typewriter. It is a coloured geometrical representations of data. Another Book written by William Gibson is 'Burning Chrome' Its genre is hybrid, draws from film noir and science fiction. The style of the prose is written in fragments that skip around narrative time.Key Issues: theft, seduction, voodoo/luck, contingent alliances, addiction, fusion of human and machine, tragic desire, the eerie sense of everyday living.


Cyberpuck as a lingua franca of digital culture.
- Huge Impact on imagining human and machine interconnections and fusions
- Ubiquitious access to information and its lack of security, endless crisis, and ad hoc solutions.
- Largely pessimistic views of human and machines but not large apocalyptic scenarios of other SF.
- CP gave a language to the way the markets of capitalism have material impacts.

Week 8 - Tute Task

Select a theme and complete some basic research on it (ideally finding a short fiction online video that deals with the topic Fusion of man and machine: 


In addition to cyborgs, sentient programs and robots, cyberpunk often blurs of what it means to be human. Traits we take for granted as representing humanity disappear via introspective looks brought on by the fusion of man and machine. This fusion also affects the control of perception - numerous storylines explore with influences to perception, usually involving some method of virtual reality environment to either mask or take the place of the “real world.”


The first thing that came to my mind when I thought about this specific cyberpunk topic was the recent release in 2009 of Terminator Salvation which deals largely with the fusion of man and machine. One of the main characters is played by Australian actor Sam Worthington who plays a person brought back from the dead by being turned into a human machine. I found a trailer on you-tube for this movie: Find this video at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p6GHSWDScM


Try and identify a current news story that reflects the chosen topic:
I found a News Story on the CNN international website  


'2020 exciting advances in bio-interfacing will make it possible for a wider range of diseases to be treated electronically'.
Here is the link: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/05/12/visionary.warwick/


Attempt to re-write the news story as a persuasive piece about how their piece of cyberpunk fiction has forecast the particular story/event & how it will inevitably lead to the world becoming a post-industrial dystopia (like every cyberpunk story does/is):


NOTE: Italics are my own re-write of the story.
Initially Parkinson's disease and epilepsy will be successfully dealt with. But the effects of multiple sclerosis, paralysis and motor neurone disease will also be much reduced as the individual is enabled to control their environment and even drive their car, by their thoughts alone, using implanted technology.



Initially Parkinson's disease and epilepsy will be successfully dealt with but the individual may loose control over their environment as their brain is over-ridden by computer hackers controlling the implanted computer chips in their brain.


Other problem areas such as senile dementia and schizophrenia could perhaps be tackled in a similar fashion.The whole area, termed E-Medicine, will spawn a plethora of new companies.



The spawning of these new companies will create a new niche in the market for computer hackers to infiltrate not only our private information but our minds as well.


As well as being used for therapy, the use of implant technology for enhancement will also become more acceptable.Initially there will be a backlash among those who consider the prospect of being able to "upgrade themselves" ethically inappropriate.



This backlash will soon become an uproar as dozens of terrified citizens realize that their bodies and minds are no longer safe from computer hackers.


But once the technology has been proven and is commercially available at relatively low cost, it is expected that the range of people making use of it will increase dramatically.



But once the technology has been proven to be a massive failure it will already be too late as thousands of people loose control of their minds as hackers start to take over the world.


Memory enhancement, an increased range of senses, dieting control and thought communication will all be on the market, while technology to allow for multi-dimensional thought will be at the planning stage.


Memory enhancement, an increased range of senses, dieting control and thought communications will all be controlled by computer hackers hell-bent on destroying the world.


All of these upgrades will be based on a direct link between a human and a machine brain.
In this way the ever increasing power of machine intelligence can be used to provide an improvement in human capabilities, rather than allowing intelligent machines to make important decisions.


In this way the ever increasing power of machine intelligence can be used against us to dominate us in a way never thought possible ten years ago.


Nevertheless the use of networked intelligent computers to control all the financial markets will present a worrying trend -- it will no longer be clear who exactly is making the key decisions; a machine based on human criteria, or a machine based on purely machine criteria been learnt through market experience.The military sector will witness some of the most dramatic changes. Fighter planes will be completely computer controlled, without any human intervention. Clearly it will be computers that think and learn fastest that will win the day.


These computers will become so intelligent they will overcome the human race, the hacker will become the hacked, as machines gain control over humans as the world slowly implodes.


The big question, though, is whether there will still be room for human soldiers at the front line. By extending their senses through networked implants military personnel could be kept safely out of harm's way while being virtually connected to the battlefront via a brain-network connection.


Human soldiers will become obsolete with robot soldiers taking over. The few remaining human soldiers will be no match for the artificial intelligence of the robot soldiers and will consequently be wiped out of existence. The last remaining hope for mankind being distinguished.


Finally, it will be interesting to witness the phasing out of the old style printed passport. Once everyone is fitted with a Radio Frequency ID implant containing individual data it will be difficult to imagine how we managed without them.
It's incredible to think it was only as long ago as 1998 that the first human tested out such an implant. Since then progress has indeed been swift.


Its incredible to think that in only a short period of time us human have managed to destroy ourselves. 

Week 8 - Response to Lecture

Week 8: VIRTUAL PHILOSOPHY

This week we talked about how the Matrix pushes the boundaries of computer-generated effects as it explores a possible future world where machines dominate humans but keep them inignorant bliss of their real state. The machines in the Matrix create a totally illusory reality for people, constructing their identities to suit the purposes of the machine. We discussed wether it has already happened and to what extent are our identities constructed by our consumption of corporate media product and where do our identities come from?


We talked about the movie eXistenZ which is a movie that explores the nature of reality vs the video game. It gets us to ask the questions, what is real and what is virtual?  


The lecturer talked about how the 19th and 20th centuries saw the exponential development of communication technologies that have radically altered the economy of the planet. How these changes have also started a shift from the certainties of the literary age and the rationality of logical positivism to the still emerging screen age and an attendant virtual rationality was also discussed.



We learned about a number of thinkers who have sought to come to terms with these new, 'possible' ways of viewing the world where the line between reality and appearance is so blurred that there is no discernible difference between the two, they are:


Guy Debord = 'Society of Spectacle'
Umberto Eco = 'Hyper-reality'
Jean Baudrillard = 'Simulacrum'
William Gibson = 'Cyberspace as Consensual Hallucination'
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari = 'Becoming Media'



Also discussed was one of the central myths of Western society is that of Cartesian dualism - the split between the mind and the body. In this space the cyberbody (not the mind) is immortal, while the human body (the animating soul outside the cyber body) is mortal. This is a direct reversal of current understandings wherein the body is mortal while the soul is immortal.

We also learned about Virtual Reality which is a system that enables one or more users to move and react in a computer-simulated environment. Various types of devices allow users to sense and manipulate virtual objects much as they would real objects. This natural style of interaction gives participants the feeling of being immersed in the simulated world.Virtual worlds are created by mathematical models and computer programs.

We discussed the Precursors to Virtual Reality:

The Screen Age really began with the advent of cinema a century ago buteven before that there were technological advances that were setting the stage for virtual reality.

Such technologies as: Telegraph, Telephone, Phonograph, Radio, Cinema, and Television are all precursors of virtual reality. 

We discussed how VR works:

• engaging the senses through various hardware including goggles,headphones, gloves and body suits to the exclusion of the real world
• convergence of techniques used in simulation, animation andcomputer games - entertainment as the catalyst for other purposes.

We Learned that the Elements of VR include:

1. Touch

2. Taste

3. Smell 

4. Sound

We learned some of the key issues of VR:

- Convergence

- Depth of field

- Parallax

- Resolution/Acuity

We also learned about the production problems with VR

Production issues

• Cartoon-like graphics limit the involvement of the user.
• The lag time means that the virtual environment is often slow toreact to human input.
• The user's perspective is limited in current manifestations anddoes not reach the normal human range of about 160 degree vision.
• The number of senses involved is limited to vision and sound (notouch, taste or smell).
• Kinaesthetic dissonance is the mismatch or absence of feedback.

Physiological Issues	Psychological Issues
simulation sickness motion sickness eyestrain headaches / dizziness	addiction brainwashing effects of intense interactive pornography / violence desensitisation / devaluing of 'real-world' experience

Week 7 - Tute Task

TUTE TASK: Try some free software - good examples which are free and easy to download are: Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Gimp, Audacity, amsn, pidgin, etc.


Try to use it exclusively for a few days - then decide whether you like it or not! Say why/why not.

For this Tute-task I decided to download Mozilla Firefox and use it exclusively as my only web browser for an entire week. My findings were:

- I found Firefox fairly user-friendly with its easy to use settings.

- I liked the many different ways I could personalize firefox to make it aesthetically pleasing to my eye.

- I liked the way firefox allowed me to place my favorite web-sites on its easy-to-access toolbar.

- I liked all the different themes, colours, and pictures that were available which allowed me to completely change the look of firefox when I got bored.

- I also liked the fact that it was free.

The only thing I disliked about mozilla firefox was that it was not as fast as other web browsers such as Google Chrome, however other than that I did not have any complaints.


TUTE-SPARK:


1. What is creative commons and how could this licensing framework be relevant to your own experience at university?


Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An easy to understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of each Creative Commons license. This simplicity distinguishes Creative Commons from an all-rights reserved copyright. Creative Commons was invented to create a more flexible copyright model, replacing "all rights reserved" with "some rights reserved".

2. Find 3 examples of works created by creative commons and embed them in your blog.






EXAMPLE 2:




EXAMPLE 3:


Here are some links to creative commons websites:
1: http://creativecommons.org.au/
2: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
3: http://search.creativecommons.org/


3. Find an academic article which discusses creative commons using a database or online journal. Provide a link to and a summary of the article.


Here is an academic article about creative commons: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=760906


The paper examines the strategic choice of Creative Commons to rely on property rights in its effort to subvert the meaning of copyright. The analysis shows that reliance on property rights, in the absence of a shared sense of free access, may simply strengthen the proprietary regime in creative works. It may reinforce the property discourse as a conceptual framework and as a regulatory scheme for governing the use of information. 

4. Have a look at Portable Apps (a pc based application) – provide a brief description of what it is and how you think this is useful.


PortableApps.com provides a truly open platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). The entire platform is open source built around an open format that any hardware or software provider can use.
You can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. Use them on any Windows computer. All without leaving any personal data behind.The PortableApps.com Suite and Platform is free. It contains no spyware. There are no advertisements. It isn't a limited or trial version. There is no additional hardware or software to buy. You don't even have to give out your email address. It's 100% free to use, free to copy and free to share.

Week 7 - Response to Lecture

This week our topic is called 'Free Culture, Free Society.

The three key words for the lecture are Community, Collaboration, Choice.

Firstly we talked about creative commons which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting reasonable copyright.

Creative Commons strives to provide people with the opportunity to edit someone else's software to improve it for the greater good of society or simply edit it to suit there own individual needs.

Basically Creative Commons (CC) enables some rights reserved rather than all rights reserved.

The idea was thought of by the free software movement who are seeking the right to voluntarily relax copyright protection to allow sharing.

We also discussed Free Libre, Open Source Software or FLOSS for short.

Richard M Stallman started the free software foundation back in 1981. His goal was to make a free operating system made totally from free software. The free OS was called GNU.

Source code is instructions written in programming language that tells a computer to do certain things. It is what makes computer software work.

Sharing open source code is similar to sharing recipes with friends, the friends try the recipe and then make their own adjustments to improve the taste before sharing their new and improved recipe with everyone again.

There are four free software principles:
Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.
Freedom 2: The freedom to re-distribute copies so you can help your neighbors.
Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so the whole community benefits.

The GNU public licence is to enforce the four freedoms of free software. This concept inspired Lawerence  Lessig to start the Creative Commons.

Open source software is an attempt to push free software into the business world. The name free software has been replaced with open source with the emphasis on 'open' not 'free'.

Proprietary software on the other hand is closed source software such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

One of the things the lecturer emphasized is that using proprietary software is like signing an agreement that says you can't tell your friends how to make nice food.

Some examples of free software (open source) include Open Office and Firefox.

Week 6 - Response to Lecture

The topic for this week is Media, more specifically New Media and Social Media.

For New media we discussed virtual communities and individual identity. While also learning about the internet like the invention of interactive web 2.0.

We learned the definition of technology is the scientific study of mechanical arts and their applications in the world. We also learned the definition of media which is when technology is used for social and cultural communication, that technology becomes a medium of communication.

We defined virtual community, which is a way to explain a group of people who communicate via the internet, and Individual Identity, which is a way to explain how people express who they are via the internet.

The early internet helped people who were isolated in different geographic areas to meet people with similar interests. However we learned that focus has moved away from groups of people with common interests to networks where the individual is the common thread.

Web 2.0 was a bi-product of the dot.com crash of 2000. Tim O'Reilly and his friends wanted to motivate the tech community into feeling good about itself again so they came up with the idea of a read-write web where average people can contribute unlike the old read only web.

This new 2.0 web created a few new key terms such as:

Folksonomy: Using tags on posts or items, and describes users defining the category rather than some authority figure imposing the structure.
User-generated content: People create photos, images, texts and put it on the internet.
Open API: Means sharing data openly between services on the internet.

This new 2.0 web was the cause of social media, with Web blogs like twitter, Social Network services such as Facebook, and a content sharing community such as you-tube.

Week 5 - Response to Lecture

WEEK 5 LECTURE:

Consumption: (Consumers)

Big Screens
• Cinema (PASSIVE, COMMUNAL)
• TV (PASSIVE, COMMUNAL)
• Computer (ACTIVE)
• Internet (ACTIVE)

Production:

Small Screens (Convergence)
• Mobile Phones (ACTIVE, PERSONAL)
• Apple i-pod (ACTIVE, PERSONAL)

People are not just consumers anymore, thanks to convergence, computers, and internet for example, people are now becoming producers as well.

Due to the internet and smart mobile phones with video capabilities there has been a rise in citizen journalism. (However this can create problems as people are not always honest when reporting the facts)

CNN iReport – Citizen journalist’s upload their stories to this website and CNN vetted any that they confirmed as true.

Fan edit – People download and re-edit their favourite films, sometimes into a different type of genre.

This weeks Tutespark:

What is considered to be the first Culture Jam?

One can attempt to trace the roots of culture jamming in medieval carnival, which Mikhail Bakhtin interpreted as a subversion of the social hierarchy (in Rabelais and his World). Mark Dery's New York Times article on culture jamming, "The Merry Pranksters And the Art of the Hoax"[14] was the first mention, in the mainstream media, of the phenomenon. More recent precursors might include: the media-savvy agit-prop of the anti-Nazi photomonteur John Heartfield, the sociopolitical street theater and staged media events of '60s radicals such as Abbie Hoffman, the German concept of Spaßguerilla, and in the Situationist International (SI) of the 1960s. The SI first compared its own activities to radio jamming in 1968, when it proposed the use of guerrilla communication within mass media to sow confusion within the dominant culture.

Find the most influential Jam?

One particularly influential group that was active in Europe called themselves the Situationists and was led by Guy Debord. Their main argument was based on the idea that in the past humans dealt with life and the consumer market directly. They argued that this spontaneous way of life was slowly deteriorating as a direct result of the new "modern" way of life. Situationalists saw everything from television to radio as a threat[3].

What was the most damaging Jam?

The most famous recent example being an intrusion by an adult pornographic channel that was briefly shown to viewers who were watching the Super Bowl.

OR

The 1986 Captain Midnight incident occurred after the US TV channel HBO began to charge viewers $12.95 per month to access its programming. There were numerous reasons why this was seen by many as a bad deal, and many campaigners called for tighter regulation of the cable and satellite TV industry in order to stop anti-competitive pricing. On April 27th, a satellite engineer named John R. MacDougall working in Florida interrupted HBO's broadcast of 'The Falcon and the Snowman' with a four-and-a-half minute broadcast of a text message that read 'Good evening HBO from Captain Midnight. $12.95 a month? No way! Showtime / Movie Channel Beware!'.

Week 5 - Tute Task

Here is the link to our Culture Jam Video:

Week 4 - Tute Task

This week for the Tute-task we must answer the following questions:

1.Where and when did usable online video start? (provide some refs. and an example if possible)

A: Youtube's official birthday is Feb 14th 2005, however the first video uploaded on it was on April 23rd 2005 and was shot by Yakov Lapitsky, it was titled 'Me at the Zoo' and featured one of YouTube’s founders, Jawed Karim, at the San Diego Zoo.

Here is the link to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw

Here is another link to some information on online videos history:

http://dembot.com/post/310798115/a-decade-in-history-of-online-video

2.In the lecture we heard about technological innovations that were used by the studios to lure audiences. (mostly to combat the popularity of TV) What recent innovations are being used to lure us in the movies?

A: There are tons of different ways movie marketing experts are using to lure us to the movies, however one of the most recent ways is via the internet.

When the first movie trailer is released an official website promoting the movie usually follows it which allows visitors multiple ways of viewing the trailer, as well as behind the scenes interviews, mini-documentaries, read plot synopses, download cell-phone ring tones and desktop wallpapers, play games, chat in forums and even pre-order tickets. However this is just the start of their internet marketing strategy. For more information visit the following link:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-marketing2.htm

What are they luring us from?

A: Perhaps the recent release of 3D TV is the latest problem movie marketers face in luring us away from our TV screens e.g. -  http://www.dlp.com/hdtv/dlp-features/3d-hdtv.aspx.

Another common problem is also the threat of illegally downloaded pirated movies from the internet. More than a third of Australians admit they either illegally download movies off the internet or have thought about doing so. http://www.news.com.au/technology/third-of-australians-admits-they-download-movies-illegally/story-e6frfro0-1225786870239.

However despite all these potential blockbuster killers, movie sales are still strong.

This may be because at the end of the day going to the movies still has not entirely been replaced by TV. There is nothing that can compare to the sound, size, and atmosphere of the big screen, not to mention that the newest releases are displayed in better quality than any pirated movie downloaded from the net.


3. Are short films still being made? 

A: Of course short films are still being made. The evidence is all over the internet.

HERE IS AN FUNNY EXAMPLE OF A SHORT FILM:



Who pays for them to be made?

A: You have to have a rich client who pays you to make a short film... To be part of that world, you need to have a track record of making great short films.

Why do they do it?

A:  Getting down to earth, those who make short films do it:

 --For love, not money.

--As a contemporary form of dynamic self-expression; in the old days you were stuck with writing short stories and articles, and submitting photographs for publication. (However, even though "short" it takes a group of dedicated individuals, a team, to make a memorable short film; exceptions to this are rare.)

--To get experience in all aspects of film-making to prepare them for making long films or for getting paid jobs in the industry.

--To submit to film fests and contests, to win modest monetery awards and get buzzed by cool non-monetery awards (e.g., Audience Best Award), and maybe to be discovered.

--To spend all the money they made when engaged in doing other creative and non-creative commercial video work, e.g., events, infomercials, local commercials (all satisfying in their own way; and paying well if you are organized and business savvy and charge what you are worth...)

Here is the link http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/short-films


4.The term viral is thrown about adhoc but what does it mean in film/movie arena? Give some examples.

A viral video is one that becomes popular by being shared online, generally through video websites and email. They usually contain humour and special visual effects. The difference between a typical viral video and a viral video in the film/movie arena is that a general viral video is usually an unknown person doing something really silly and posting it on Youtube, compared to a directed and produced short film that has gone viral.

Here is a mix of typical 2008 viral videos edited together to create a single video:


Here is an example of a viral video made for the film/movie arena:


5. Online video distribution isn't limited to the short film format. We are now starting to see television styled shows made solely for internet release (webisodes). Find an example of this style of content and discuss how viewing television content in this way can positively and negatively affect the viewer's experience.

A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial. A webisode can be part of an already established drama or series or it may consist of entirely original material. Depending on its purpose, the webisode may or may not be considered a part of an established program's continuity.

When using the internet to watch a movie or webisode our attention span is shorter than if we were watching TV. This is because we have more control of what we want to watch. Whereas if we are watching TV at home and there is nothing interesting on any channel, we still find ourselves watching one of the channels. This may be due to the tendency to relax when sitting in front of the TV.

Here is a link to watch webisodes of 'Heroes', which is also a popular TV show.

http://www.nbc.com/heroes/Webisodes/

Week 4 - Response to Lecture

This weeks lecture focused solely on the history of film. Our lecturer designed a cool 3D time line which he used to take us on a journey in time from the birth of the first cinema in Paris on December the 28th 1895, right through to the introduction of the first movie made completely for VHS in 1985. Although this was not the complete history of the movie we were forced to stop at 1985 due to running out of time.


Some of the other historically important film landmarks that were also discussed were:


- 1903 The First Narrative Film by Edwin S. Porter.


- 1906 The first full length feature film - ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ by Charles Tait.


- 1913 The birth of the studio system.


- 1921 The introduction of experimental sound to film.


- 1923 ‘The Ten Commandments’- Most expensive film made in Technicolor.


- 1927 Birth of the Talkies (the end of the silent era). First motion picture with dialogue.


- 1929 First 100% natural color, talking, singing, dancing picture.


- 1929 The first academy awards were announced (Oscars).


- June 6th 1933, The first drive in movie theater was built at Camden New Jersey.


- 1937 First full length feature film


- 1939 The first rival to film – television – was formally introduced at the New York World’s fair in Queens.


- 1939 The greatest year in film history.


- 1952 3D TV was invented. The first feature length 3D film was ‘Bwana Devil’


- 1953 The B Movie


- 1955 Movies on TV became a reality.


- 1956 Video killed the Radio Star (The first VCR).


- 1963 The first multiplex cinema was opened.


- 1963 The first consumer version of the VCR was released.


- 1966 Star Trek was born.


- 1967 Sony introduced the first black and white portable video camera.


- 1968 First independent mainstream film to be distributed to American audiences.


- 1969 The Video cassette recorder was introduced.


- 1970 The first IMAX cinema was built (birth of the really big screen).


- 1971 The first Blockbuster film - ‘Billy Jack’


- 1978 The Video Laser Disk was invented (They were as big as Records).


- 1981 MTV was created.


- 1985 First film to be made straight to video.


This is obviously not the end of film history however we were unable to continue due to running out of time in the lecture.


TUTESPARK:


We want you to find some short films (3 please) that were made for internet distibution/viewing.

They can be from any genre, any style, but please can they have some sort of story. Not just a quirky funny instance that became viral...

Yes a actual attempt at short film.

They can be from any website, not just youtube.

You should comment on what you think makes them good or what made them good at the time.
Why they became, or will become, popular.

Please embed them into your blog. If that is not possible then a link will do.