Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Communication & Cyberspace 3& 4
I found the first four chapters of Communication & Cyberspace to be interesting, but chapter three was the most thought provoking for me. Chapter 3 entitled, "Who Shall Control Cyberspace" by James R. Beniger caught my interest because it spoke of the internet or "cyberspace" as an entity controlled by many. The example of the Harvard lawn served as an excellent symbol for how cyberspace is built bottom up rather than from the top down. No one actually "owns" cyberspace, because it is not an actual space, but rather the link that bonds everyone's computers. It also serves as the relationship between users. Cyberspace is constantly changing because its users are constantlyinventing new technologies, coming up with different concepts, and more. It is the innovativeness of the users and their bonds with each other that make cyberspace and continue to change it. Therefore it belongs to the people, rather than being controlled by one person.
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True it belongs to the people, but you don't think there is some aspect of government control as well? I don't mean to sound paranoid but I think we see what certain people want us to see. Like look at Google, if you pay enough or are important enough your search-ability increases and if we can't search you then you basically don't exist.
ReplyDeleteYes, in some sense it belongs to the people, but also to the institutions that own the hardware, the government and international agencies that regulate it, and the corporations that also are a part of it. Beniger's concern is not with who owns it, but who shall own it, a question that remains undecided.
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