Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is the act of harrasing someone through verbal abuse over the internet.This usually happens through making fun of someone, as it happens in bullying in real life, just that there is no physical violence inflicted.  This occurs in mainstream social media outlets such as facebook and other instant messaging sites. This issue is common amongst the youth. There have been cases so extreme that have led to suicides amongst the victims of cyberbullying. In Girl’s Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cyberbullies it states: "It is impossible to be certain what role the online abuse may have played in her death. But cyberbullying experts said cellphone messaging applications are proliferating so quickly that it is increasingly difficult for parents to keep pace with their children’s complex digital lives." This implies that the conflict is so large, and it is even more detrimental because most parents are unaware it even exists, making it more difficult for victims to be helped. It seems that now more than ever it has become a problem in our society.

Legal and Ethical Issues

         I believe all journal articles, TV, movies, music, and databases should be free.  When approaching this issue one can direct attention towards the internet, considering the fact it contains all if not most of these things.  I think all information no matter what form it is in, should be made public and not restricted to a limited amount of people.  Things such as music albums and movies playing in theaters is another story as they are forms of revenue collection.  It is also beneficiary to make this kind of mediums of information free, because it is a way to educate people on a plethora of things that one can learn from the forms of information such as research.

This is what open access refers to, making information such as research available to the public for no monetary compensation.  It is vital that the public be informed about issues or recent breakthroughs in science. This helps avoid going through the issues of copyright where one potentially illegally downloads or uses another’s content without permission. Such as issues regarding copyright and open access are discussed in Open access research grows in popularity, where it states: "Swartz, one of Reddit’s co-founders, illegally downloaded a great number of MIT journals in protest of closed-access research.  Swartz was later charged with wire fraud, computer fraud and other charges, which, if convicted, could have resulted in a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.”  Such conflicts like this one can be avoided by making all information or at least research publicly available.

Privacy and the Internet

I believe the issue of privacy and the internet is a bigger deal now than it was years ago. People are constantly finding ways to interfere with private accounts whether it is to steal information, transfer viruses, etc. Things such as these viruses and malware have always been a dilemma, but now I believe the bigger conflict is going towards defrauding and phishing. Since it is easier than ever now to make online money transactions such as bank account  transferring and shopping, scammers are taking advantage.  One may think their computers are protected and their information is completely private, but people are always finding ways to steal social security numbers, bank account information, etc. Even from a less detrimental aspect, our privacy online is being invaded. Each website one visits is directly correlated to certain ads, aimed at targeting what one searches for. In The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets, it states: “ The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.” It is as if every time someone is online a personal profile is developed for each user, and from there, ad campaigns target the user according to this information. On social media sites such as Facebook, anyone can access the user’s profile and be exposed to content such as pictures, even if that individual is not  one’s friend on it. In Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private, the question is posed: “Wait, so if it was private, how did a stranger get access to the Zuckerberg family photo in the first place? And if Facebook's privacy settings are too confusing for a Zuckerberg, how are the rest of us ever supposed to post anything that's truly, completely private?” This gives sense that once one uploads photos, statutes, and content that is more personal, it is like an open database where anyone can access it. This is why internet privacy seems to be a bigger issue now than ever before.