The Social Context of Computing

Adam Sail

Yu Ting

Laurel Andersen

Jessie Yu

Oran Kashi

Woo Lee

Brian Ge

Overview

Introduction to the Social Implications of Computing

Social Implications of Networked Communications

Growth of, Control of and Access to the Internet Gender related Issues of Computing International Issues Computer Crime Computer Crime Prevention

Introduction

The social implications of computing is a growing topic

This topic has many subsets Economics, politics, ethics, crime…

The purpose of studying this topic To create awareness and educate Prevent problems before they occur Work together as a society to understand the issues and

develop solutions

Historical Perspective

Concept of an “information society” came about in the early 1960’s

38 Years for 30 percent of America to own a telephone

7 Years for 30 percent of America to be connected to the internet

Y2K In 2000, 55,000 people each day used the

internet for the first time

Ethical Issues

Governments and individuals believe much of the information on the Internet is subversive, dangerous, or immoral Prime example: pornography

What is Spam? In 2001, Spam was eight percent of all emails In 2003, Spam was 40 percent of all emails

Child Internet Protection Act

Economics

Technology increases human capital Online training Steflik’s website

Technology creates new jobs Increases productivity?? Maybe…

Politics

2004 Presidential Election “We are witnessing the fracturing of the

democratic institutions that hold us together… the possibility of an information underclass is growing.” (Katz, 20)

Usage growth Lower class 3 percent in 1993 to 7 percent in

1997 Middle class 23 percent in 1993 to 45 percent in

1997

Social Interaction

Exchange of information among individuals and groups

Does technology decrease social activity??? Internet relationships can lead to disaster

Lack of authenticity leads to misleading Exploitation of America’s youth by predators

Future Perspective

“Digital technology’s ubiquity and its increasing invisibility have the effect of making it appear almost natural” (Gene, 198)

Privacy will become a larger issue

“In a World Without Secrets, many of the secrets we lose are those that we give away freely, without thinking, in return for the elimination of some small frictions” (Richard, 256)

Social Implications of Network

Communication

Yu Tak Ting

Society and Connectivity

Network Individualism

Everyone can converse with anyone. Computer networks compress time and

space However, the physical attributes of a

conversation are also lost.

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

The lost attributes like body language, facial expression and tone of voice cannot be replaced .

Users have not replaced but rather supplemented the new methods to enhance communication.

Users have develop new ways to express the commonly used emotions. ; )

One-to-One Correspondence

Email, Instant Messaging Both end users know who the other person is to

some extend. Email and IM is like a home address and a

telephone number. A level of privacy is expected. Users expect to know who and why they are being

contacted in those mode.

Many-to-Many Correspondence

Mailing Lists, Web Forums, Chat Rooms, Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

All these mode of communication gives the user a high level of anonymity. Users are often known only by a nickname.

Users can use different or multiple aliases. Can be use for malicious intend Users gravitate toward a known group of trusted users

Theories and Predications

1) CMC will lose its appeal to users and become “just another way” for users to communicate.

2) Users will realize the short-comings of CMC and totally give up on it

3) CMC will remain useful only to the social outcasts who needs it.

Social Implications CMC is already deeply integrated into our daily lives. The increase communication between users has changed the

structure of society. Users are no longer confined by a limited amount of groups to

participate in dictated by physical constraints. Users can spread their attention cross groups and at the same

time lessen the commitment to any one group. The increase connectivity of individuals has improved

communication for all.

Growth of, Access to, and Control of

Laurel Andersen

Key Points

A Brief History of the Internet’s creation Growth and Access

When did the explosion occur and why? Control

Can it be obtained? When are we going too far with censorship?

Future What experts say we can expect from the Internet

in years to come

A Brief History

The Internet was envisioned during the arms race with Russia.

It was created in 1969 by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

In 1972, electronic mail was introduced by Ray Tomlinson, a computer scientist.

History continued

In 1973, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is designed.

In 1983 this protocol becomes the standard for communicating between computers over the Internet.

Finally, in 1982 the term “Internet” is coined.

Growth and Access

In the beginning, the Internet is simply packet switching and emails.

It is not until 1989 that the Internet becomes available to the public and user friendly when The World debuts.

Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) develops a new technique for distributing information on the Internet.

Growth and Access

He calls it the World Wide Web. The Web is based on hypertext. It allows the user to connect from one

document to another at different sites on the Internet through hyperlinks.

The Web is accessible through a graphical user interface (GUI).

Growth and Access

1995 - CompuServe, America Online, and Prodigy start providing dial-up Internet access.

1996 - Approximately 45 million people are using the Internet, with roughly: 30 million of those in North America (United

States and Canada) 9 million in Europe 6 million in Asia/Pacific (Australia, Japan, etc.)

Growth and Access

By 1999, the number of Internet users worldwide reaches 150 million and more than 50% are from the United States.

“E-commerce” becomes the new buzzword as Internet shopping spreads like wildfire.

Growth and Access

Growth and Access

In 2000, the never ending flow of fortunes coming from Internet is halted.

Investment capital dries up and the Nasdaq stock index plunges

This causes many dotcom companies to go bankrupt.

Growth and Access

In 2001, about 9.8 billion electronic messages are sent daily.

In 2002 of January, 58.5% of the U.S. population (164.14 million people) uses the Internet. Worldwide there are 544.2 million users.

Control Illegal downloads

In 1999, Shawn Fanning, a college student, invents Napster, a computer application that allows users to swap music over the Internet.

In 2001, Napster is found guilty of violating copyright laws by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and orders it to stop distributing copyrighted music.

Control

Despite efforts by the court systems, illegal downloads continue.

New programs are constantly being created to traffic music, movies, games, and even operating systems.

Instant Relay Chat (IRC) chat rooms are another method of finding illegal downloads.

Control

In 2003, an estimated 2.6 billion music files each month are illegally downloaded.

In efforts to legally distribute music for inexpensive prices, Apple Computer introduces Apple iTunes Music Store, which allows people to download songs for 99 cents each.

Control

Freedom of Speech Should pornography and directions on how to

make bombs be allowed to be viewed by everyone?

When are we going too far with censorship?

Control

In June 1997, the Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act in Reno vs. ACLU, and granted the highest level of First Amendment protection to the Internet.

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, states are busy crafting censorship laws at home. At least thirteen states have passed legislation since 1995.

Future Emeagwali won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, which has been

called ‘supercomputing's Nobel Prize’, “In 1000 years, I believe that the Internet will remain a spherical network the size of the Earth. However, because it could easily be a zillion times more powerful, faster, and more intelligent, I believe that in 1000 years the Internet will evolve into a Super Brain the size of the whole world and possibly beyond. It has been recently demonstrated that disabled persons can use bionic brain implants to control the cursor on a computer screen. I believe that bionic brain implants will be feasible in a few decades which then will enable us to communicate by thought power. "Please turn off the light," you might silently say as you leave your house…”

Future

“Hence the computers that we want to imbed into our brains could eventually disappear into the Internet. That change implies that our minds and thoughts could also disappear into the Internet. Thus the Internet could unify the thoughts of all humanity. Unification implies that we will become one people with one voice, one will, one soul, and one culture.”

Conclusion

The Internet has grown rapidly since its birth at ARPA.

It has become a societal standard within America.

We can try to control it, but we will never be able to fully harness it.

It is a conglomerate of the minds of the world. Some beautiful and some hideous, but perhaps one day, unifying.

Gender-Related Issues of Computing

By Jessie Yu

Question

Why are there so few women in computing? Declining number of female computer science

students for the past 20 years

Statistics

Source: Research Foundation for Improving the Representation of Women in the Technology Workforce

Some of the Causes

Cultural factors Negative images Sexual discriminations

Cultural Factors

Computer games Designed based on male interests

High school teachers and counselors Usually influenced by sexual stereotype Discourage young girls to get involved in

computing

Negative Images

False images of computing careers Nerdy, geeky, antisocial, unfeminine

Computing as a male domain Advertisements and articles are all male

dominated A PC World article featured 16 men pioneers of

PC, but not a single woman

Sexual discrimination

Another major issue Mostly subconscious

Invisibility Dirty jokes Negative stereotype of women Display of nude/partially nude posters

Recommendations

Work with parents, teachers, and counselors Higher profile for women in computing

More articles written by women Female representatives at career fairs

Awareness of subtle sexual discrimination

Conclusion

Under-representation of women in computing Generally caused by stereotype and

discrimination Understand the causes Try to correct them

International Issues

Oran Kashi

Brief History of the Internet J.C.R. Licklider of the MIT. He wrote a

series of memos in 1962, discussing a “galactic network”.

ARPANET – connected UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, and the University of Utah.

1972 FTP and telnet protocols added The government in early 1980 adapted

TCP/IP architecture. Early 90’s Hyperlinks, and Mosaic

invented.

Drawbacks – China’s Great “Wall”

China fears that knowledge of certain information will be detrimental to its existence.

Attempt to block Google in 2002. Currently, The New York Times, CNN,

NBC, and The Washington Post. Research done by Jonathan Zittrain

and Benjamin Edelman found that out of 200,000 websites 19,032 were blocked.

Case of Huang Qi.

Drawbacks - Outsourcing American Jobs going overseas “Scary” facts:

India currently claims to control 85% of the web technologies market

India has a total population of just over 1.2 billion and has the largest English-speaking population outside if the United States

By the end of January 2003 more than 70% of laid-off technology workers had exhausted (used up) their unemployment benefits. Unemployment for technology workers has continued to rise, giving little hope for re-employment.

Positive Aspects – Emergence of a global culture

Global Language – English

Fashions – Jeans Music – Rock/Pop Beverage – Coca Cola

Positives Continued

Keep closer contact with family and friends

Economic benefits Increased customer base Increased GNP

Future

Internet 2 Medical Benefits China’s “Wall” Outsourcing

Computer Crime

Woo Lee

Computer Crime Is NOT …that time you used Map Quest to

find where that cute girl lives and later went there to steal her underwear.

…spreading Child pornography through the internet.

…scamming people by pretending to have a gold hoard in Nigeria and need help transporting it out of the country.

…killing people by bashing your laptop over their heads.

Computer Crime Is…

Hacking into another computer.

Pirating Software

Creating/Distributing Computer viruses

Software Piracy

Downloading illegal copies of software

Abuse of software licenses

Counterfeiting software

Pirating other intellectual copyrights

Electronic Break-ins

Hacking into a computer

Spoofing

Stealing Credit Card information

Computer Sabotage

Computer Viruses

Logic Bombs

Denial of Service Attacks

Computer Crime Prevention

Brian Ge

Overview

There are many forms of computer crime, including: Theft of services (i.e. hijacking a dial-up account.) Communications in furtherance of criminal conspiracies. Information piracy and forgery. Electronic money laundering. Electronic vandalism and terrorism. Illegal interception (i.e. unauthorized packet sniffing) Electronic funds transfer fraud. And much much more…

Why are these crimes committed?

Motivation and Opportunity There are many motivations for committing computer crimes, including

but not limited to: Greed Lust and Curiosity

Ordinarily, committing crimes involve an element of physical risk (i.e. getting shot trying to rob a bank.)

Ordinarily, committing crimes require opportunity to present itself ……..

But…

These deterrents are not applicable to computer crime! There is virtually ZERO immediate physical dangers when

committing a computer crime. Opportunity is ALWAYS present; one need not wait for it to

present itself.

And the average computer criminal will net 2,000 to 6,700% more than an armed robber!

There’s More…

Then we have the hacker. The person who isn’t motivated by greed, the person who

justifies their actions with rhetoric about freedom, curiosity, and the “hacker ethic.”

The days of the real “hacker” were over long ago. We now live in the age of the script kiddies, and barely-mildly talented people with malicious intent.

As we can imagine…

Computer Related Crimes are Increasing Opportunities to commit computer crimes are

increasing. Barriers preventing the commission of such

crimes are decreasing. How do we stop this trend?

Opportunity Reduction

One of the cornerstones of traditional crime prevention is

OPPORTUNITY REDUCTION!

This applies equally to computer crime.

Prevention

The government, law enforcement, and employers must get the word out that computer crime will not be tolerated.

By educating people of the potential consequences of committing computer crimes, and how easy it is to fall into the trap, hopefully that knowledge will serve as a deterrent against committing computer crimes.

Prevention To effectively prevent computer crime, requires a multi-front

effort. On the legislative side:

We need tougher and more appropriate laws to deal with computer crimes.

We need multi-national support by way of mutual assistance and extradition treaties.

Industry has to help law enforcement by: Protecting their infrastructure Reporting attacks (successful and unsuccessful) on their

network. Sharing resources unavailable to police.

Prevention

Consumers can help by: Hardening their systems against attacks by

Installing the latest security patches. Installing a firewall. Reporting attacks on their systems. Being suspicious of what is downloaded onto their systems. And most importantly, BEING VIGILANT!

Unfortunately…

The Internet, and as a consequence of, computer crime, is borderless.

The world on the other hand, is not. Laws dealing with computer crimes vary greatly between

different countries. Multi-national cooperation is unacceptably slow at best, and non-

existent in most cases. Law enforcement are ill-equipped, and ill-trained to take on the

problem.

The Future

Until such a time where computer crime carries as much weight as more traditional crimes, computer crime will persist.

Law enforcement will need to effectively recruit those qualified to conduct non-traditional investigations or vigorously train existing personnel.

International support, and a unified viewpoint on computer crime is necessary to overcome the significant obstacles of combating computer crime today.

Conclusion It is only when consumers, industry, government, and law enforcement

work together that we can curb computer crime. When prosecution of computer crimes becomes a fast and painless

process, and both industry and homes are protected against vulnerability…

We TAKE AWAY opportunity, and RESTORE deterrence!

Only then can we truly begin to prevent computer crime.