MIS#404 Legal and Ethical Issues in Computing

                                             
                                            ###ALL ASSINGMENTS###

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                                                      ASSIGNMENT # 11   

 -What technical policies will you have for hardware and software?

All software acquired for or on behalf of the company or developed by company employees or contract personnel on behalf of the company is and at all times shall remain company property. All such software must be used in compliance with applicable licences, notices, contracts and agreements.
Supported Hardware

1. Staff and Faculty  Peabody IT supports Peabody purchased computers and peripherals only.  While we are available to offer advice on other products, this is only done to facilitate connectivity with the Peabody campus.

a. Dell desktops and laptops

b. Apple desktops and laptops

c. Lenovo Laptops

d. HP Printers/Multifunction Devices

e. Dell Axim PDAs

f. Tiger Direct PCs (decommission only)

 2. Student Community

a. We do not currently support student purchased hardware.

Supported Software

Software support is described as installation and basic operation of the titles listed below.  Advanced functions of all these titles listed are the responsibility of the user.  Intermediate and advance classes are available for most of these titles through tuition remission via Johns Hopkins and its training partners at locations convenient throughout the Baltimore area.  The client using the help-search functions within each of these titles can answer most questions.

1.    Staff and Facult

2. Microsoft Windows XP

3. Mac OS X

4. Microsoft Office 2003 (for PC)

a. Word
b. Outlook
c. Excel
d. Access
e. Powerpoint
f. Frontpage
5. Microsoft Office 2007 (for Mac)

a. Word
b. Eudora
c. Excel
d. Access
e. Powerpoint
f. Frontpage
6. Internet Explorer 6.x browser (for PC; no other browsers for PC platforms are supported)
7. Mozilla Firefox 2.0 browser (for Mac; no other browsers for Mac platforms is supported)
8. Microsoft Visio

9. Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2)

10. Acrobat Reader version 7

11. Microsoft Active Sync

12. Dreamweaver Studio 8

13. Sibelius (3 or 4)

     14. Finale 2006

     15. iMovie
     16. iPhoto
     17. iDVD
     18. Sonic Roxio CD/DVD publishing utilities

     19. Connectivity to enterprise software (i.e Hopkins One, MRM, Prelude, Peabody Website

CMS, ILS, etc.)

     20. Institute and custom applications necessary for department workflow

  -How will you deal with virus protection, detection and removal? 

    .How to Remove a Virus protection?

Viruses and other types of malware are designed to be difficult to remove and some are specifically programmed to replicate themselves when a user attempts to remove them.
As most modern viruses will spread through computer networks, to entirely eradicate a virus it is essential all infected computers are removed from the network. On a wired network this can be achieved by simply removing the network cable. On a wireless network this will involve either disabling the wireless card or disconnecting/switching off the wireless router.

    .How to Detection a Virus protection?

Detecting Known Viruses:

This virus detection method works by searching files to see if they contain a signature or code that belongs to a documented computer virus. Typically the antivirus software will examine every file that is opened, created, modified, closed or emailed to see whether it contains a computer security threat. Antivirus software usually cross-reference the contents of files with the virus definition database on an ongoing basis but a more comprehensive check can be done by scheduling a full system scan as well.

Detecting Unknown and New Viruses

Antivirus software can also detect computer viruses by using a method called the heuristic analysis (suspicious behavior approach). This method monitors a computer for suspicious activities such as a program suddenly trying to modify computer settings or a file. Therefore, the suspicious behavior approach is able to protect computers against new viruses that are not yet included in virus dictionaries, even though they sometimes give a large number of false alarms.

 -What administrative policies will you have? 

Colleges and departments may develop local policies, whether or not a corresponding administrative policy exists. If a corresponding administrative policy exists, they may adopt a more, but not less, restrictive local policy, except where an administrative policy specifically prohibits units from establishing policies that differ from the corresponding administrative policy.

Units may not develop local policies that are inconsistent with Board of Regents or Administrative Policies.

University-wide administrative policies must:

• be warranted in order to (a) implement Board of Regents policy; (b) achieve compliance with laws, rules, or regulations; or (c) address a risk to the institution that cannot be adequately addressed elsewhere;
• apply institution-wide or campus-wide;
• have significant impact, including but not limited to, the number of people and colleges/units impacted and the level and number of risk factors involved; and
• promote operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Administrative policies will either require or prohibit specific actions of faculty, staff, or students, as well as external individuals who use University resources or services, as appropriate   -



   -Explain your password policy

Passwords are an important aspect of computer security. They are the front line of protection for your account on our network. A poorly chosen password may undermine the safety of the CNR network and put your own online identity at risk. As such, all CNR network users are responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure their passwords.

Policy 

Creating a Valid Password

• The password must be at least seven characters
• The password must contain characters from each of the following categories:
• Uppercase characters (the letters A-Z
• Lowercase characters (the letters a-z)
• One or more numbers from 0-9 or the following symbols (! @ # $ %)
• The passwords cannot contain 3 or more consecutive characters from your first or last name.
• The password cannot contain spaces

Password Examples

• Create a password you can easily remember. For example, create a password based on a song title or other phrase. If the phrase is “I love to go to the shore”, then the password could be: iL2g2tS!.
• If you use dictionary words or the name of a pet, break up the name with numbers or symbols. For example, if your dog is Lassie and she was born in 1989, your password could be: Las89sie.

Managing your Network Account

• Passwords should be changed every 6 months.

• Do not use the “Remember Password” feature of programs on your computer.
• Do not share your password, write it down, or store it online.
• If your password is known to others, change it immediately.

Resetting your Password

• From on campus, log on to your computer and then press CTRL‑ALT‑DEL and clickCHANGE PASSWORD.   You will be prompted to enter your current password and then enter your new password twice.
• From off campus, an account management program is available to all CNR network users via a web page that is located on the Intranet. Select Quick Links, Virtual Help Desk. Click Change Password and follow the steps to change your password.

  -What procedures can you implement to ensure your company’s information is secure?

• Establishing and maintaining a meaningful and relevant security policy
• Ensuring that your security policy has teeth and is enforced
• Providing tools to help your IT staff implement your security policy
• Closing an increasingly popular network back door
• Plugging security holes in cohosting situations

  -Does your policy need specific mentions of tablets, smartphones and other devices? 

Yes, there because the tablets, smartphones everywhere, things which are necessary the company's safety and the flow of information through these devices can easily.The devices need to use technology to track and up to date.

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                                                    ASSIGNMENT # 10                                                                                                      
                                The Internet and International 

                                             
                                              E-Commerce

E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a newer term, e-business, are often used interchangably. For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used.

E-commerce can be divided into:

·        E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on Web sites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall"

·        The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts

·        Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data

·        E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters)

·        Business-to-business buying and selling

·        The security of business transactions

E-tailing or The Virtual Storefront and the Virtual Mall

As a place for direct retail shopping, with its 24-hour availability, a global reach, the ability to interact and provide custom information and ordering, and multimedia prospects, the Web is rapidly becoming a multibillion dollar source of revenue for the world's businesses. A number of businesses already report considerable success. As early as the middle of 1997, Dell Computers reported orders of a million dollars a day. By early 1999, projected e-commerce revenues for business were in the billions of dollars and the stocks of companies deemed most adept at e-commerce were skyrocketing. Although many so-called dotcomretailers disappeared in the economic shakeout of 2000, Web retailing at sites such as Amazon.com, CDNow.com, and CompudataOnline.com continues to grow.

Market Research

In early 1999, it was widely recognized that because of the interactive nature of the Internet, companies could gather data about prospects and customers in unprecedented amounts -through site registration, questionnaires, and as part of taking orders. The issue of whether data was being collected with the knowledge and permission of market subjects had been raised. (Microsoft referred to its policy of data collection as "profiling" and a proposed standard has been developed that allows Internet users to decide who can have what personal information.)

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

EDI is the exchange of business data using an understood data format. It predates today's Internet. EDI involves data exchange among parties that know each other well and make arrangements for one-to-one (or point-to-point) connection, usually dial-up. EDI is expected to be replaced by one or more standard XML formats, such as ebXML.

E-Mail, Fax, and Internet Telephony

E-commerce is also conducted through the more limited electronic forms of communication called e-mail, facsimile or fax, and the emerging use of telephone calls over the Internet. Most of this is business-to-business, with some companies attempting to use e-mail and fax for unsolicited ads (usually viewed as online junk mail or spam) to consumers and other business prospects. An increasing number of business Web sites offer e-mail newsletters for subscribers. A new trend is opt-in e-mail in which Web users voluntarily sign up to receive e-mail, usually sponsored or containing ads, about product categories or other subjects they are interested in.

Business-to-Business Buying and Selling

Thousands of companies that sell products to other companies have discovered that the Web provides not only a 24-hour-a-day showcase for their products but a quick way to reach the right people in a company for more information.

The Security of Business Transactions

Security includes authenticating business transactors, controlling access to resources such as Web pages for registered or selected users, encrypting communications, and, in general, ensuring the privacy and effectiveness of transactions. Among the most widely-used security technologies is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which is built into both of the leading Web browsers.

     Legal Aspects of E-Commerce

There are four common ways to deliver products based on interactions that take place on the Web. This article discusses common legal needs related to each one. Because every business situation is unique and every legal situation dependent on the particular facts of the case or transaction, you should seek the assistance of a qualified attorney.

Online Delivery

The Internet is an efficient mechanism for delivering electronic media. As an example, one may download an update to a software package that was purchased at a local retailer. This raises the issue of whether the electronic fulfillment satisfies the vendor's contractual obligations to the customer. For instance, what if the service becomes unavailable? What are the procedures for ensuring that compatibility requirements are met? Are there users in multiple geographic areas who require instructions tailored to their local language?

Since you have a captive audience, this would be a good time to remind the customer of the terms of sale. In addition, the customer should be able to gain access to the terms of use for the Web site. Are the terms of use and terms of sale consistent with each other? Consider additional terms that may apply only to electronic transactions. Depending on how the transaction is structured, you may have to give the customer an opportunity to reject the terms and receive a refund.

Issues of return and refund must be addressed. What are the delivery and return mechanisms (e.g., download, FTP, e-mail)? Are they secure? Draft your contracts to address faulty delivery or unavailability. In addition, make provisions for support, be it online, telephone, or in person.

Sales, Payment Processing, and Traditional Delivery

The sale of tangible products through the Internet is composed of product selection, product ordering, and product payment. Tangible products are then shipped using the traditional ground freight method. The issues here are geographic availability of the product, channel conflicts, and issues relating to the existence, enforceability, and fulfillment of contracts entered into online.

To avoid "jurisdictional entanglements," clearly indicate on your Web site the geographic areas in which customers are eligible to purchase your product. Eligibility means that a governmental body has granted permission for consumers or businesses to purchase a specific product or type of product. Be sure to localize content to ensure comprehension and enforceability. Finally, do not process transactions from ineligible locations. To avoid channel conflicts, compare pricing structures of online and offline distributors/vendors of your product.

The following basic contract issues arise:

• Contract terms
• Contract acceptance
• Enforceability
• Payment method and security

The terms of an online sale should mirror those of a traditional sale. Ensure that online terms are consistent with on-the-package product warranty and limitation-of-liability information. Again, issues of return and refund must be addressed (see above).

Although there is case law holding that payment, acceptance, and use of a product purchased online are a form of assent to the contract terms contained on a Web page, a far better approach is to have an online customer actively accept or reject the terms of sale. Additional links to the Web site terms of use and privacy policy should be available.

Enforceability issues usually involve warranty claims and unsatisfactory product performance. Examine your warranty and limitation-of-liability provisions carefully. Check local and statutory laws on consumer protection.

Payment processing and security are two of the issues most often asked about in e-commerce. Consult an information technology expert about your transaction methods and software. Consider alternatives, such as telephone orders. Ensure that the encryption tools you are using comply with government regulations. Have policies in place for addressing fraud and nonpayment issues.

Lastly, ensure that personal data collection policies are clearly worded and conspicuously posted on your site.

Sales, Payment Processing, and Online Delivery

In situations where the entire transaction takes place on the Web, almost everything that was said above applies, and additional concerns arise as well. Digital content, whether it is text, music, or even video, is duplicated, altered, and distributed with ease and in vast quantities on the Internet today. This makes content vulnerable to piracy and unauthorized use.

Audit your intellectual property -- copyrights, trademarks, and patents -- to determine whether you have done all you can to protect your it. Make sure you have the right to duplicate or distribute third-party products.

Verify that the license you are granting indicates the country or countries to which it applies. Check for channel conflicts (see above).

Recent efforts at protecting against piracy or unauthorized use have met with limited success. One should ask whether the material should be delivered online at all, and what is the value of the potential risk vs. its potential reward. Ask whether there is a suitable forum to enforce one's rights and remedies.

Dialogue or Interactive Services

Once the only function of the Internet, communication services have evolved from machine-to-machine to person-to-person and person-to-community. Global communities exist and interact online.

Immediately apparent are the issues of geographic availability of interactive services and communities. Clearly indicate on your Web site which geographic areas are eligible, and localize content to ensure comprehension and enforceability as well as compliance with local laws. Finally, do not process transactions from ineligible locations. To avoid channel conflicts, examine pricing structures between online and offline distributors and/or vendors of your product.

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                                                     ASSIGNMENT # 9


1-)While use of the Internet is permitted, and even encouraged where the use supports the goals and objectives of the company, what else must they be careful of?

Use of the internet by employees of  permitted and encouraged where such use supports the goals and objectives of the business.However, has a policy for the use of the internet whereby employees must ensure that they:
Comply with current legislation.        
Use the internet in an acceptable way.
Do not create unnecessary business risk to the company by their misuse of the internet.


2-) What is unacceptable behaviour?

·       revealing confidential information about [business name] in a personal online posting, upload or transmission - including financial information and information relating to our customers, business plans, policies, staff and/or internal discussions

·       undertaking deliberate activities that waste staff effort or networked resources

·       introducing any form of malicious software into the corporate network

·       using the internet to send offensive or harassing material to other users

·       downloading commercial software or any copyrighted materials belonging to third parties, unless this download is covered or permitted under a commercial agreement or other such licence

·       hacking into unauthorised areas

·       publishing defamatory and/or knowingly false material about [business name], your colleagues and/or our customers on social networking sites, 'blogs' (online journals), 'wikis' and any online publishing format

·       visiting internet sites that contain obscene, hateful, pornographic or otherwise illegal material

·       using the computer to perpetrate any form of fraud, or software, film or music piracy

3-)What about company information appearing on third party websites, such as Facebook or LinkedIn?

I think a very good thing for the company's promote.Set clear guidelines for both external and internal social networking and collaboration., Start with goals everyone can understand, Make policies and procedures supportive,Prepare for expectations of greater democracy and Be open to change.

4-)Will you monitoring usage?

Yes. Monitor behavior and compliance within the company to accept.

5-)What happens if an employee does something wrong?

Fined as a result of the rules,if necessary, are removed from work.

6-) Do you want your employees to sign an agreement?

Yes,I want to sign an agreement for both the company because it will determine the rules for both the employees and the rules will allow people to move and as a result of.

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                                                     ASSIGNMENT # 8


1-)How important is to be a member of a professional body?

Professional bodies are organisations whose members are individual professionals. In some professions it is compulsory to be a member of the professional body, in others it is not. This usually depends on whether or not the profession requires the professional to have a ‘licence to practice’, or to be on a professional register, in order to do their job. This is related to how the profession is regulated i.e. who is responsible for making sure that professionals are doing their jobs properly.

The professional body may have a number of functions. They may:

• Set and assess professional examinations
• Provide support for Continuing Professional Development through learning opportunities and tools for recording and planning
• Publish professional journals or magazines
• Provide networks for professionals to meet and discuss their field of expertise
• Issue a Code of Conduct to guide professional behaviour
• Deal with complaints against professionals and implement disciplinary procedures

Not all professional bodies have regulatory functions. In some professions it is necessary to be registered with the regulator but not the professional body, who may provide a set of services to their professional members without regulating them.

Most professional bodies offer a way to climb up the membership ladder towards being a ‘Fellow’ or in some cases a ‘Chartered’ professional.

Want to learn more? Take a look at the professional body information in Profession Finder or in the Sector Summaries. In 2009 the IfL (Institute for Learning) released a paper on professionalism and the role of professional bodies.

I've joined professional bodies that reflect my role (as it were):

The ILM for management, the BCS for IT, the CMA for telecoms (as they are part of the BCS group) and I use to be a member of the IfL when I was a lecturer (but have now given that up).

IT/Computing related organisations/associations include:

The BCS, The IET, The IEEE, The ETA, The ACM, The ACP and the list goes on...

Of course it does depend on your field of IT, this will sway you to which professional association you join 9if you decide to join). Personally, I would say the BCS or the IET - but that's just my view :)

2-)What are the advantages to being a member of a professional society?

Although each organization has its own unique advantages, most professional associations offer some or all of the following basic benefits:

• Exclusive online resources. The websites of most professional associations offer “members-only” sections that provide access to a variety of databases and message boards, as well as list-serve subscriptions so that you can be notified via email about upcoming events and special activities that may not be open to the general public. Some feature content on a variety of topics, such as running a business, advancing your career or boosting your technology expertise. 
• Networking opportunities. When you join a professional organization, you’ll deepen existing business relationships and make new contacts on a regular basis. Such networking goes beyond the exchange of business cards – as you attend periodic meetings, become active on a committee or take a prominent leadership role, you’ll forge lasting ties with others who have common professional interests and similar business concerns. These relationships will be rich, ongoing sources of inspiration and ideas.
• Education. Many professional associations offer their members the chance to update their knowledge of business and trade basics or acquire new job skills through seminars, workshops, break-out sessions at conferences and online courses. Typical subject matter can run the gamut from tax tips and small business financing to advice about hiring and staff management. 
• Free or discounted publications. Membership in many groups includes a free subscription to the organization’s magazine. Some associations also offer their members free publications and discounts on CDs, journals, videos/DVDs and other materials.
• Conferences and seminars. Members are often given priority registration for their organization’s convention and may receive discounts on conference fees or special rates on related expenses, such as hotel reservations and car rentals.

3-)What are the "code of ethics" of computing societies?

  Information stored on the computer should be treated as seriously as written or spoken word.

  Privacy should not be violated. In case of academic use, it is known plagiarism.

  Information for public viewing should not be modified or deleted or inaccessible since these are considered as destructive acts.

  Intrusive software such as "worms" and "viruses" which are destructive to the computer system is also illegal.

  Congesting somebody's system with a lot of unwanted information is also unethical.

  Sending obscene and crude messages through mail or chat is also forbidden.

  Sending sexually explicit content, message or pictures is also forbidden.

Short Codes

• IEEE code of ethics Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• IEEE/ACM Joint Code of ethics of Software Engineering IEEE/ACM 
• Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics Australian Computer Society
• Computer Society of India Computer Society of India
• Hong Kong Computer Society Code of Ethics Hong Kong Computer Society
• AITP Code of Ethics Association of Information Technology Professionals
• SAGE Code of Ethics System Administrators Guild

Longer Codes

• NSPE Code of Ethics National Society of Professional Engineers 
• ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Association for Computing Machinery
• New Zealand Computer Society Code of Ethics New Zealand Computer Society
• Code of Online Business Practices [PDF] Better Business Bureau

 4-)Which professional society are you eligible to join?

I want to join New Zealand Computer Society Code of Ethics New Zealand Computer Society.Because,this code is intended for NZCS members but is made freely

available for the guidance of non-members within the industry.  No additions,

modifications or deletions are permitted other than by express permission of

the New Zealand Computer Society National Council.  No warranty or

obligation is given or implied. The Code of Practice cannot and does not purport to cover all activities of each or any individual member

5-)Have you joined?Will you join?Why,or why not?

Yes,i will join because The Society's mission is NZCS promotes education and sets policies, standards and practices for ICT in New Zealand., with a vision To advance ICT Professionalism and Education for the benefit of New Zealand.


6-)What is meant by CPD - Continuing Professional Development?


CPD is a combination of approaches, ideas and techniques that will help you manage your own learning and growth. The focus of CPD is firmly on results – the benefits that professional development can bring you in the real world. Perhaps the most important message is that one size doesn’t fit all. Wherever you are in your career now, and whatever you want to achieve, your CPD should be exactly that: yours.

7-)How important is this for your career?

Understand the key benefits of managing your career through undertaking continuing professional development (CPD).


We all want to have a successful career. Whether you want to reach a level of recognition, to work in a particular sector or role, or simply want financial flexibility, your career is most likely going to be the route to achieving it. Professional development is the key to managing your career.

Professional development is a fundamental part of our working lives. It is the process by which we keep up-to-date with current practice, drives us to improve our skills and progress into new roles and keeps us employable throughout our lives.
Through it we stay interested and motivated and it helps us identify and take advantage of the many opportunities that come our way. What’s more, it is something we do every day of our lives without even thinking about it.

The key benefits of professional development:

·        Achieving your goals efficiently – those who take a planned approach to skills development tend to move up the career ladder quickly and in the direction they choose. They are also better placed to change direction into new sectors;

·        Keeping pace with changing technology – staying current and taking advantage of new developments will keep you at the leading edge of your discipline;

·        Achieving recognition – both in your workplace and through gaining professional qualifications such as EngTech, IEng and CEng;

·        Staying in the job market – developing and maintaining the skills that will keep you at the top of every short-list;

·        Becoming a leading light – developing the characteristics that others respect and being able to help, influence and lead others to achieve their own goals;

·        Providing evidence of competence – to draw upon for reviews, promotion boards, interviews and in areas where regulation requires it;

·        Demonstrating commitment to your profession – with an increasing focus on ethical practice, "doing CPD" is an important part of being professional.

Taking a structured approach to your professional development will enable you to manage your career more effectively – deciding on the goals you want to reach and taking control of the route you take to get there. What’s more, the good practice of planning and reviewing your development needs is personally rewarding and soon becomes a natural part of everyday life.

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                                                      ASSIGNMENT # 7


Use of social media in modern society, with emphasis on how it is used by social activists and revolutionaries.


Cyber-utopians who believe the Arab spring has been driven by social networks ignore the real-world activism underpinning them.

Tahrir Square … 'The current fascination with technology-driven accounts of political change in the Middle East is likely to subside.

Tweets were sent. Dictators were toppled. Internet = democracy. QED.

Sadly, this is the level of nuance in most popular accounts of the internet's contribution to the recent unrest in the Middle East.

It's been extremely entertaining to watch cyber-utopians – adherents of the view that digital tools of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter can summon up social revolutions out of the ether – trip over one another in an effort to put another nail in the coffin of cyber-realism, the position I've recently advanced in my book The Net Delusion. In my book, I argue that these digital tools are simply, well, tools, and social change continues to involve many painstaking, longer-term efforts to engage with political institutions and reform movements.

Since the internet's cheerleaders can't bury cyber-realism any more than they can secede from history, they've had to design their own straw-man interpretation of the cyber-realist position, equating it with a view that the internet doesn't matter. This is a caricature of the cyber-realist worldview that doesn't really square with parts of my book that very explicitly state – here is just one quote – that "the internet is more important and disruptive than [its greatest advocates] have previously theorised".

Or take the ongoing persecution of Malcolm Gladwell, who is increasingly painted as some kind of a neo-Luddite. In an online chat that Gladwell did for the New Yorker's website shortly after his infamous attack on the notion of "Twitter Revolution" was published last October, he explicitly stated (no less than three times) that the internet can be an effective tool for political change when used by grassroots organisations (as opposed to atomised individuals). Thus, simply showing that the internet was used to publicise, and even organise protests in the Middle East does nothing to counter his argument (which, by the way, I do not entirely endorse). To refute it, cyber-utopians would need to establish that there was no coordination of these protests by networks of grassroots activists – with leaders and hierarchies – who have forged strong ties (online or offline or both) prior to the protests.

What we have seen so far suggests otherwise. True, the principal organisers of Egypt's Facebook movement may not be revolutionary leaders in the conventional understanding of the term. (And how could they be, given the grim track-record that former president Hosni Mubarak compiled – with Washington's complicity – in dispatching such leaders?) However, they did exercise leadership and acted strategically – even going into hiding a few days before the actual protests – just as leaders of a revolutionary cell would.

The collaborations between Tunisian and Egyptian cyber-activists – so widely celebrated in the press – were not virtual, either. In the space of a week in May 2009, I crashed two (independently organised) workshops in Cairo, where bloggers, techies, and activists from both countries were present in person, sharing tips on how to engage in advocacy and circumvent censorship; one of the attendees was the Tunisian bloggerSlim Amamou, who went on to become Tunisia's minister of sport and youth. One of these events was funded by the US government and the other by George Soros's Open Society Foundations (with which I'm affiliated).

There were many more events like this – not just in Cairo, but also in Beirut and Dubai. Most of them were never publicised, since the security of many participants was at risk, but they effectively belie the idea that the recent protests were organised by random people doing random things online. Those who believe that these networks were purely virtual and spontaneous are ignorant of the recent history of cyber-activism in the Middle East – to say nothing of the support that it's received, sometimes successful but most often not, from western governments, foundations and corporations. In September 2010, to take just one recent example, Google brought a dozen bloggers from the region to thefreedom of expression conference the company convened in Budapest.

Tracing the evolution of these activist networks would require more than just studying their Facebook profiles; it would demand painstaking investigative work – on the phone and in the archives – that cannot happen overnight. One reason we keep talking about the role of Twitter and Facebook is that the immediate aftermath of the Middle Eastern spring has left us so little else to talk about; thoroughgoing political analysis of the causes of these revolutions won't be available for a few years.

This points us to the real reason why so many cyber-utopians got angry with Gladwell: in a follow-up blog post to his article that appeared as the crowds were still occupying Tahrir Square, he dared to suggest that the grievances that pushed protesters into the streets deserve far more attention than the tools by which they chose to organise. This was akin to spitting in the faces of the digerati – or, perhaps worse still, on their iPads – and they reacted accordingly.

And yet Gladwell was probably right: today, the role of the telegraph in the 1917 Bolshevik revolution – just like the role of the tape-recorder in the 1979 Iranian revolution and of the fax machine in the 1989 revolutions – is of interest to a handful of academics and virtually no one else. The fetishism of technology is at its strongest immediately after a revolution but tends to subside shortly afterward.

In his 1993 bestseller The Magic Lantern, Timothy Garton Ash, one of the most acute observers of the 1989 revolutions, proclaimed that "in Europe at the end of the 20th century, all revolutions are telerevolutions" – but in retrospect, the role of television in those events seems like a very minor point.

Will history consign Twitter and Facebook to much the same fate 20 years down the road? In all likelihood, yes. The current fascination with technology-driven accounts of political change in the Middle East is likely to subside, for a number of reasons.

First of all, while the recent round of uprisings may seem spontaneous to western observers – and therefore as magically disruptive as a rush-hour flash mob in San Francisco – the actual history of popular regime change tends to diminish the central role commonly ascribed to technology. By emphasising the liberating role of the tools and downplaying the role of human agency, such accounts make Americans feel proud of their own contribution to events in the Middle East. After all, the argument goes, such a spontaneous uprising wouldn't have succeeded before Facebook was around – so Silicon Valley deserves a lion's share of the credit. If, of course, the uprising was not spontaneous and its leaders chose Facebook simply because that's where everybody is, it's a far less glamorous story.

Second, social media – by the very virtue of being "social" – lends itself to glib, pundit-style overestimations of its own importance. In 1989, the fax-machine industry didn't employ an army of lobbyists – and fax users didn't feel the same level of attachment to these clunky machines as today's Facebook users feel toward their all-powerful social network. Perhaps the outsize revolutionary claims for social media now circulating throughout the west are only a manifestation of western guilt for wasting so much time on social media: after all, if it helps to spread democracy in the Middle East, it can't be all that bad to while away the hours "poking" your friends and playing FarmVille. But the recent history of technology strongly suggests that today's vogue for Facebook and Twitter will fade as online audiences migrate to new services. Already, tech enthusiasts are blushing at the memory of the serious academic conferences once devoted to the MySpace revolution.

Third, the people who serve as our immediate sources about the protests may simply be too excited to provide a balanced view. Could it be that the Google sales executive Wael Ghonim – probably the first revolutionary with an MBA – who has emerged as the public face of Egypt's uprising, vowing to publish his own book about "Revolution 2.0", is slightly overstating the role of technology, while also downplaying his own role in the lead-up to the protests? After all, the world has yet to meet a Soviet dissident who doesn't think it was the fax machine that toppled the Politburo – or a former employee of Radio Free Europe orVoice of America who doesn't think it was western radio broadcasting that brought down the Berlin Wall.

This is not to suggest that neither of these communications devices played a role in these decades-old uprisings – but it is to note that the people directly involved may not have the most dispassionate appraisals of how these watershed events occurred. If they don't want to condemn themselves to a future of tedious bar-room arguments with the grizzled, and somewhat cranky holdouts from the 1989 fax glory days, or the true believers of the Radio Free Europe Revolution, then today's cyber-utopians need to log off their Facebook accounts and try a little harder.

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                                                   ASSIGNMENT # 6


1-)What are the legal and ethical issues of this situation? 

When you think about computer hacking, what comes to mind? Danger? Terrorism? Going to jail? Yes, computer hacking is dangerous. Yes, cyber terrorists do exist. And yes, you can go to jail for computer hacking. However, computer hacking skills are needed by those tasked with combating hackers and cyber terrorists. Just as successful law enforcement officers are trained to think like criminals, the same is true of computer hacking.

While some computer hackers hack into systems in order to disrupt operations or steal information, others do it for the challenge. Whether it's done for malicious reasons of the sport of it, computer hacking is illegal. However, one form of computer hacking is perfectly legal: ethical computer hacking.Security professionals trained in this discipline learn how to hack computers in order to prevent, detect, or stop hacking.

In order to be accepted into an ethical computer hacking program, IT professionals are carefully screened and must promise not to use their hacking skills for malicious purposes. During the training, these computer professionals learn the fine art of computer hacking and computer forensics with the goal of using these skills to combat hackers. Some may enter the program with existing hacking skills learned while young and adventurous. Now that these former hackers have grown up and understand the ethics, they can put their hacking knowledge to work for the better good.

By hiring ethical computer hackers, companies can test their systems for potential security breaches as well as improve them based on the hacker's assessments. Having ethical hackers on the IT team can also help in detecting current attacks that otherwise might go unnoticed.

2-) Do Twitter have the right to close a use account?

Maybe yes,maybe no.We don't really know the twitter rights. People opens an account and writes what they want, shares their photos or videos. But no one knows what happens to their private shares. Twitter can post them to another site or keep these information to use another time. So that someday our account can be disabled for any tweet or shared photo.

3-)Do the US Embassy have the right to ask for an account to be closed?

The US Embassy is completely out of this situation. They don't have a right like that to ask for an account to be closed. This is the shame of Turkish administration. Twitter is not a government agency or something else. And there is no formal situation for US Embassy to ask a thing like that ethically. But due to our "friendship" between US, they can ask Turkish government for everything they wanted. If US asks Turkey for something, Turkey couldn't have a right to say "No". So that, US government can do anything they want.

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                                               // ASSIGNMENT # 4 // CV

MEHMET ERDOĞAN 

E-mail: mehmeterdogan10@hotmail.com          

Voice / Fax: (999)999-9999 / (111)111-1111                  

Yeni Pazar St. No:1115

90999 Kadıköy, Istanbul

CAREER PROFILE

PORTAL MANAGER / CHANNEL DEVELOPER

§  Accomplished market analyst, skilled at increasing profits and reducing costs through application of analytical and business development skills.

§  Proficient in using technology to enhance data and information management.

§  Committed to implementing customer loyalty actions that drive business operations to success.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

GOODWEATHER.COM CORPORATION - URL: www.somedomain.com, Istanbul, Turkey

Weather Channel Portal Manager, 05/01/2012 - present

Promoted to position to lead all weather channel activities, including technical and content issues. Train and direct the activities of 12 web development technicians, Provide analysis of visitors and new business ventures, including competitive analysis. Major projects:

§  Developed new marketing strategy that increased visit rate by 80%.

§  Realized alliances with the largest portal of the country.

Senior Market Resarch Analyst, 02/02/2010 - 04/20/2012

Conducted in-depth competitive analysis for GoodWeather Products. Prepared market performance reports for fashion channels, including profitability and customer loyalty. Accomplishments:

§  Formulated and wrote GoodWeather Group's strategic plan. Recognized by corporate CFO for converting strategic plan to electronic version using ASP; new format increased access to reports via Intranet.

§  Developed company's first market potential forecasting model for GoodWeather; model is used for new channel developments and strategic planning.

SOFTWARE FOR PEOPLE CORPORATION, Istanbul, Turkey

Graphic Design Software Product Specialist, 05/01/2008 - 01/31/2010

Developed marketing strategies for graphic design software. Planned and implemented promotional activities to individual and corporate clients. Took the responsibility for managing relations with advertisment and research agencies.

Major projects:

§  Developed an overall marketing strategy to mid-scale corporate clients.

§  Increased brand awareness by 56%.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

BS, Boğaziçi University, Computer Engineering, İstanbul, June 2008 - GPA : 2.6

European University of Lefke, Computer Engineering, June 2010 - GPA : 2.9

Professional Training: Fundamentals, Techniques &Theory of Valuation Analysis; Understanding &Managing Growth Models; Managing Successful Projects, How to Retain Customers.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Fluent in English

Basic knowledge of German and French.

COMPUTER LITERACY

Operating Systems: Mac OS, OS/2, VAX VMS, UNIX, Windows Family

Programming Languages: 80x86 Assembly, Prolog, LISP, BASIC, Asymetrix Toolbook, Pascal, C, C++, Java (including Servlet API), Delphi, PowerBuilder.

Others: Nowell Netware, FrontPage, 3D Studio, Quark Express, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Date of birth               : September 15th, 1987

Military Obligation      : Completed