Monday, June 8, 2009

Policy on the Internet

Several sites do a good job discussing policy issues concerning the Internet.
My top three favorite sites for policy are The Pew Internet & America Life, The Benton Foundation, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

What do you think is an important policy issues about the Internet?

15 comments:

Mrs. Braga said...

http://me-newmedia.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-5.html

Lark said...

Most of the policy issues surrounding the Internet involve one thing: access. The fact that the Internet exists is great; however, there is still a global digital divide between those with access to resources and those who do not. One policy issue I researched was web access for the blind. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, people with disabilities must be given equal access to technology, including the Web. A great example of the seriousness of the issue is the 2007 case of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) vs. Target Corp. According to an article on PCWorld.com:

"The NFB's suit alleges that Target failed to make its Web site accessible to the blind, and then refused to do so when confronted with the issue, violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and two California civil rights statutes: the California UNRUH Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act" (Nystedt, 2007, paragraph 5).

The lawsuit against Target was (hopefully) a step towards making all Websites accessible to the blind and all people with disabilities. All e-commerce businesses will have to change their websites to accommodate the blind, such as "designs that use keyboard-alternatives where a mouse might normally be required, and providing text descriptions under graphics, photographs and other images" (Nystedt, 2007, paragraph 7).

For more information regarding the steps the NFB is taking towards accessibility, please visit http://www.nfb.org/nfb/certification_intro.asp?SnID=1133838926.


Nystedt, D. (2007). Target lawsuit spotlights web access for the blind. PCWorld. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/138049/target_lawsuit_spotlights_web_access_for_the_blind.html

Kyle Linn MacQueen Feldman said...

Kyle Linn MacQueen response:
http://macqueen8.blogspot.com/2009/06/cjn-771-blog-5_10.html

Imitation Cherry Blossom said...

http://sometimemusicsnob.blogspot.com/2009/06/discuss-one-important-policy-issue-for.html
--Chrisanne's blog post

bill said...

The Pew Internet and American Life Project at http://www.pewinternet.org/ has a July 11, 2008 Commentary on Identity entitled, "Do we have a right to online privacy?" This is certainly an important policy issue for the Internet.
The Commentary is about a U. S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the privacy implications of online advertising. The posting states that Google gains most of its money from these ads which subsidize the free services to its users. It reports that online consumers are "exposed only to ads deemed relevant to them - or to what their data say about them." The Commentary details that on a search, Google will typically "collect your IP address, operating system, browser type, requested search query and cookies."
The posting states that most Internet users, like me for instance, are not fully aware of how these big Internet corporations gather and utilize this information. Privacy experts, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology also were present at the hearing. They are concerned that this information could be pieced together to personally identify users, and might be misused by the government or other entities.
The U. S. Congress is trying to determine privacy protections on how information is collected and utilized. We all need to increase our awareness of this issue and keep pressure on our elected officials in Washington to do what's in the public interest.

Laura said...

http://betwixtclass.blogspot.com

Lisa Gabriele said...

http://lisag41484.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

mariel lopez

http://mladvclass.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-5-policy-on-internet.html

klmarcinelli said...

http://klmarcinelli.blogspot.com/

Kristen Marcinelli's Blog

Gina E. said...

http://cjn771.blogspot.com/2009/10/important-policy-issue-on-internet.html

--Gina

Beth said...

No. 6: Policy Issue for the Internet

As the Internet becomes more intertwined in our lives, one issue I imagine people will face is the issue of saying too much about oneself on a website such as Facebook when one is a teenager but as they get older, this content could be an issue and haunt them. Although Facebook and other sites"owns" all content, what will happen? Will people be able to search for someone online and see their pictures from 10 years ago that might be inappropriate? Will legistlation need to be written in regards to a timeframe or ability for content to be erased per the user?
Posted by Beth at 6:41 PM

Adam P. Coulter said...

Ethics in the Social Media Sphere.

One important policy issue concerning the Internet is the broad, delicate and controversial issue of blogger ethics and the more specific offshoot of disclosure. Should online writers have to disclose that they are endorsing a product or a celebrity for compensation? The blogosphere is an area of dynamic communication and of vast value for PR practitioners, bloggers and even everyday consumers. For example, brands are showering bloggers & online "influencers" with money, access and products etc.

But as of yet, there are no hard and fast standards for communicating and sharing information on the Internet. Authors and PR 2.0 advocates Solis and Breakenridge posit that this is a difficult topic because "the fuel that powers the continued evolution of Social Media is the raw and untamed voices of the people." But these virtual voices can cross over into the real world with real consequences, and the Federal Trade Commission may be doing something about it.

According to The Daily Beast , The FTCs new guidelines concerning disclosure will go online December 1st and breaking any of the new rules concerning the disclosure of who bloggers etc. work for, can result in fines of up to $11,000. Can the Internet be regulated you may ask? Good question. But some good information and relevant discussions concerning this topic can be found at TechCrunch. This will continue to be a heated discussion for time to come, as Social Media becomes even more widespread.

klmarcinelli said...

This is Kristen marcinelli from ew Media New Markets on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:30. I have posted my eMarket paper on my Blog, I just wanted to make sure you are able to get it.
http://klmarcinelli.blogspot.com/

thanks you

Chancy HW Assignments said...

My Paper http://cjn-297assignments.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-vogue-and-gq-magazine-target.html

Melissa Correa said...

Hello Professor,

This is the link to my blog and Emarket paper:

http://melico30.blogspot.com/

Melissa Correa
CJN 297 A- New Media & New Markets Fall 2009