Summary and Critique of

 Protecting Yourself Online

    Gelman has produced a fine reference book for protecting yourself Online. He delves into topics such as the electronic frontier and how the internet came to be. He explains how the internet works, and it's implications for the future. He offers questions such as "How do we balance intellectual property rights with the free flow of information?, How do we simultaneously provide for free expression and allow individuals to shield themselves or their children from material they find offensive?, How do we determine which country's laws, if any, sensibly have jurisdiction over media that involve global communications?,  How do we protect privacy and security while fostering accountability and responsibility?, How do we ensure that legislators, access providers, and network users don't stifle speech they disagree with?"  Such are terrific questions to consider further when contemplating the future of the internet.

    Gelman brings up cases where children are accessing porn, or are abducted after being contacted online. He points out that those dangers also occur in neighborhoods around the world. He gives the scenario that one would not shut down a town because of an adult bookstore, nor would one lock a child in their house to keep them safe. He reiterates the fact that to keep our children safe around town, we teach them to be cautious and aware of strangers. He suggests that we do the same to keep our children safe online. He also recommends certain software programs that block the "accidental" exposure to such questionable material.

     I personally find the Web to be a tremendous resource! When it comes to shielding the young from inappropriate material, I'm with Gelman. Although I do not approve of such questionable material, I do feel it is ultimately up to the parents to educate and protect their children when such material is at hand. Not educating a child about strangers online is just as dangerous as not educating a child about strangers on the street. Parents need to be involved in their children's life at all levels.

    As far as jurisdiction goes, that's a tough one. I'm not sure there will ever be an answer for that one, as the Web is everywhere, not in any particular location.

     Gelman goes into great detail about protecting your personal information and files online. He goes over the different types of areas online such as public, semi-private, and private. Some of this information I found to be very basic, such as not giving out private information, but to a novice it may be very helpful. He discussed topics such as cookies, encryption, medical privacy, privacy in the workplace. He also discussed privacy as related to cordless phones, cell phones, and pagers. He offers several ideas to protect yourself in cyberspace. Again, some I found to be very elementary, but they would be very informative to others. There are issues with privacy online, but privacy is an issue everywhere. Typically, one would not throw away account statements or documents with personal information on them without shredding them first. Precautions are taken to ensure privacy in the physical world, the same needs to be done online.

    As far as stifling speech that is disagreed with, media, is notorious for taking a particular slant towards different ideals, omitting different sides of the story. It is difficult, if not impossible to get the whole truth no matter where you look for it. The Web offers a plethora of places to find "the truth"

    As far as Gelman's thoughts on how the internet has affected society, he believes the public has generally been lulled into a false sense of security as far as privacy is concerned. He brings up a valid point. For a novice technology user, if prompted to enter a password, one may feel that information is private. Hopefully after reading over the information I have provided here, or from reading the book, one would recognize that statement as false. He also brings to light the false sense of security felt through Copyright and Trademark laws and treaties. I had fallen into that trap, thinking if something was Copyrighted or Trademarked, it was safe. However, after reading this book am well aware of the issues surrounding Copyright and Trademark.

    All in all, I feel the internet is a wonderful asset to society. It provides a whole host of information, some good, some not so good. We need to be educated on how to sieve through this infinite amount of information to uncover what is right. We've come a long way from the beginning days of the Web, and I look forward to seeing what is to come.