QotW5: Seeing Double?

Imagine this. You are an avid blog reader. From link to link, you read about other peoples lives. People you never meet, people who are friends of a friend’s friend. One day while browsing through the many blogs, you come across a person with the same name as yours and you think to yourself, “Wow! What are the chances of that?” So curiously you click the link and the page loads only to display your worst nightmare. Someone has stolen your identity!. This person has your name, your profile, and even your pictures posted on the blog, passing them off as his or her own! The only difference, the person’s words to depict your life.

I am a member of a Singapore photography forum called ClubSnap. It is here that I inhabit an online identity for myself. Here, not everyone knows how the other looks like. Neither do they get to know much about the person except for the photos they have taken. Unlike the very popular Friendster, avatars in this forum are rarely those which display pictures of the user and the information page of each member is scarce. Identity plays a key role in virtual communities. (Donath, 1996) It is in this forum, I have established an identity for myself not as a student or a 23 year old female, but as a photographer.

In this forum, it is not so much who you are that matters, but the kind of pictures you take, the number of entries you post and the information you give or are given based on photography. Who you really are, and how you look never really matters. These are the main basis for establishing reputation in this forum. To set a reputation in this forum means being able to accomplish at least two of the three mentioned.

I participate most often in a section of the forum called “Photo A Day.” In this section, members are encouraged to post pictures a day or whenever possible for other members viewing. It is in this very section that I believe I have set a reputation for myself. Why would I say so? Well, in this section, how many times your thread has been viewed is shown at the side of each entry. With this display at the side, members can take a look at whose thread, or pictures have been viewed the most. The more views, the better people think you are. The better they think you are, the more likely they are to view your thread. The more positive comments you get about your photograph, the more people would look up to your photography skills.

According to the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act (2003)[ITADA] amended the U.S. Code, s. 1028 - "Fraud related to activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information". The Code now makes possession of any "means of identification" to "knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority" a federal crime, alongside unlawful possession of identification documents. (Wikipedia, 2007)

As identified in this act, the “transfer, possess, or use without lawful authortiy” can be considered as identity theft. It is because of this that has made posting pictures online has its worries. With little evidence that the taken picture is yours, there is a possibility that your work could be stolen by someone else. With programs such as Photoshop made available for the public for the use of editing images, pictures stolen could be made to look like its ones own when it is not. Photoshop intimidates me. No, it is not because it is hard to use, but because of its capabilities. Most often that not, people are advised to “stamp” or personalize logos onto their pictures before posting online. However, these logos or stamps can easily be blurred, stamped, and erased away with the use of programs such as Photoshop and passed off elsewhere as works of their own. The picture below demonstrates how one can "stamp" their picture with words and a signature at the bottom.

As much as this may sound more like a copyright issue, rather than an identity theft, one must come to understand that in the photography world, the photographs taken by a photographer does not simply reflect his or her skills. The photograph does not merely reflect the skills of a photographer; rather, the photograph is the photographer.

It is greed, fame and probably the desire for acknowledgement that drives many to steal other identity. Online shopping and site membership registrations often require user details and credit card numbers. We often get complacent and tell ourselves “It would never happen to me.” However, with the increase in technology, and the availability of the internet, fighting identity thieves has been made more difficult. So what’s there to say you would not be next?

References

Donath, J. (1996). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

Wikipedia (2007) Identity theft. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft

ClubSnap (2007) Photo a Day Project 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://forums.clubsnap.org/

Oxford Analytica (2007) Hooked on Phishing. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/04/29/cz_0429oxan_identitytheft.html

QotW4: "It's for free! Come and get it!"

“A gift economy is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo” (Wikipedia, 2007)

Almost anything can be considered as a gift, as long as there is giving. In the gift economy, there is limit to how much you can give; however, giving does not necessarily mean that you will receive something after the act. A blog, a book, simple website and even a conversation between two are all forms of gifts. They teach and give insights to certain areas and ideas, these are all considered gifts.

A Gift Economy can provide several benefits. One benefit would be that the “gift” that’s given can provide someone who has no means of attaining it with the need for this “gift”. More often than not, when u give this “gift”, one rarely expects for anything in return. “In a ‘market’ economy, says Hyde, the highest status belongs to those who have acquired the most. In a Gift Economy, the highest status belongs to those who have given the most. But what is most important, he says, is that the gift must always move.” (Pollard, 2005) It was believed that the move Pay It Forward had a part to play in this economy and a strongly agree. This movie touched the hearts of many when a small boy wanted to do something for the world. He began with a simple school project.

The diagram above was the example of what the boy’s idea was all about. He believed if one person were to give to another two, and another two people were to give to another two and so on, the gift would constantly move and multiply. I believe this idea is the perfect example of how a Gift Economy should be, and how tremendous of an impact a simple act of giving can achieve. As mentioned earlier, “the highest status belongs to those who have given the most.”

I am proud to say that I play a part in this fantastic gift economy as described above. Giving, but not really expecting anything in return. I am a member of ClubSnap, an online forum where photography fanatics gather and share anything and everything online. The public get to share their personal works, information on products, gatherings and sales opportunities are all made in on single forum. It amazes me how everyone in that forum willingly gives out advice and information simply at the click of the button. Just a simple post such as, “What brand of DSLR should I purchase?” and within minutes, you would get many different responses and different opinions. A second question can then be asked, “Why?” and yet again, within seconds, people begin responding to their question, explaining in detail their reasons why.

One other example which demonstrates the act of giving would be a particular page in the forum called “critique corner.” In here, people get to post their own photographic works up for comment. Now, I am sure one would expect a simple comment such as “Great!” “Nice work!” “Keep it up!” However, that is not the case. Without asking, the public who view the work tend to comment further on the picture, going into the technicalities of photography, some even give out personal secrets to getting an outstanding picture.

Now let us think about this again. Why would anyone give off such valuable information? And often than not, expect nothing in return for the recipient? Why is there so much evidence of cooperation and selflessness in online communities such as forums? I personally believe that people who participate in online communities tend to be more giving rather than taking is because they have not met this particular person. There is no face to face interaction and thus one cannot see the other. How the other person who requires the information is unknown. There is hardly any form of judgment towards the recipient. Therefore, with less opportunity for behaving judgmental, it leaves everyone who has the same interests on an equal level playing field. Everyone is interlinked simply by a common interest. Now if such behavior can be said for members of any form of online community, or taking part in the Gift economy via the internet, what’s there to say about our behavior offline? Are we as giving? I wish we all were.

References
Pollard.D (April, 2005). How to save the world. Retrieved on February 9, 2007 from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/04/17.html

Wikipedia (February, 2007). Gift Economy. Retrieved on February 8, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved on February 6, 2007 from ">http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

QotW3: Benefitting the two

Buy it. Copy it. Send it. Share it.

These words can describe how majority of us go about getting information, whether it is in hardcopy or softcopy. However in such a digitalized world that we are in now, information has become easily accessible. There are online versions of popular fiction, academic books, scientific research, statistics, television programs and music which all can be purchased or viewed to over the internet. Not only this but with its ease in accessibility, brings also ease of duplication and worse still even greater ease of information sharing over the internet. With so many things now turning digital, easily accessible, and open to most of the public; how can content creators ensure that their creations are protected from duplication and theft?

Content creators have been given exclusive rights to their creations with the help of the Copyright law. The Copyright law is not only set up to benefit mainly the creators but also the public. Personally, I felt that Copyright forms a vicious cycle between the two groups. It gives content creators the ability to protect their work and exclusive rights to is given even if it was for a limited period of time. Given this benefit, creators will have that level of reassurance that their work is protected from theft or duplication. The public also stand to benefit from this law as they are allowed to view these works and even use them for their personal benefit. For many creators, their works are their source of income. With demand and purchases made for their work, this monetary gain would give creators the motivation to continue on with their work. With the demand for more information from the public to the creators, creators would continue to publish more work and this would in turn continue to benefit the public as well. The copyright law is created with the intention to provide balance between the interests of the creators and the public.

However, in recent years, the public have been abusing this benefit that they have been given from such easily accessible information. People have begun duplicating others works and distributing them to others for their own benefit or for the benefit of others while breaking the Copyright rule. They have begun “copy, and pasting” works of others, distributing them illegally and even passing them off as works of their own. Plagiarism is prevalent in schools, and students are often reminded of the severity of such actions. People illegally download music via downloading programs such as Napster and Torrent (Wikipedia, 2007). The most popular form of sharing would be Peer-to-Peer (P2P) activities where file sharing freely occurs (Wikipedia, 2007). More than 60 million Americans participate in this activity of file sharing (Karagiannis et al., 2004). It is because of such activities that content creators have begun blaming such activities for the drop in sales and profit. The music industry has been affected the most by online activities such as these and until today, is still an issue in many countries.

I sincerely believe that these activities are not to be fully blamed for the drop in sales, and that there is a possibility that there are other undiscovered factors that could be negatively affecting sales. Taking music for example, I believe that file sharing can most often than not, help boost sales figures.

This diagram which has been extracted from a study done by Felix Oberholzer-Gee from Harvard Business School on The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales in June 2005, demonstrates how downloads can be seen as means to boost sales. Such exposure can have positive outcomes. For example, people who have not heard of certain artist and are suddenly introduced to them might become potential fans and begin purchasing merchandise related to that particular artist.

Both interests can be accommodated with various ideas. Content Creators can look to other means of profit creation by holding concerts. Educating the public can be further enhanced by teaching them that there are other means to getting their music. Take iTunes for example. iTunes provide music listeners with the opportunity to get the desired song they would like legally and at a minimal cost of less than a dollar. This allows the public to get the son they desire without having to purchase the CD for just one or two songs. With this, the amount of money that would normally be spent on buying a whole CD can now allow the public to purchase a single song from different artist for ones own use. This way, both the interests of content creators and public good can be satisfied.


In conclusion, I believe that to further ensure that these interests are maintained; companies can come up with new ways to embed software to stop people from copying and sharing files too much, allowing there to be a block when the limit has been exceeded. Other alternative ways to gain monetary value could be sought. For example, musical artist could hold concerts and writers could hold writing classes and seminars. Further more, harsher penalties could be imposed on offenders. A justifiable spokesperson could be appointed to discourage piracy. Content creators can work to establishing bonds with companies who produce mp3s.

References
Ovalle, C. (2005). An Introduction to Copyright. Information in Cyberspace, 2. Retrieved January 31, 2007, from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/~i312co/1.php

Oberholzer-Gee, F., & Strumpf, K. (2005). The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales. Retrieved January 29, 2007, from http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_June2005_final.pdf

Wikipedia ( January, 2007). “Downloading” Retrieved January 30, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downloading

Wikipedia (29 January, 2007). “Peer-to-Peer” Retrieved January 30, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer