Why internet only? everything has two aspects. one, the use, and the other the misuse. it is for the user to decide to what extent he/she wishes to.
----- Original Message ----- From: "SHADAB HUSAIN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 7:11 AM Subject: [AI] the other side of internet > The ''other side'' of Internet > Undoubtedly, Internet is the greatest invention of the 20th century. But > like everything else, it also has a darker and dangerous side. From Net > crime to > addiction, it's a dangerous place out there on the information > superhighway. > > Shashwat Chaturvedi > > Shyam Asher (name changed) suffers from a disease that he is unable to > pronounce. Asher works as a manager at one of the major media groups in > the > country, > and can be found online most of the time. For years, he had been suffering > from a nagging backache, and almost gave up after trying out quite many > doctors > and remedies. One fine day, he decided to give Internet a chance to play > doctor, he poured out all his ills to the Google search box and indeed the > doctor > quickly diagnosed his illness as ankylosing spondylitis. > > Children Addicted to Internet > Now, Asher leads an austere life as defined by Dr. Google, recently, he > has > given up eating wheat and does not have dairy products, also his food > should > be cooked in olive oil, much to the chagrin of his mother. Don't they say, > too much of something is a bad thing, and the Internet can be at times be > that > too much. > > Over the last few years more and more people have come to depend on the > Internet for everything right from buying stuff to finding succor for > loneliness. > And this dependency could create a lot of issues. The Internet is a great > medium for everything and like any other medium has its pros and cons. > Most > of > us are aware of the pros, lets take a look at the cons. > > The macro and the micro > > Broadly, Internet related problems could be bracketed under two headings, > macro and micro. Cyber wars, where hackers from one country deface > websites > from > another, for instance during the Kargil conflict, a lot of Indian websites > were defaced. Or cyber crimes like phishing, wherein people's banks > accounts > are attacked. There is also, the DOS (denial of service) attacks by > hackers, > where specific websites are targeted. > > These are the broader threats that one faces on the Internet. On the other > end of the spectrum, are micro issues, or people problems. Issues like > addiction > or overt dependency fall under this header. > > Cyber wars and other > > Internet poses a potential threat of the breakout of information warfare. > Some countries have applied the Internet into military operations, have > conducted > mock attacks against other countries' networks, or have fabricated > deceptive > information harmful to other countries' military forces. At a time when > the > information networks have become an important infrastructure of the nation > and the military, the information warfare will be a war without the > explosives, > a war with a high invisibility, low cost, international, and multi-area > (political, military, economic, social and material resources) approach. > > There had been a recent controversy with the Google Earth satellite > images, > which are being argued posing threat for the defense of India. Zoom-in at > the > Bangalore airport on Google Earth, and you will find the type of fighter > jets India has parked there. Korean government had already banned the > images > of > the defense areas of the country on the Google Earth. > > Speaking from the Indian perspective, the New-Gen is distinctly different > from the old one. Over time, attitudes seem to be undergoing drastic > changes > due > to the impact of the online medium. The "I know all" attitude has come > into > being, as information is at hand. This arrogance is quite at display at > the > numerous schools and colleges in the metros. > > Not only that, most of the college-goers today rely on the Internet for > all > their assignments; good old understanding and hard work has taken a > beating. > Students tend to 'google' rather than work their way out of academic > problems. The effects could be quite bad. In this case, most faculty feel > the CTRL-A, > CTRL-C and CTRL-V attitude of the students would not help them in the long > run. > > Then there are the health issues like obesity and insomnia or > sleeplessness. > With most of the people getting online, working for long sitting down they > tend to gain more weight over a period of time. > > Impact on children > > Frequent and prolonged Internet sessions may pose physical health risks > for > children. The most frequently cited are visual strain, harmful effects of > radiation, > and posture and skeletal problems. But apart from them, psychological > issues > can be quite dangerous. The availability of porn and the threat from > strangers > is on the rise, take the recent case of an Ahmedabad girl, who was lured > to > a private place through chat room by a man, who, along with his friends, > attempted > to molest her. Thankfully, she was saved. But imagine so many youngsters > are > at risk from such lecherous individuals. > > According to a study conducted in Beijing, Internet corrupts people's > minds, > influences and changes moral perspectives and ethical values. Driven by > the > profits in the numbers of hundreds of millions of dollars, the pornography > merchants across the globe have opened adult websites, massively producing > various > kinds of sex information. This development has led the Commerce Committee > of > the U.S. Senate to propose the "1995 Communications Act for Good Behavior" > to prohibit sex crimes committed on the Internet. > > Personally speaking > > Are you hooked to the Net? Do you feel the compulsive need to check your > e-mail every 15 minutes? If yes, it could just be the start of an > addiction > to > the Internet. In the West, there have been many cases of families getting > disrupted through virtual relationships developed on World Wide Web. > > "While not yet defined as a true addiction, many are suffering the > consequences of obsession with the online world, unable to control their > use. From gaming > to sexual and emotional relationships, the Internet is taking over lives. > More and more people will be confronted with consequences such as divorce > and > physical symptoms which will force them to seek both medical and > psychological treatment," comments Diane Wieland, a clinical specialist > based in the US. > > In the US and Europe, cyber porn and online gambling and gaming are some > of > the factors that drive addiction. Recently, in Scotland, there was a case > where > a man was arrested for siphoning off a million pounds into his personal > account to feed his uncontrollable online gambling habit. Experts say that > Cyberaddiction > is a condition akin to pathological gambling or compulsive shopping. > > In India, Net addiction has not reached such alarming rates. But the > proliferation of computers and the way in which email has replaced snail > mail, has > changed the way we communicate. > > Some of the physical symptoms of addiction are dry eyes, sleep > deprivation, > carpal tunnel syndrome and headaches. Internet addicts may also get the > "cyber > shakes" when off line, exhibiting agitation and typing motions of the > fingers when not at the computer. > > Coming back to Asher, his family is still trying to cope up with his net > addiction -- hoping, someday he will emerge out of Dr. Google's care. > > > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
