There really is a whole lot more to the world than the
Macintosh. This page provides links to perspectives on
current issues that may have nothing at all to do with
computers. Newest links are listed above older ones.
The Open Link
Policy, 8/20. Webmasters band together to encourage
deep links, protect content.
Don't
link or I'll sue!, Salon, 8/12. "Links are the Web's
essence and its genius. Every public Web page's URL, its
address, is available to all; we can point any Web page
to any other."
Is
linking always legal? Experts aren't sure, New York
Times, 8/6. "Especially controversial is the use of
so-called "deep" links, which point directly to Web pages
or other content within another site...."
Third Voice
and copyright, Larry Rosenstein, Mac Musings, 6/15.
"If I download one of your pages, I'm free to do whatever
I want with it on my computer."
Third
Voice, boon or bane?, The iMac NewsPage, 6/14. "...if
webmasters want improved feedback and interactivity with
their readers, it's best left to them to decide how to
achieve this...."
Say No to
Third Voice. "This software is interpreted to be a
violation of copyright and should be investigated on a
Federal Level...."
Privacy, Internet Security
Now
you are an enemy of the state, Jesse Berst, ZDNet,
8/23. "...the U.S. Department of Justice wants the right
to break into your home and (without your knowledge)
disable the security precautions on your computer. Then
it can track and trace everything you do."
Furor
rising over PC wiretap plan, ZDNet, 8/20. "The plan
is 'an unprecedented attempt by the Clinton
administration to impose "big brother" monitoring powers
over American citizens.'"
DOJ
wants to bug PCs, ZDNet, 8/20. "Under the proposed
'Cyberspace
Electronic Security Act,' investigators armed with a
sealed warrant could comb computers for passwords and
install devices that override encryption
programs...."
Big
Brother wants to read your email, Charles W. Moore,
MacTimes, 6/28. British government wants ISPs to provide
police with ability to intercept internet traffic.
Massive internet tapping
revealed, MacOS Rumors, 5/27. "...a large majority of
Internet traffic, including personal/business
communication such as email, is being passively
tapped...."
U.S.
uses key escrow to steal secrets, TechWeb, 5/18.
"European plans for controlling encryption software are
nothing to do with law enforcement and everything to do
with U.S. industrial espionage...."
Careful,
they might hear you, The Age, 5/23 [Slashdot] Echelon system has US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand "illicitly pick up commercial satellite
communications."
Fewer
than 50% of parents closely monitor kids' net use,
MacTimes, 6/1. "Disturbingly, 18% of 62 children aged 8
to 18 surveyed say they plan to meet someone they have
met on the Internet face to face."
Australians
demonstrate against net censorship, MacTimes,
5/28.
Australian
Broadcasting Authority given power to censor
Internet, Australian Broadcasting Corp., 5/26
[Slashdot] "The broadcasting authority will be given responsibility
for ordering the removal or blocking of pornographic,
violent or otherwise offensive websites, newsgroups and
databases." A bit more information on Yahoo.
Amazon
reverses decision on book ban, ZDNet, 5/20 "The book (A
Piece of Blue Sky), a critical examination of
Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was pulled
by Amazon in February after an injunction against its
distribution in the United Kingdom." (I waited to post
this until Amazon listed the book. dk 5/26)
Thin
Edge Of The Wedge: Why Internet Censorship Is A Bad
Idea, MacTimes, 5/17
Net
censorship and Apple, Don Crabb, ZDNet, 5/7 "The Internet, in fact, did nothing, except provide an
inexpensive and readily available information conduit
that may have allowed those kids to proclaim their own
violent alienation from our society in the form of a Web
site and postings on AOL."
Alienation, Student Rights
Geek
unions?, Jon Katz, Slashdot, 7/6. What if high school
geeks were to organize and promote their interests in our
schools?
Suffer
the (white, middle-class) children, The Village
Voice, 6/25 "Some French theorist . . . deduced quite some time back
that school (just like work or the army) is a jail-shaped
box: a containment system to keep people in a useful
order, brutally if necessary." More on Slashdot.
Blaming
Internet for school violence scapegoats real problem,
MacTimes, 5/24 "Bluntly stated, moral relativism and situational ethics
have rendered many people incapable of judging right from
wrong."
Have
we grown deaf to the plight of alienated teens?, USA
Today, 5/21 "School districts that have enacted strict rules against
bullying have taken a key step toward imposing the
discipline of civility on their students. But more is
required."
A Student Bill
of Rights, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 5/19 "What happened in Littleton was inexcusable, but it was
also a consequence of students being dumped on by their
peers."
Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work
for all. Computers are like that. Please report errors to
Dan Knight
.
Letters sent to Low End Mac may or may not be published at the
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LINK
POLICY: This site allows and encourages
links to any public page, so long as the linked page does not appear
within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked page.
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POLICY: In brief, we don't collect any
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Mac is an independent publication and has
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