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 The Net is the
fastest-growing communications medium in history. Three-quarters of
Americans now use the Net to find information, make online purchases, chat
with friends, get weather forecasts, download music and run home
businesses. The Net and related network technologies are changing how we
work, play, shop, learn and communicate.
The Net's explosive growth has created a host of
challenges and controversies. Consider just a few examples: |
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The Net makes it easy to access
online books, articles, art, music and software. The Net also makes it
easy to plagiarize other people's works, acquire pirated materials, and
violate copyright protections. |
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The Net makes it possible to
find information about almost any topic, such as rare diseases,
hard-to-find merchandise and long-lost relatives and friends. The Net also
makes it possible for companies to track people's online activities (e.g.,
email, web browsing, online purchases), and to sell these personal
profiles to advertisers, employers, insurance companies and other buyers. |
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The one billion dollar a year
online pornography ("adult entertainment") business may be the
most successful online industry, and it is growing at an annual rate of
around 25 percent. This does not include illegal child pornography sites,
or so-called youth modeling sites containing semi-nude photos and videos
designed to circumvent child pornography and obscenity laws. |
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The Net has become a place where
people meet, converse, socialize and date. As a result, people are
engaging less in the kinds of face-to-face exchanges that are essential to
the health of local communities, civil society and democratic
institutions. |
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Theoretically, the Net provides
an inexpensive means for small businesses and publishers to reach their
customers and readers, creating a "level playing field" on which
small enterprises can compete with big corporations. In reality, the Net
is increasingly dominated by giant entertainment and media firms that have
sufficient capital, technical expertise and brand-name recognition to
trounce their smaller competitors. |
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 The 2001 fall symposium addresses
the controversies and challenges created by the rapid growth of the
Internet, and more generally, by advances in communications, information
and networking technologies. These advances are profoundly affecting our
society, economy, polity and culture, often in ways that are unintended,
undesirable and highly controversial.
As responsible citizens, we should think critically about
Internet-related controversies and dilemmas, and we should make informed
choices about how we respond to these challenges as individuals and as a
society. Too many Americans blindly equate social progress with
technological advances, or they assume that the social costs of these
advances are inevitable and unstoppable. Such thinking is wholly
incompatible with the principles of democratic government and the values
of a liberal arts education.
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The fall symposium includes a
wide variety of programs and events. Click here
to view the program schedule. |
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Snowden Library's instructional
services librarians have created a website with links to online readings
and resources for each symposium topic. Click here to visit
the website. |