Week 5

iv. Is Überveillance science fiction or science fantasy? Will it be the reality in the future?

In the future is our world going to be under Uberviellance? Will Uberviellance become a reality in the future?

Uberviellance is a slang term used to describe an exaggerated and omnipresent 24/7 electronic surveillance. A present example of Überveillance is the televisions show ‘Big Brother’, where all the competitors in the Big Brother House are under surveillance and we can watch it from the outside world. 

The question is, could the world become one big brother house ruled by Gretel Killeen.  

Science fiction deals with things that have the potential to happen whereas fantasy deals with things that could never happen. Basically science fiction means that there is a path from our here-and-now to the future, which involves time passing and plausible advantages in science could allow our society to change. History has show that anything is possible.

There are many different ways in which Überveillance could occur in the future and multiple futuristic movies provide us with examples of this. 

For example in Steven Spielberg’s film entitled Minority Report (2002). Minority Report presents a future of increasing electronic surveillance. The conceived idea of a future with intrusive capitalism and government surveillance. This extreme, new technology allows police officers within the department of ‘Precrime’ to see, stop and arrest people for murders which are yet to be committed.

Another more recent example of Überveillance, is in Neill Blomkamps film Elysium (2013). In the film there is a $82 billion industry with at least 30,000 drones which are capable of videotaping the facial expressions of people on the ground from hundreds of feet in the air, which ushers a new age of surveillance in American society.  

As previously stated, history has shown that anything is possible. Although the concept of Überveillance being a reality in our society seems a foreign concept to us, no one knows what the future holds.

Referencing:

Elysium, 2013 Neill Blomkamps

Minority Report, 2002 Steven Spielberg

Big Brother

http://works.bepress.com/kmichael/187/

http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1186&context=kmichael

http://uberveillance.com/blog?tag=microchips

Week 4 : Plagiarism vs Copyright Violation

What is the difference between plagiarism and copyright violation?

Although plagiarism and copyright violation to many are seen to be similar, there are some differences separating the two that are quite significant. With the assistance of an article from Concordia University, I have outlined the main differences between the two as well as the different consequences.

Plagiarism

Copyright Violation

-       Plagiarism basically relates to claiming someone else’s work as your own without any form of referencing or recognition of its original creator. -       Plagiarism relates more to an ethical concept based on community standards, rather then a legal issue -       The consequences related to plagiarism and based on the community or society involved. For example Deakin University may have different plagiarism consequences/rules compared to a University on the other side of the world, however most are determined by similar factors such as intent, repetition etc.

-       Copyright is a legal concept that relates to taking or stealing someone else’s work without permission -       An important law is the 1976 law, which holds the rights of the copyright holder 1.     Reproduction 2.     Adaptation 3.     Publication 4.     Performance 5.     Display -       Violating these rights is said to be a copyright violation and becomes a legal issue -       Copyright violation is a much more serious matter, and because it is a legal matter it can easily end up a court case resulting in fines etc.

Although copyright is being attempted to be ‘managed’ I guess, I think that there will always be the issue of people copying and stealing work of others. Whether it is through documents or music, copyright violations and plagiarism issues I believes will always be around.

http://www.concordia.edu/sitefiles/w3/Library/Plagiarism%20vs%20(2).pdf

Old vs New Media Empires

Old vs New Media Empires

Media relates to the sharing of information aiming to reach or influence people widely across the world. As technology has developed, so have the forms of media. Sharing information 50 years ago compared to sharing information now is quite extraordinary. Rupert Murdoch and the media empire ‘ News Corporation’ although developing with the changing technology represent the ‘old’ media. Mark Zuckerberg and the founders of ‘Google’ Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both represent the ‘new’ media and are examples of new media empires. Comparing the statistics between the two is mind blowing.

For Rupert Murdoch it took 40 years to reach his $1 billion mark. Last years revenue growth of his company News Corporation was .90%. Murdoch is currently worth 11.2 billion dollars. Mark Zuckerberg, the co founder of Facebook, a ‘new’ media empire in its own form only took 3 years to reach his $1billion mark. Lasts years revenue growth of the company was 21.43% and Zuckerberg is currently worth $13.3 billion at the age of 29.

Although neither of this two will be complaining about their wealth I am sure, it is interesting to see how the development of media and the introduction of social media empires like Facebook have differed the way information is shared and communicated.

The main difference between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ media empires comes down to technology and the accessibility of information. Almost the entire globe can access information from anywhere at any time, compared to the issues with accessibility before the introduction of the Internet and social outlets. Everything is online. All newspapers publish their articles online as well as hard copy, and some organisations now have an official ‘app’ for people to access the articles.

The development of media has completely changed the way media organisations operate, and in Zuckerberg’s case has changed time needed to make Billions….

http://www.prweb.com/releases/nate-long-marketing/infographic-billionaires/prweb10995889.htm