Memo 13: Internet Issues

When I think of Internet today, I remember a line: ‘With power, comes a lot of responsibility’. This line, I believe, holds very true for the Internet Society and associations like the IETF, IRTF and IAB.
The Internet is so powerful and pervasive that it has become the lifeline of modern human existence. Nothing could better articulate the stature and influence of Internet than the presence of a whole new virtual and secondary world, the most stunning replica of the real world and its aspirations, in the form of Second Life.

However, this has come with a price. There are some raging issues that Internet faces. Not only do these issues have the potential to jeopardize the noble intent of Internet but also can vilify its existence. I will address some of the many issues, in this memo.

Security
Front up is security. Although tremendous work has been done in this domain, there always are cracks in the wall. The most notorious ones are the DoS (denial of service) attacks. These are malicious attempts to deny legitimate users, their right to certain services. The impact varies from inefficiency of modern equipments to damaging physical security.

Privacy
Next, are the privacy issues. These essentially are caused due to some kind of security breach but have technical and legal appeal. The public nature of Internet has made it vulnerable to privacy issues. The very fact that the packet you send or intend to receive goes through alien nodes, makes privacy a major concern. Also, legally there have been cases wherein the definition of privacy in a given context has been questioned.

Pornography
Although, this is one factor that actually defines 60% of internet traffic, it raises serious concerns. There are several content providers that are involved in child pornography and that content floats unmonitored on the Internet. Also, it is very easy for people not legally permitted (due to age, national rules etc.) to access the prohibited content.

Copyright
Internet has been one of the best and worst sources of information. However, it has quite easily been most prominent reason for copyright issues and plagiarism. There is virtually no way at present to prevent attempts to copy material from the Internet and plagiarize content. One could minimize this by penalizing attempts and making use of tools like turnitin, however there is no asking in instances where such law isn’t enforced.

These were a few of the several issues that plaque the Internet today. There is constant work going on to curb these however there also is a constant effort to find a way around the rules, bend them and increase the necessity of such rules.