Rachael Swain

Rachael Swain's Wiki 2 Final

Anonymous

Anonymous is a group of online hackers that strongly opposes Internet censorship and aims to protect individual’s freedoms. The group members are completely anonymous and are located all around the world. They complete publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites. They hack these websites to gain attention from the public and the government also known as “hacktivism”. The Anonymous group members also known as “Anons” hold protests about various issues relating to personal freedoms and Internet surveillance. During these protests, people wearing Guy Fawkes masks can be identified as the “Anons”; they wear these masks to stay anonymous which only makes sense based on their group name.

SOPA

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. SOPA was a bill that the government attempted to pass that aims to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content. This would give the government the ability to shut down websites altogether. They primarily would target foreign websites that put American businesses at risk. This act would help copyright holders protect their content that might be used illegally on foreign sites. People who oppose this bill say that “foreign infringing sites” is too vague and that it will alter the relative freedom the Internet has. Website domains can be identified as either domestic or foreign. If the government sees a domain that looks foreign it can be shut down completely even if they’re not outside of the United States. Criticizers of SOPA say this is unfair and the word foreign is not an accurate depiction of a true foreign infringing site that are proven risks to the United States copyright laws.

PIPA

The Protect IP Act stands for Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act. This law would give the government and copyright holders tools to prevent the access to rogue websites that are dedicated to the sale of copyright infringement or counterfeit goods, especially those that are located in foreign countries. People have many concerns about this bill in that it may bring about possible damage to freedom of speech, innovation, and Internet integrity. Facebook, Wikipedia, and Google are just a few of the major websites and companies that are not in favor of this bill.

How the Anonymous group Relates to Movements to Protect Online Privacy

The Anonymous group is trying to send messages about the importance of personal freedom by protesting tactics like hacking government and other large companies websites. They believe that the people’s online privacy should be protected and that the government doesn’t have the right to take that away from private citizens. In hope to achieve awareness and publicity they try to further privacy movements by hacking websites to gain more publicity. The movement of protecting online privacy has become increasingly important to a wide variety of people. The Anonymous group are people trying to do the same to bring awareness to this issue. Government officials may say these tactics that are being used are extreme, but “Anons” feel that these do help them to become more known and show that they are not stopping until they ensure people’s online privacy is protected.

Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden was a former NSA contractor and gained access to many classified documents. He leaked thousands of documents to reporters. These documents revealed that the government had potential programs to enable them to gain access to anyone’s cell phone and computer information records. Snowden wanted to display that he opposes these government acts and believes that citizens have the right to freedom on the Internet without being watched by our government security agencies. He is just another person along with several anonymous hackers that are trying to bring awareness of what the government is trying to do to Internet censorship. People’s privacy is a huge concern to many and a very important issue that needs to be addressed. When Snowden leaked the several documents, journalists revealed what the government is capable of and brought up worry and fear to a majority of the U.S. population. Snowden says in an interview with NBC that he is serving his country by doing this, there was a violation of the constitution and he thinks it is only right to stand up and say something about it.

Works Cited

"Anonymous (group)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 June 2014. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29>.

Edward Snowden Interview - NBC News. Perf. Brian Williams. NBC News. N.p., 29 May 2014. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/edward-snowden-interview>.

Harvey, Jason. "A Technical Examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP." Blog.reddit. N.p., 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.redditblog.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html>.

Norton, Quinn. "2011: The Year Anonymous Took On Cops, Dictators and Existential Dread | Threat Level | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 11 Jan. 0012. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.wired.com/2012/01/anonymous-dicators-existential-dread/all/1>.

"PROTECT IP Act." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 June 2014. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act>.

Rivas, Jorge, and Jamilah King. "What Is SOPA? Here Are 5 Things You Need to Know." Color Lines News For Action. N.p., 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/what_the_hell_is_sopa_and_how_it_would_affect_you.html>.

Rachael Swain's Wiki on Past-Time: Re-Encountering Everquest

Everquest

Everquest was released on March 16, 1999 and published by Sony Online Entertainment. This multiplayer 3D video game is fantasy-themed and became very popular in the early 2000s. The game was inspired by role-playing games where the players choose a character to be throughout the game.

The games content essentially consists of “players [using] their character to explore the fantasy world of Norrath, fight monsters and enemies for treasure and experience points, and master trade skills. As they progress, players advance in level, gaining power, prestige, spells, and abilities through actions such as defeating capable opponents, looting the remains of defeated enemies and completing quests” (EverQuest).

Everquest appealed to many people due to the content and the ability to interact with other players thus gaining popularity. People were able to enjoy adventure while playing with other people all in one game.

Summary of article: Past-Time: Re-Encountering Everquest

Emily Bembeneck wrote this article and has an interesting perspective on the new progression server Sony has released for Everquest. This server allows players whether current or veterans re-play the game from the past. There have been 17 expansions of the game since it was originally released. With the server version, players are able to experience the world in old ways as before since the expansions are frozen. “Players can eventually vote on whether to unlock an expansion and move forward in past-time” giving the players a more unique game to play (Bembeneck). Bembeneck explains the thrill players would have being able to relive past memories and experience. She goes further to explain how the veteran players memories can never be recreated even though there is this capability to replay the past. Since players “are reading the text with new eyes, running the paths with new expectations. Everything is being done for the first time” (Bembeneck). Her thoughts are engaging and surprisingly accurate.

Social, Cultural, or Political importance

I wasn’t able to pull out any political importance but I was able to draw upon the social and cultural importance the article shows. Everyone has memories and enjoys experiencing past events. Whether it shows memories with family or going to the same vacation spot annually. This is apart of everyone’s social lives and but also our culture as a whole. This article explains playing Everquest from a past perspective. Doing this allows players to have old memories reappear and experience playing the game like they had in the past, but in new ways as well. The author of the article explains that social experience has changed the players; therefore making them experience the game in different ways. Symbolically the article touches on the importance people feel memories and experience that shape who they are socially and culturally. Unknowingly the author explained the significance re-playing Everquest has on many people.

Comments

Overall the comments for this article were positive and compliment the author’s thoughts and information. People who commented seem to enjoy reliving past experiences and moments, as seen in their responses; they love the idea of replaying Everquest. I didn’t see any debate arise among the comments.

I do agree with the author’s opinion, she shares many of the same views that I have on replaying the game. In my own experience when I re-watch a movie or reread a book I catch importance things or think about a different part in a unique way than I have before. Bembeneck explained that this occurs because the person has had more experiences and have changed because of them. I agree with this statement, sometimes looking at something a second time with ‘different’ eyes helps you experience the same thing but it a completely different way.

I am not a huge fan of video games and have never played Everquest before but it seems like an interesting game. I love the idea of replaying Everquest it would be just like the thrill of watching a movie again and picking up on something new or significant. The article does a great job of intriguing me and keeping my interest. Everyone seems to appreciate things the second time around. For veteran Everquest players having the ability to replay the game they know and love is very special.

Works Cited

"EverQuest." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 June 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EverQuest#Development>.

Bembeneck, Emily. "Past-Time: Re-Encountering Everquest." Play The Past RSS. N.p., 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 04 June 2014. <http://www.playthepast.org/?p=818>.