In Blown to Bits, Chapters 7 and 8, the author discusses the internet, security, and the regulation and censorship of the internet. This week’s readings are very similar to last week’s; that the government is becoming increasingly watchful over the internet as time goes on. It seems as the internet becomes a major source of information for most Americans, the more influential it is on the minds of our people, and therefore the more government control it has (or needs, depending on one’s viewpoint).

When reading about the boy on AOL in Chapter 7, I couldn’t help but wonder: why is it AOL’s fault that the boy shared porn? There shouldn’t have been pictures taken of him in the first place, and from what I gathered, he was aware that he was sharing them in the chatrooms. I understand that he is only a young boy, and that he may have been wrongly influenced. The parent, then, should know that they have to monitor their kids on the internet. Matters such as this that happen within the home should not be blamed on the government or larger companies such as AOL.

It’s sad that with the freedom of communication and supposed anonymity that the internet offers we, as human beings, can not take responsibility for it. The internet is a great powerhouse of communication and information; and with great power comes great responsibility. It’s obviously too late; there are millions of searched for child porn every day, and there are plenty of other bad things on the internet. From the beginning, though, it’s sad that we couldn’t have collectively taken responsibility for what we chose to put on something as free as the internet. We wouldn’t have these privacy issues if we would have all taken responsibility in the first place.