Cyber Disobedience: Re://Presenting Online Anarchy by Shantz Jeff Tomblin Jordon

Author:Shantz, Jeff,Tomblin, Jordon [Shantz, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78279-555-1
Publisher: John Hunt (NBN)
Published: 2014-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Applying For Netizenship: Foucault, Cybercrime and the Digital Age

There is a trust and distrust shared by citizens and governments. In the twenty-first century, contingents of both parties understand the power of an individual online. At present, international debate on cybercrime and the regulation of the Internet has commenced. Citizens of the Internet want online freedom, yet sovereign states have never advocated for a community without control of rules or conventions. This paper shall investigate how Michel Foucault’s discussions on disciplinary power and governmentality can be applied to the online virtual community. Trends in both prevalence and incidence of cybercrime, as well as discussions on possible Internet regulations, will be explored. To date, the Internet has become a domain that has mobilized and radicalized the existence of online and offline communities. Much of the progressive online development is akin to those who challenge the constraints of modernity and a global commitment to security. Accordingly, efforts to qualm crime conducted via the Internet have been brought about through mechanisms of hierarchical observation, normalizing judgments, and examination online. The inherent confrontation and its consequence of online subjects have also created new techniques and strategies to respond to these circumstances by virtue of governmentality. As individuals continue to embrace the online virtual community, discussions of digital security and the role that nations assume will be of vital importance in the years ahead.

The Internet has come to be one of the most significant innovations of our time. The foundation of the information superhighway can be traced to precursors that date back to the 19th century, such as railways and telegraphs, along with other revolutionary technologies that led to booms and busts over the years (McLuhan 1962). Its formation can be attributed to military exploration, academic study and private investment. The driving force for new methods and measures of use online is largely accredited to computer programmers and hacker subcultures that explore uncharted territories, take risks, and break new ground. Prior to the age of information, power and knowledge were neither readily accessible nor arrangeable without significant time or expense. With an increase in diverse modes of wireless communication, people are connecting with distant environments on a level unparalleled in history. Without a doubt, the Internet has become a powerful tool for revolutionizing the way we think and how we live. In this day and age, society is impacted by the circular and reciprocal relationships between the online and offline environment. Accordingly, as globalization proceeds, digital and physical communities happen to mesh. The new circumstances for our contemporary way of life are redefining political and socio-cultural lines around the globe. The architecture of the information superhighway, however, like any community, is subject to risk, threat and vulnerability. At the present time, notions of community are changing as “individuality and privacy erode quickly in the search for power and profit” online (Mehta and Darier 1998, 108).

At present, one third of the world’s population is using the Internet (ITU World Telecommunication 2011, n.p.). ITU Telecom estimates that 45% of the worlds Internet users are below the age of twenty-five (ibid).

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