Santa the Pirate

Political Cartoon about piracy

Computers and the rapid growth of technology has opened up the world to a plethora of new advances, but good is not the only thing that has made upgrades. This technological boom has also inspired new ways of stealing and making it even seem innocent in some aspects.

Music piracy is a huge problem in the cyber world. People of all ages will illegally download music, books on tape, and even movies and video games. This has basically become commonplace in today's world. Just the other day my friend was looking at my computer and mocked me saying, "wow,  you still buy your music from iTunes?" The internet has made it so easy to click a button and have the whole works of your favorite artist for no money at all.

People also have been known to steal the actual internet capabilities, like this political cartoon is demonstrating. This cartoon actually pokes fun at the whole topic by making the culprit a loved character, Santa Claus, who is known for giving to everyone. He also draws the audience's attention to this by making the whole picture in black and white except for Santa. This cartoon mainly just uses a humor to try and entertain the reader by completely exaggerating a situation that is fairly commonplace in society. This publication appeared on a site devoted to political cartoons so it is basically appealing to an audience who is technologically savvy and who has most likely had some experience with this situation.

Zero to Hero

The internet hold with it an incredible power. This fact has never bee more evident to me than it is now. As I type I am at Autsin City Limits and I have seen the power of the internet at work. I just left the Graffiti6 concert and little more than a year ago they were nothing. Since then they have exploded in popularity in the UK and are rapidly gaining popularity here in the states. This is all thanks to the internet.

The massive freedom that the internet proviedes someone lets them fully express their creativity and helps shrink the world by growing the connections between people. If a musical artist posts a video on Youtube and some big whig from a music agency sees and likes them they can go from a nobody to an overnight sensation like that, much like the boys of Graffiti6. This creativity has helped a variety of people get noticed, get justice, or even gain wealth.

Although many people benefit greatly from this creativity, it has also broght harm to many people. Many people can be too eager to reap the benefits from the internet and put too much of themselves on it and be taken advantage of. The ease of use and the casual manner in which people use computers creates a false sense of security for many people ad they can end up getting hurt, such as by identiy theft or by someone stealing their money. When looking at the power of the internet I feel the quote from Spider Man sums it up perfectly, "with great power comees great responsibility".

Is the power of creativity worth the risk of victimization?

The internet is one of the most remarkable inventions to date. It allows any average joe the potential to make whatever he wants from the ease and comfort of his own living room. With this great gift of creative freedom also comes an equally powerful counterpart. All of these potentially powerful ideas are flying around at such speeds and frequency that it is easy for someone to abuse this freedom the wrong way and steel ideas, property, or even identity from another person.

With people today logging so much of their lives on the computer, they have invested a great deal of themselves for many others to see. These relationships, figures, and ideas that they have poured into their computers is a part of them and is considered their own "property". Like any other tangible thing in this world, intellectual property is susceptible to theft and many people have quite a bit at stake to loose.

I choose to write about the issues of Creativity, Piracy, and Intellectual Property because they most interest me and I feel as though these principals are most applicable to my technological endeavors. With technology becoming more and more prevalent it is important to analyze it for its potential to exponentially grow our world in multiple aspects (be it socially, economically, or anywhere in between), but it is also vital to counterbalance this with its potential for harm and evaluate the pros and cons, or at the very least be cognizant of them.