CMSC 102 - Fall 2009
Individual Paper

On November 10th, at the beginning of your lecture section, you need to turn in two essays based on your reading of the specified articles above, as well as other readings and materials you have seen for this course. Reminder, this is an INDIVIDUAL assignment.

• Write the paper using a word processor (ie: not a simple text editor), double-spaced in 12-point font with 1 inch margins. The paper must have a header or footer with automatic page numbering and your name in that header or footer.
  
  
• Make a cover page that has your name and your section number, and your University ID number. Have a bibliography sheet at the end. Be sure to staples all pages together securely.
  
  
• The paper is divided into individual questions (given below). For each question, you need to write a two-to-three page answer (going onto a third page is fine if needed, but if either essay is more than three pages, it will lose points). Each answer must begin at the top of a new page. In other words, use a page break between your answer to question 1 and your answer to question 2.
  
  
• Spelling and grammar do count. If the paper is difficult to follow due to bad grammar or organization, it will receive a lower grade.
  
  
• You are required to use at least one resource besides the linked readings on this page. You are expected to have specific references to back up the claims in your paper. In general, references to real-world events are better when you can reference sources such as news articles that discuss these events. When you reference a specific point from a source such as an article, webpage, or book, you must indicate this within your essay and give a full citation (your choice of style) for that reference in the bibliography. This reference should be in [ ] brackets at the end of the first sentence in your paper which mentions it.
  
  
• Minimal work will receive a minimal grade.

Answer each of the following based primarily upon material presented in the linked readings and class discussions:

1. For the first essay, you will explore the notion of a "Right to Read" within the context of "America in 2014". Today (2009) we already live in a very information-centric society. Across time there are discussions of the "haves" and "have nots" in a society, commonly in the context of finances and/or ownership of physical things (cars, houses, etc). Based on the current state of technology, information, and 'written' material (books, magazines, newspapers, eReaders, blogs, wikis, etc.) how would you draw the line between the digital "haves" and "have nots" in this country? Discuss what you see as the consequences or potential consequences of being a technology "have not" in America in 2014. How do devices like the Kindle with their current DRM policies come into play today? What parallels do you see between it and the Stallman story? Explain your answers to these questions in a neutral tone, and in a manner that any student here at the University could understand.
   
   
2. A variety of information about us and those around us are available online, and this second essay should explore the potential advantages and/or consequences of this. With the convenience that online tools provide, are there unintended consequences on our privacy? Are they desirable? What "breadcrumbs" of information about you do you think exist online? Should there need to a tradeoff between convenience and privacy? Are there any "up sides" to this tradeoff? Consider the existence of sites such as this one and this one and this one. Would knowing that something like these existed in relation to certain information alter your behaviors? Do you think the concept of Gandy's "Panoptic Sort" can be used in a discussion of our current technology uses? Based on the readings, the class readings and topics, and your own knowledge of the use of computer systems in today's campus life, discuss a potential computer-based privacy risk that you think is a realistic fear for future students (let's say the class of 2018), and then discuss who you think should be informing students about, or safeguarding students from, this risk.