*This is where my Summary will go…Just found out about including a summary in class* 🙂
What is the Huffington Post and why was the excerpt published there?
– The Huffington Post is a self-proclaimed Internet ‘newspaper’ that publishes articles about national and world events, but emphasizes the exposure of articles pertaining to technology and the Internet. This excerpt would have been published here because it is relevant to all Internet users who have ever shared any personal information on the web as the exposure of WikiLeaks shows the world how easily information can be exploited and blown out of proportion.
Who is Micah L. Sifry and what are his qualifications and interests for writing on this topic? Â
– Micah L. Sifry appears to have extensive knowledge on what private citizens can do to keep as little personal and private information out of the massive cache that is the Internet. He has also published a book on WikiLeaks while also operating his website, techpresident.com.
Is WikiLeaks a Wiki, how do you know this, and why is this important? Â
– WikiLeaks is not a true Wiki in the sense that it is not editable by random persons, instead, it is only editable by authorized accounts associated to WikiLeaks. This is important because it goes against what a Wiki should be; a document that can be edited by individuals almost completely at will. By restricting the management of WikiLeaks to certain individuals, then it may appear as if the information that is being relayed could possess more bias than what is standard.
What is Sifry’s main point in writing/publishing this excerpt and does he make a convincing case given the audience of this site? Â
 – Sifry’s main point touches base not only on WikiLeaks and Assange, but also the government and their overall direction towards no longer having any anonymity or privacy on the Internet for its citizens. Sifry states that the power of the U.S. government should not govern the Internet like Big Brother, casting an omnipresent shadow over its citizens. This is relevant and supportive of the audience of this website, whom I believe to be a group of individuals who are not only interested in staying up to date about Internet news, but also of their rights and levels of privacy on the internet.
What do you like and dislike about his argument, Assange, or WikiLeaks?
– The entire ordeal with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks has been a rough rollercoaster ride for internet users in that this groups’ exposure of certain items has alerted the government into taking steps in diminishing the amount of privacy that any one individual can have on the Internet. As an individual, at first I supported the exposure of ‘certain’ things that WikiLeaks as exposed, items in particular that I believe our government should be ashamed of letting them leak out, but as of this past year, I’ve yet to stay current with WikiLeaks progress. What I will touch base on is the proposed Internet Privacy Act that I believe would be extremely detrimental to any and all internet users as their individual levels of security and privacy will be drastically diminished.