I StumbledUpon this article today, it looks like its from a Russian news source but it is about teenagers from the Midwest. Long story short, this article is about how a kid from Oklahoma uploaded a video of himself in which he violently beat a cat (presumably his cat). The video got a lot of hits and obviously disturbed and angered the people who watched it. The web community used its apparently extensive investigating skills to find the kids behind the video and make sure that "justice was administered."
I'm not quite sure how to react to this.... obviously I'm glad that that these little cat-beaters are off our streets, but honestly, I find it creepy and scary in a big-brother-is-watching kind of way that if you post a video on youtube, it is possible for people to somehow find out who you are and where you are from. I suppose that the internet as a new form of crime-stopping is a good thing... but it seems to come at a certain cost. If you post content to the internet, you are giving up part of your privacy & anonymity, knowingly or unknowingly.
Knafo Elizabeth
Feb 18, 2009 3:34 PM
Using the Internet comes at a cost in terms of privacy...check out all the debate about Facebook's new terms of service...
http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever