Module 5 - Peer To Peer

Peer to Peer is such a complex and large issue. In fact it's so large that estimates are that Peer to Peer (predominantly BitTorrent) makes up nearly 55% of all Internet traffic (that is depending where you are located). This is enormous amounts of data that is being shared daily across the globe.

Yet to me it's not the sharing of files, or the enormity of the amount of data shared. For me it's what is happening at this very moment with the attack against civil liberties online, all under the premise of protection of IP.

At this time there are three major occurrences in the online world which should have all netizens worried.


Things to watch

1. Spectrial - The Pirate Bay vs IFPI. Check this out.
2. AFACT vs iiNet - This case could decide whether a private company (your ISP) is required to act as the police and monitor your usage of the Internet based on the claims of another private enterprise without any criminal charges.
3. Section 92A - The New Zealand Government introduces harsh new legislation which essentially says "Guilt upon Accusation" when it comes to file sharing.

The outcomes of these cases and changes to law will impact not on the pirates and the Peer to Peer networks, they will just find another way to share files, but on the everyday user of the Internet.

So I'm not going to get into the legality of sharing files and the supposed death of the music and film industries. I'm not going to get into how Peer to Peer can actually increase CD sales and increase an artists concert takings. What I am going to ask you is: Go out and actually explore both sides of the arguments, look beyond the rhetoric and see for yourself how this can affect, will affect your ability to use the internet, to communicate in new ways and discover new things.

This is your Internet we are talking about here, and while you may think these have things have no bearing on you cause, "I don't share files", think again friend.

Module 5 - Information Ecologies

I must admit reading about the idea of an Information Ecology was both difficult and frustrating, yet engaging and informative at the same time. In many ways though I see how this module is the peak of the unit truly drawing together all that has come before it. I just wish that I had done this before my concepts assignment.

Multifunctional, cross purpose tool?
So this idea of an information ecology has made me see the Internet in more than just one way. I could say at the start of this Study Period I simply thought of the Internet as a tool, albeit a magical wonderful tool with more functions than a Swiss Army knife, yet to me it was still essentially a tool. In fact early one, I made this blog post stating how I saw the Internet. Now I have come to realise how much more the Internet is (I did have an inkling prior to this), and can see how it evolves, what it does do to help us as we communicate.

I found Felix Stadler's paper Information Ecology particulary enlightening regarding the development of the information ecology and how it relates to Internet communication today. Where Stalder's paper focused on the nodes as being large corporations and government bodies, information has evolved and the nodes have now become the users themselves, interacting with the information, processing it, changing it, sharing it back (Stadler, 1997).

So it is as we add new web apps, new ways of looking at information, or communicating and interacting with one another, we change the Internet ourselves. Possibly the best example of this now is the advent of social media and the opportunity people now have to participate and share information, becoming that LIVE node in the network.

Communicate, communicate, participate
Key to this information ecology is the Internets intrinsic power of communication and subsequent participation. It is these aspects which allows us to advance, helping the information ecology to flourish. I have personally found this power over the course of Net11. As new tools have opened up to me allowing me to participate in communicating ideas and concepts, share experiences and knowledge that I have seen how much more the Internet is, than just a tool.

So now I have a new idea to think over further, and with Net12 around the corner, I'm sure I will get that opportunity. Before then though, I recommend reading fellow Net11 student Duane's blog post on Information Ecologies. He really has hit the nail on the head.



Stadler, Felix (1997). Information Ecology. Retrieved February 22, 2009 from http://felix.openflows.com/html/infoeco.html