In response to: Daniel Koppenol

Article title: How has the Internet transformed media and the Communications industries?

I really liked this article, and i was particularly drawn to a quote Daniel used from Pierre Levy that "people harness their individual expertise toward shared goals....no one knows everything, everyone knows something, all knowledge resides in humanity." (cited in Daniel Koppenol, cited in Jenkins 2004, 35). I agree with this point because in information sharing communities such as Wikipedia, nearly anyone can change an article's content, aside from certain topics that are locked out of discussion.

My attention was peaked in the lecture today when our guest speaker mentioned that even though "knowledgeable sources" 'raised the debates' on particular topics in online forums, it was the views held by the general public that received the most feedback from the network community (Lecture 10, Citizen Journalism). Daniel, i think it is partly true that because of the 'decentralised nature' of the Internet, the enforcement of legislation that relates to acts of defamation is proving a difficult task, with acts of vilification and copyright infringement of personal and corporate property being a reality on the Internet. As an unknown user, i agree that it would be very hard to track a person's identity and charge them accordingly. If however, you were a member of a respected online forum, in which you have provided information about yourself, it may be easier for the moderator or corporate entity themselves to find out who you are. The speaker also explained the the website youdecide2007.com, a forum in which you can sign up and express your opinions on political matters. Say hypothetically, a member of the public gave out private information that a "wealthy media mogul" was providing extra funding to the labor government's campaign for a "slice of the political pie" without the consent of this person, the offender could be prosecuted for defamation under copyright law. An example of online journalistic defamation can be found in this article over here. Daniel concludes with the point that 'broadcast mediums within the communication industry are going to be constantly reformed and restructured.' (Daniel Koppenol's Blog) I also believe that one aspect of the reforming and restructuring process would be how online forums are going to 'root out' offenders, while establishing contact with 'online policing' services that deal with these matters, so the community's output potential can eventually be realised more fully.