Assignment 8

The Good:

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/circle-bitcoin-digital-wallet/

A tech start-up called Circle has plans to unveil a new digital wallet. Now this may sound like an unoriginal idea, with things like Venmo and Pay-Pal already out there, but this one is different. This wallet is a bitcoin transfer system that also allows you to hold, send, and receive U.S. dollars. The digital wallet services on the market today only allow you to exchange one form of currency. Circle's service would enable you to convert a payment into whatever currency you prefer whether that be converting U.S. dollars that you have been paid or vice versa. As many people start to switch over to bitcoin, this makes things much easier and more seem less for people that use differing forms of currency, all from the convenience of your phone, tablet, or laptop. Without the internet this would not be possible.

I found this article on Wired.com which we have used for many different things in class this semester. Wired is very highly regarded and is very reliable.

The Bad:

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/programmer-convicted-bizarre-goldman-sachs-caseagain/

This article discusses the case of a former programmer for Goldman Sachs who stole source code from the company when he left for another job. He was prosecuted by the state of New York and was convicted under the National Stolen Property Act as well as on federal espionage charges. The case was later overturned in appellate court because he never had physical control of the source code and did not keep Goldman from using it. Even though he got off Goldman Sachs and federal prosecutors came after him again, this time with different charges, and he was convicted again.

I classified this in the bad category for two reasons. The first is that with the transition to online banking and financial services, it has been made so much easier to rip off financial information and steal from both banks and consumers. The second is that corporations and prosecutors seem to be overusing their power and trying to convict some one of crimes in situations where it is perhaps easier to just settle civilly, as is the case with many hackings. As we move towards a more online society the risk for hacking and internet heists increases, but so does the power hungriness of massive corporations.

Again I found this article on Wired.com which is a reliable source.

The Ugly:

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/silk-road-1/

This article details the story of the rise and fall of the Silk Road. The Silk Road is a part of the dark web where people can buy and sell things such as drugs and guns anonymously. It operated like any other e-commerce site, but its primary currency was bitcoin. The site used Tor to mask the identities and locations of its customers and employees. A woman reached out to the site after her brother died of a heroin overdose from drugs he purchased on the site. She pointed out that the site allowed even children to access it. The creator of the site known as "The Dread Pirate Roberts" responded that that was the point and that any constraints on the site would be counter intuitive. The site was shut down by the FBI in 2013, but it still did its damage while it was up and running. The internet is ripe with opportunity to make the world a better place, but as shown by the Silk Road it can also be a place where terrible terrible things can happen.

I also found this article on Wired.com making it very credible.

CS408

This is a class dedicated to studying the good, the bad, and the ugly of living in a networked world. In the class we study the ins and outs of the internet, from its humble beginnings to the massive global network it is today. We learn its different functions and how to use it to our advantage while also being careful of the dangers it brings.