Information Technology Acts Paper
Introduction
Technological advancements are touted as being tantamount to human evolution since they herald simpler ways of doing things as a result of improved knowledge of the human race. People are often quick to adopt new technologies as soon as they are made available. Information technology is one of the most vibrant branches of science and this has led to it being part and parcel of everyday life for the multitudes who embrace it. It will be wishful thinking if one is to assume that these technologies come without any challenges. The extent to which our lives interact with technology has brought with it certain legal complications.
The computer for instance was invented as a machine to aid in mathematical operations. With time however its purposes diversified and the end result of this was the use of computers to for the storage and processing of data. In the 1980s, computer costs were prohibitive and out of reach for the average household. The main users of these machines were government departments and the military. The information that was stored here was highly sensitive in nature. The main advantage that came with this was conservation of storage space. This information was extremely sensitive and potentially volatile if it were to land in the wrong hands. This necessitated legislation to protect the information from being accessed fraudulently by unauthorized individuals or abused by those tasked with managing the computers. This was done through the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1986 which made the unauthorized access of protected computers punishable by law (Griffith, 1990). The protected computers in this instance were those used in interstate communication as well as in financial institutions. The act was later amended to cover those found to have intended to defraud.
Another influential advancement in technology was in the area of accessing film content. During the days of reels it was quite cumbersome to mass-produce films. The advent of video cassettes and Video Cassette recorders, VCRs made it possible for films to be produced in bulk. This created an opportunity for the lucrative industry of video libraries. The benefit of video libraries was that it allowed users to access the films at a lower price than the cost of purchasing tapes. At the same time they gave the users access to a wide range of films. This meant that members had to open personal accounts with these libraries so as to facilitate the tracking and billing for services such as films borrowed. The challenge that came with this was that some unscrupulous administrators of these facilities were reported to be submitting this information to third parties who were not known to the owners of the information being disclosed. This then created unnecessary exposure of such individuals. The Video Privacy Protection Act, 1988 which barred providers of such services from providing this information by making them liable if found to provide such details for purposes out of the terms and conditions agreed to by customers (Langheinrich, 2011). Other items included were the sales of music, DVDs and also videogames. Today there are web-based services that offer similar pay-per-view services and the laws also covers these enterprises. If a provider is found guilty of the same he or she will have to pay a fine. This act’s influence can be seen in the terms and conditions Netflix presents to its subscribers and one particularly interesting element is the fact that it no longer maintains records of people who left the site.
References
Griffith, D. S. (1990). Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986: A Measured Response to a Growing Problem, The. Vand. L. Rev., 43, 453.
Langheinrich, M. (2001, January). Privacy by design—principles of privacy-aware ubiquitous systems. In Ubicomp 2001: Ubiquitous Computing (pp. 273-291). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
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