History proves that humanity lives in a permanent struggle for resources. And if the division of natural resources and territories is more or less clear (military campaigns, diplomatic work, economic sanctions), then in the struggle for information and the means of its transfer-anything can be expected. Today, all parties concerned declare an unconditional right to the Internet: from users to the state. And only awareness becomes an advantage at this time. Taking as a basis the main trends of the past year, I managed to compile a short list of books ready to help us understand the essence of many online events. The first "must read" compilation included books about "Big Data", digital piracy and the embodiment of the idea of total surveillance. Read, think, double-check!
Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
The era of global information flows does not cease to excite their contemporaries revolutions. One of them - beyond any doubt - was the idea of Big Data: the accumulation, storage, analysis, retrieval of re-gain and resale of information from consumers around the world. And here there is no difference: you are an active user of online stores or just communicate with friends on social networks. For Big Data, everything is important! Just imagine how much information - search queries, likes, tweets, applications in the smartphone, etc. - is a virtual portrait of the Internet user.
"Google processes more petabytes of data per day - this is about 100 times more than all printed materials of the Library of Congress. Facebook - a company that was not in sight a decade ago - can boast of more than 10 million downloads of new photos every hour. People click the "Like" button or write comments almost three billion times a day, leaving a digital footprint with which the company studies user preferences. "
Fortunately for the reader, the authors did not reduce the work to a description of the technical and procedural components. Their attention hangs on today's everyday life, tactfully indicating: "this is the result of the analysis of Big Data", "and here they have moved to a new level, starting to collect global information about customers."
"Previously, it was well known that it refers to personal information: names, social security numbers, identification codes, etc. Protecting such information was relatively easy, blocking it. Today, even with the most innocuous data, if they accumulate a lot, you can establish the identity. Attempts to give data anonymous form or to hide them are already ineffective. "
Not without futurology. Taking into account the constant increase in the accuracy of forecasts based on "Big Data", the authors consider a scenario in which law enforcement agencies will foresee crimes and react to it in advance, thus turning the current ideas about the freedom of choice of a person. By the way, the Los Angeles police have been using a system of "proactive law enforcement" for several years now - an algorithm that analyzes data on crimes over decades and predicts the location of the next crime. Is it good or bad? Watch online changes and come to personal conclusions. Fortunately, there is enough material for this.
The book is full of examples of using "Big Data" and correctly distributed statistical information. Knowing the need to balance, the authors present an exciting and important work that includes the past, present and future of mankind in the information world.
P.S. Under statements about the need for the state to dispose of large data of the population, the book becomes even more urgent.
Darren Todd. Pirate Nation: How Digital Piracy Is Transforming Business, Society and Culture
There will always be something underestimated in the world: problems, discoveries, ideas ... The copyright reform will necessarily include them (unless, of course, intentional blindness in this matter is overcome in the near future). Read the news about the notification of the 86-year-old woman of Ontario about the penalty of $ 5,000 for downloading the game Metro 2033? Yes, this is not a rally, but an "adequate" reaction to copyright infringement!
Just as a child changes his wardrobe as he grows up, legislation in the digital age must correspond to reality. Today, mankind - without all sorts of divisions - seems like a mature man in children's clothes. We have learned how to create high-precision techniques and change DNA, but laws and norms that should contribute to progress have ceased to work. And sometimes - create only unreasonable obstacles.
"In our time pretending that you never violate copyrights - it's like in the Victorian era pretend that you never do masturbation."
Darren Todd offers a detailed understanding of copyright issues and the following piracy. From the name it appears that the absurd and protracted war of the right-holders with "pirates" has its fruits, but the price of these battles is unpleasant.
Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan. The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries
Most recently the publishing house Alpina Pablisher has pleased readers with the book "Battle for the Runet". For me, this event has become more a "black swan", rather than a natural reaction to the changes in recent years in the Internet space. It's not a secret, the publication of a text that snaps the power on the nose, with the current political reality of Russian reality, is practically impossible. Therefore, until the last moment I did not believe that I could do without the English version of "The Battle" - "The Red Web" (published six months earlier in the US).
Being professionals of journalism, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan offer us a dense, eventful and personalized investigation. Yes, it is the investigation. Crime against the mystery of private life - according to the version of "The Red Web" - originates from the time of close attention of the authorities to the field of information and communication technologies. In particular, the authors begin the narration from the Soviet era, talking about the technologies and systems developed to listen to telephone conversations. Further - narrated on the solid thread of time about events and personalities that contributed to the fact that the legacy of that time - adapted to new conditions - became the basis for mass surveillance today.
Separate attention is given to the block about the Olympics in Sochi, and the accompanying technological tricks for mass surveillance: from fans to representatives of the anti-doping agency WADA. Not being a fan of sports, the theme of preparing and holding the next show did not attract my attention. And in vain! The story told by the authors, I confess, became for me a real discovery, and for the authorities - a training base for technologies of universal control.
Not a reproach to the authors, but in the "The Red Web" I did not have enough runet. I dare to assume that the text was considered a springboard for public organizations, journalists, active Internet users and other writers operating in the face of changing online space.