The Project, now in Congress, establishes the principles, rights and duties of web users.
National Congress will soon appreciate the bill on the Internet, also called Marco Civil Internet, which provides the principles, rights and duties in using the World Wide Web.
The scope of the project includes users, companies and the government as well.
For two years, between 2009 and 2011, and before it was formally established as a project of law by the Ministry of Justice, the issue was discussed by civil society organizations. In the process, it received more than 2000 contributions and 100 thousand accesses by Internet.
This project reinforces the constitutional principles as free speech, privacy and secrecy of communications, human rights, and the broad right of access to the internet for everyone.
It also establishes that the person, and the person only, will be held responsible for the content posted anywhere on the net is becoming liable for any damage caused, and exempting the provider or intermediary (websites, blogs, portals and social networks) from that liability. The service provider will only respond if it breaks a prior judicial decision determining the removal of content.
Another important point concerns the storage of data, and determines that the provider must store for a year the records of users' connection (IP of the computer - and time and date of access). Such data can only be obtained by court order, and this one year term of custody of records could be extended upon demand, be it by the police authority supporting the judiciary.
Net neutrality is another fundamental point, which requires ISPs to give undifferentiated treatment to all packets of data traffic on their networks. They may not favor certain Web sites over others, while providing them, for example, a faster access (faster band).
The state also confirms its role, reducing inequalities in Internet access and encouraging the use of the network as a tool for transparency and democracy. The project, however, does not cover issues such as copyright, cybercrime, and e-commerce.
To become law, the project must be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Hopefully it will be through and ready for the President´s approval by the end of the year.
Take one -July 1988, First year of college: back then I knew beans of informatics, and so did great part of the class I had began studying with.
Every time we came across difficulties to find out more about a subject, say, "databases", we had no other way but to run to the library. There it was possible to find some books, papers, magazines. And stay there for hours selecting what we wanted! Then it was just a matter of getting on the line to make xerox copies and go back home with some material.
Now and then the librarian could try to find something extra for us elsewhere, and that could take a few days, maybe a week. If that was the case, back to the library, and repeat the process described above. And that for as many times as the librarian could have his hands on the material we suggested as the research went deeper....
At the end we could have a good list of articles, from, say, 100 to 150 initial sources.
Take two - August 2009, writing this article: I have Google! And I may use to do the same research done during my scholar experience some twenty years ago. Out in the garden, wireless, without taking a step out the security of my home, I get the astonishing amount of 97.200.000 references to the same keyword "databases", 96.300.000 if we stick to English only. Add to that all the magics of selections which allow me to see the most recent articles, images, time line for the keyword, related subjects, and so on....but we will stay simple, and work with the raw figures. Now, let us make believe I have developed a super intelligent software capable of analyzing the content of each document of my research result in just ONE SECOND. Not bad!
Take three, august 2012: My super intelligent content analyzing software finishes its task. It did a perfect job telling me what was accurate and relevant to my research. And most of all, it indicated me the reliable data to be used.
I do not know about you, but three years is a long time!
Conclusion: I have two possible solutions: Whether I develop an even better software, or control what in Information Technology is called overhead, which is, basically, the cost-benefit and the generated lack of capacity when we deal with excesses.
As I am no genius in software development, I skip the first option. But I am indeed a consultant on Intelligence Economique, who is, say, prepared to deal with this data avalanche. So let us take a look at the scenario as it is presented today.
1 - It is wise to think that great amounts of information WILL NOT bring you good learning. Even when we have reliable information (which is not always the case on the web) the misunderstandings and distortions due to non contextualizing and lack of integration - of this good information - may take you off the track.
2 - Needless to discuss that the web has made knowledge available to everyone. More recently, it has become a two-way experience. You access the information (web 1.0); and you react to it, or you publish what you want (web 2.0). Everyone can be a reader an author at the same time, on any given subject! The PhD in Rocket Propulsion will share his favorite tacos secrets, as he may give you a hint on a home-made rocket too. The clerk at the gas station will have his word to say on soccer, and give his opinion to the national coach for next year's world cup. And these two fellows may share their ideas to fight the swine flu....
It is super cool! I agree.
However, an evil side awaits the unprepared seeker for information - the good one. This two-way knowledge democratization has its drawbacks. The author of an article, or the one commenting an article should be responsible for what they write. But it is not always the case. Reasons are many: the lack of ethics, pride or complete lack of responsibility.
3 - Information comes from all over the place. The rocket scientist mentioned above may write brilliant articles which will fulfill us with the latest knowledge on the technology to propel us into space. But, a 15-old-weekend-warrior-rocket amateur MAY ALSO write about the same subject, giving imprecise, dangerous.....and irresponsible information.
4 - Knowing to distinguish one form the other is crucial. Trust is the key word here. The principles of meritocracy have to be applied. The rocket scientist has had years of study, privations, and efforts to be where he is at, and write about what HE KNOWS.
On the web, his opinion may be confused with those of the teenager, who THINKS HE KNOWS, who is a self-claimed specialist.
5 - To get get the good information today is more difficult than it was in the past.
Small example: Get a good blog on politics. Some have over 200 daily comments on a hot subject. Great participation of the readers in numbers. But quality wise, we see all kinds of grammatical faults and opinions with no statistical value whatsoever, to say the least. Sure there are good comments, but at what price to find them? As the make-believe software of the beginning of the text, it may take you long to find them, making a Pirro's wining battle.
6 - As time is money, we need the good information fast. But the ocean is way to big to catch the good fish all the time. The image of a needle lost in a haystack is long gone for the web, where its contents doubles every few 5.3 years, according to Chinese researches. So, we can imagine that the time and cost to find the relevant information increases all along.
What to do to face this issue?
1 -The Quality web site stamps are a good start. It may add some criteria to the web. By sorting out the good guys form the bad ones, we will see who is who in the pack.
2 - The raising of web users' responsibility. It is crucial to have the participation of all on this process of developing a new awareness, or cyber maturity as some prefer.
3 - Application of Intelligence methods that work with the cycle of information are absolutely necessary: sourcing, research, fetching, validation, cross referencing, analysis and diffusion - these are stepping stones to help us all. And trust me, it is a heck out of work. This has become so important that forced a new breed of professionals to be born: intelligence consultants, true information architects, dedicated to the seeking of data. Let us make cleat that this new area of professionals has nothing to do with that of the spies. These consultants are but ones with great capacity of providing the good information.
4- See what web 3.0 may brings us in terms of innovation. It is for sure able to provide us some good results on understanding and satisfying the requests of people using the web.
So, let us not be caught by the singing of one of Ulysses' sirens. For the time being, stay critical and vigilant all the time, and try to find some training on how to better explore web resources.
Umberto Eco once said that a society with excess of information may not be different from one lacking it.
