I AM crusading again.
Well, it seems that more unveiling of the seedy under-belly of cyberspace has once again brought to the forefront the type of misuse of on-line communication technology I am concerned about - those very activities that promise to make cyberspace into a frightening, unsafe image of the society around us.
The latest has to do with that rather inauspicious event of a few weeks back when, apparently, a bunch of gun-toting, but fiercely loyal (at least to their vision of America) people took it upon themselves to bomb the US Federal Government building in Oklahoma City.
What has emerged in media coverage related to the incident is how cyberspace - be it in the form of the Internet or America Online - has played a role in the event. Some coverage portrays its role in after-the-fact communication: individuals sharing information related to the incident and consoling each other via on-line chats and bulletin boards.
More frightening, however, and representative of the dangers of an unmanaged global information medium, is the way it has come to light that far-right, often racist, anti-government groups in the US have used the medium to communicate openly about bringing down the government as well as sharing tips on making bombs - if not out of common household goods, then out of common farm materials.
These groups have taken it on themselves to distribute newsletters, to conduct E-mail plotting and even to openly make available instructions on bomb-making.
