August 2008 Archives

Making yourself heard is one of the sticking points in Digital Citizenry.

Hyde Park Corner comes to mind, where anyone can stand up and say his piece to an attentive--or not so attentive--audience. He may be heckled; he may be applauded, but never harmed for speaking his thoughts.

A new project called My California Story (MyCAStory.org) is helping Californians that will be hurt by the current California budget crisis tell their stories online so that others can share their challenges. Inspired by everything from YouTube to an old-fashioned soap box--as in Hyde Park Corner--the website serves as a place where the voices of all Californians are heard.

The MyCAStory.org site is a first of its kind in California and is part of the new wave of citizen journalism, utilizing new technologies such as Flip Video cameras, to tell powerful and deeply personal stories of how lives are being turned upside down by California's budget mess. Easy-to-use Flip Video cameras allow disadvantaged people from across California, who might be constrained due to illness or mobility, to share their stories via the Internet.

"Everyone deserves a chance to be heard," said Anthony Wright of Health Access California, a consumer group that is participating in the website. "We were inspired by the thousands of Californians looking to weigh in and share their deeply personal stories. We are thrilled that this website, of the people, by the people, and for the people, sits squarely at the intersection of easy-to-use technology and citizen engagement in politics."

MyCAStory.org gives everyone the opportunity to upload videos, add pictures, and write their own story. Once a story is added to the site, visitors can search the site by category or city, and then share the stories with other people. MyCAStory has the goal of becoming one of the largest video blogs, built upon the idea that there are thousands of voices going unheard--those are the voices of real Californians wrestling with the impacts of current and proposed budget cuts.

All participants on MyCAStory.org (http://MyCAStory.org) stand ready to share their story anytime and any place. They know their actions, uploading a story, are just the first step in forestalling the budget cuts that will cause them deep personal harm.
Monica Barraza an Independent Living Advocate from Access to Independence of San Diego notes, "We know our patients have a hard time raising their voice, so we wanted to help them. We recorded 10 videos and uploaded them."

Currently, the website features nearly 50 stories from the following communities: Anaheim, Auberry, Chula Vista, Costa Mesa, Fresno, Garden Grove, Irvine, Los Angeles, La Mirada, Madera, Modesto, Orange, Rocklin, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, and Westminster.

(Source: My California Story)

 

I believe I heard a small cheer rise among the preyed upon when, on August 13, 2008, Michael Dolan, 24, formerly of West Haven, Connecticut and North Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced by United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release for his participation in an elaborate internet "phishing" scheme that targeted and victimized America Online subscribers.

On August 22, 2007, Dolan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with access devices, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, from approximately 2002 through 2006, Dolan conspired with others to obtain names, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security account numbers, and other private personal and financial information through an internet "spamming" and "phishing" scheme that targeted AOL subscribers. "Phishing" is the act of sending fraudulent email in an attempt to scam individuals into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

The scheme involved the use of software to collect AOL account names from chat rooms and to "spam" those accounts with counterfeit emails, including emails purporting to convey electronic greeting cards from Hallmark.com. Through this scheme, an AOL subscriber who attempted to open one of the purported greeting cards would unwittingly download a software trojan that would prevent the subscriber from accessing AOL without first entering information including the subscriber's name, credit card number, bank account number, and Social Security account number.

The subscriber's information would then be used by DOLAN and others to order products online and to produce counterfeit debit cards, which were used at ATM machines and retail outlets such as gas stations.

Dolan, a veteran of Cyber Crime, was sentenced to two years of probation in May of 2004, after pleading guilty in Eastern District of New York to one misdemeanor count of accessing a protected computer without authorization. In April 2006, a judge revoked Dolan probation and sentenced Dolan to nine months of imprisonment after ruling that Dolan had violated the conditions of his probation by failing to report to his probation officer and by making numerous trips out of Connecticut without permission, including at least one trip overseas.

In addition, while incarcerated after being charged for his participation in this phishing scheme, Dolan induced his girlfriend to perjure herself before a federal grand jury, attempted to bribe a co-defendant to exonerate him falsely, and threatened to kill someone he believed to be a Government informant.

"This defendant has shown no respect for the law or the several hundred victims of his phishing schemes, and a long term of incarceration is appropriate," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy. "Identity theft schemes wreak havoc on the lives of victims, and federal law enforcement, with the cooperation of our state and local partners and internet service providers, are committed to investigating and prosecuting these crimes to the full extent of the law."

If there is one persistent roadblock to our Digital Citizen gaining full trust in the communication lines provided by online access, it is the Cyber Criminal, and it is heartening to read that many, like Mr. Dolan, are being apprehended, tried, and sentenced for their crimes.

 

Entering public service should be an altruistic act. After all, when you do you contract and obligate to serve the public. That is why politicians are also, and rightly so, referred to as public servants.

Citizen cynicism enters the picture when public servants are proven or suspected to serve none but themselves--or their contributors--in varying degrees.

An argument can be made for placing altruism and cynicism at the opposite end of a wide spectrum, and that the path from cynicism to altruism is long and hard to navigate.

Ideally--and I'm not talking la-la-land here--a Government should be altruistic--should exist purely to serve its citizens--though it rarely does only that.

And as ideally, citizens should not be cynical; they should trust their government to have his or her best at heart, and they should take an active part in either helping them carry out this obligation or seeing to it that they do.

The point is, that without mutual trust, without altruism on the part of the governor, and without trust and engagement on the part of the governed, government and society to the degree these elements go missing become a parody, a fraud, really, a sham.

The good news is that the digital portals now forged to and from government do invite more active citizen participation, and are again making possible the true government our forefathers envisioned, lived, and died for.

 

"A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." -- James Madison

Much has been said, written, ranted about voter apathy in both the United States and in Europe. The plan, hope, and dream of the proponents of a digitally empowered citizenry is that knowledge, access, and a digital voice in the proceedings of governance will wake the sleeping giant and get him once again actively involved in the vital issues of our City, our County, our State, our Country.

The purpose of this blog is to keep an eye and ear on the Digital Citizen and report on his and her health.

Digital Citizen Engagement, or how Government-IT empowers and encourages citizen participation and input, is a much needed, if not crucial work in progress. It is also a field very close to my heart and one I keep a constant finger on.

Stay tuned.