INFO-CONTROL: Some thoughts about information and power Who controls the information you hear and see? At one time the Church had an information monopoly Later the State regulated what citizens were allowed to think Today control is passing to powerful corporate elites Citizens have become consumers Believers with prayers are now buyers with market shares And in the ongoing battles for dollars & $ense "Reality" is available in demo-versions which are easily opened – but after the expiration date . . . X=0. void c . o . m . e . s . dump=08:39:02 1999:07:23 ¿checksum=empty/ [GNPTUT3?]trash\...trash\...trash . . . hollowness Bill: In many parts of the world, governments maintain tight controls on information access. Nadya: Yep. And in other parts, religions keep a tight harness on information content. Liao: Face it – all information is filtered. All in some way or other, everything we know has political repercussions. Therefore it's best to be skeptical about all knowledge. Gus: Indeed. All of us need to become discerning "information consumers." Nadya: You are far too idealistic . . . I'm afraid that the vast majority of people have been (and will be) easy to manipulate. ===================================================================================== from _Cyberpoems: Exploring the Human-Machine Interface_ by T Newfields SUMMARY: Some reflections about information access and political power by T Newfields KEYWORDS: information access, information management, informatics, censorship Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ?) Begun: 1998 in London, England / Finished: 2014 in Tokyo, Japan Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted < LAST http://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/cyberprolog.htm TOC http://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/index.html NEXT > http://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/starbase.htm TRANSLATIONS DEUTSCH: http://www.tnewfields.info/de/irgendwann.htm ESPAÑOL: http://www.tnewfields.info/es/algun.htm FRANÇAIS: http://www.tnewfields.info/fr/un.htm NIHONGO: http://www.tnewfields.info/jp/itsuka.htm ZHŌNGWÉN: http://www.tnewfields.info/zh/zixun.htm