Welcome to our collaborative writing web, "Accessibility and Democracy on the "Information Superhighway." The web was written for English 169-02 "Authorship, Democracy, and Technology," at Duke University, in the Spring of 1995. Our project is divided into four sections, all dealing with issues of democracy and accessibility on the Internet. Our goal in writing this web was to fully exploit the resources of hypertext and the World Wide Web, and allow our four papers to be read both as individual pieces and as a larger work.
There has been much discussion in the media recently about the possible democratic empowerment that might emerge from a national on-line town meeting. Before we as a nation may look to the Internet to create a more effective and egalitarian method of exchanging information and ideas, however, we must examine how accessible the Internet is to the average American. Our web will explore, through four different topics and perspectives, how issues of economics, gender, socialization, free speech, and privacy affect Internet accessibility. Dan Johnson discusses the phenomenon of technophobia, including issues of government control and malevolent hackers. Patricia Bowers examine the obstacles to accessibility for women on-line as well as the emerging feminine voice on the Internet. Scott Guthrie discusses the issues of accessibility for the new Microsoft Network. Alok Kumar discusses the problems of America On-Line subscribers on Usenet.
In keeping with our theme, we have attempted to make this web as easy to navigate as possible. A help icon is located at the bottom of each web-page. Click it to find detailed instructions on how to use this site. If you have any suggestions on ways to improve either individual papers or the web as a whole, please click on any of the e-mail addresses at the bottom of any page. It will open a response screen which will enable you to directly mail the author of that particular page.
Blazing through the Boys' Club: A Discussion of the Challenges and Rewards to Women On-Line
Fear and Virtual Punishment: Computer Crime, Enformcement, and the Future of the Internet
America Online and Discrimination on the Internet
The Microsoft Network
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