In February 4-6, 2011 USA Weekend "Is There a Bully in Your Life?", Madonna Behen defined bullying:
Aggressive behavior that is intentional, repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power or strength. Bullying can take many forms, such as hitting or punching, teasing or name-calling, intimidation through gestures, social exclusion and sending or posting insulting messages or pictures by cellphone or online (also known as cyberbullying).
Behen quotes Gary Namie, director of the Workplace Bullying Institute in Bellingham, Washington, co-author of 'The Bully at Work':
'Our society is more aggressive, more warlike, more combative, while traits like empathy and compassion are downplayed".
Obvious aggressive bullying is that, obvious. It often can be corrected directly at school or at work. Passive-aggressive bullying is a more insidious, extemely damaging form of bullying.
Social exclusion also occurs in cyberspace. Computer and Internet hackers deny blog writers and editors access to their own drafts and already published blogs by hacking onto email addresses and passwords.
Recently Blogger, an international 'non-profit' Internet discussion forum was hacked by an aggressive Australian 'for-profit' web design developer company. By naming their company 'Google I/O: Preview of Web Design API', Brett Morgan and Pat Coleman, present their takeover of Blogger cyberspace as a legitimate 'done deal'.
Morgan/Coleman have blocked access and disrupted service by altering Blogger 'open source' software to 'read-only', driving business to their web design company, as their describe in their discussion on www.youtube.com/watch?v=BazoWR1kYbM. (Or check Google Search at 'Blogger at 'Google I/O:New API preview-Blogger Developer Group/Groups'.)
Numerous bloggers have described their blog interruption/disruption on many Blogger Question/Answer Forums, seeking the usual Customer Service help from the 'Old Blogger'. What is diabolical about the Morgan/Coleman takeover is they also have disrupted gmail/password and URL access to Google, other Blogger bloggers, and anyone who tries to communicate with them through the Google/Gmail/Blogger path.
Over the past 3 months, there are occasional messages from Brett that routine maintenance is blocking Blogger service. However, there are no reports of resolved problems, return of blogs or writing/editing access to blogs by bloggers.
Much of the basic World Wide Web development has been publicly funded in the US under Department of Defense money and in the UK through public library and other funding. Public funding and the arguments over who owned what in cyberspace has created 'free cyberspace' on the Internet for worldwide communication of thoughts, ideas, stories, for new Internet writers, editors, graphic artists, photographers, musicians, as well as computer engineers and technicians, and people learning about computer and the Internet.
Blogger has been one of these spaces. Blogger also is the name of the now 'open source', free software written by the software engineer who originated the forum.
On April 1, 2011, in an industry with a history of April Fools Day jokes and announcements, Blogger left a message on The Blogger Blog that Blogger 'sold' its 'no money exchanged' forum to Google, who has been providing gmail/password registration and access to Blogger cyberspace.
Blogger has been very valuable to bloggers. Blogger potentially has an enormous international readership. Analagous to well-known internationally read and recognized newspapers like 'The New York Times', 'The LA Times', 'The London Times', 'Paris Match' and others, anyone with Internet access could find blogs on Blogger.
Blogger also embodied the idealism of the early Internet, making the exchange of ideas between world cybercitizens possible. Blogger rules were based on an honor system: the blogger is responsible for his/her own content, don't hack onto or alter the software or disrupt or block other bloggers, blogs or websites.
This seemed consistent with the early Google USA philosophy 'Don't be evil' and the theory of net neutrality, that everyone should have equal access to communication in cyberspace.
Anyone who reads the Business Page of major newspapers is familiar with the term 'hostile takeover', a minority stockholder tries to leverage a buyout/takeover or a company. Hostile takeovers are a part of business in the US, internationally, globally, and now in cyberspace.
This takeover is not done by stock or financial maneuvers, but by disrupting service to current customers by software hacking. It is an incredibly aggressive technological maneuver to capture free cyberspace.
Undoubtedly many other issues will be raised. How can publicly funded 'non-profit' free cyberspace be captured by a 'for-profit' web design company, thereby closing access and availability to all other Internet users? Why would Google seek to become involved or not get involved in protecting the software and cyberspace for an enormous number of loyal bloggers? How did Google allow hackers using a Google address to interrupt Google and Google/Gmail addresses/passwords, software access to these, and to registered Gmail customer cyberproperties?
It is ironic that it is business profiteers rather than governments seeking to censor cybercitizens, deny access, block and disrupt access to the open forum for ideas and discussion 'Old Blogger' represents.
Around May 5, 2011, Yahoo News reported Google claimed Chinese hackers disrupted email addresses/passwords and government computer user access. Perhaps further investigation will yield other governmental or corporate hackers. One blogger reports efforts to contact a major US business newspaper to inform them by email were thwarted by 'delivery delayed' and deleted emails.
Whatever the outcome, many bloggers may be forced to move to other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the Blogosphere. 'Old Blogger', the 'nice guy' who provided mostly reliable blog service is, and will continue to be, missed.
On June 14, 2011, ABC News reported the US government has a Portable Internet Access system available which it may supply to 'rebels' in countries who face communication disruption from dictatorial foreign governments. US bloggers also may need such equipment and backup blog ISPs to continue on through the disruptions, whether by censorship, corporate intrigue or sabotage.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Contact mkrause383@gmail.com
or mkrause54@yahoo.com to request a copy or comment on this or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://Howtoregainaccesstoblogs?(monthlynotes23).blogspot.com/ and http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com.
