Equal Time FCC Broadcasting Rules and Regulations

The Museum of Broadcast History calls the equal time rule the closest thing in broadcast content regulation to the golden rule. This provision of the 1934 Communications Act (section 315) requires radio and television stations and cable systems which originate their own programming to treat legally qualified political candidates equally when it comes to selling or giving away air time. If any licensee shall permit any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any political office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station. Legally qualified means, in part, that a person be a declared candidate. Timing of the announcement that someone is running for office is important because it triggers the equal time rule. For example, in December 1967, President Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) conducted an hour-long interview with all three networks. However, when Democrat Eugene McCarthy demanded equal time, the networks rejected his appeal because Johnson had not declared he would run for reelection. Four Exemptions In 1959, Congress amended the Communications Act after the FCC ruled that Chicago broadcasters had to give equal time to mayoral candidate Lar Daly; the incumbent mayor was then Richard Daley. In response, Congress created four exemptions to the equal time rule: regularly scheduled newscastsnews interviews showsdocumentaries (unless the documentary is about a candidate)on-the-spot news events How has the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) interpreted these exemptions? First, Presidential news conferences are considered on-the-spot news even when the President is touting his reelection. Presidential debates are also considered on-the-spot news. Thus, candidates not included in the debates do not have the right of equal time. The precedent was set in 1960 when Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy launched the first series of television debates; Congress suspended Section 315 so that third party candidates could be barred from participating. In 1984, the DC District Court ruled that radio and television stations may sponsor political debates without giving equal time to candidates they dont invite. The case was brought by the League of Women Voters, which criticized the decision: It expands the all-too-powerful role of the broadcasters in elections, which is both dangerous and unwise. Second, whats a news interview program or a regularly scheduled newscast? According to a 2000 election guide, the FCC has expanded its category of broadcast programs exempted from political access requirements to include entertainment shows that provide news or current event coverage as regularly scheduled segments of the program. And the FCC concurs, providing examples that include The Phil Donahue Show, Good Morning America and, believe it or not, Howard Stern, Jerry Springer, and Politically Incorrect. Third, broadcasters faced a quirk in when Ronald Reagan was running for president. Had they shown movies starring Reagan, they would have been required to offer equal time to Mr. Reagans opponents. This admonition was repeated when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor of California. Had Fred Thompson achieved the Republican Presidential nomination, re-runs of Law Order would have been on hiatus. [Note: The news interview exemption above meant that Stern could interview Schwarzenegger and not have to interview any of the other 134 candidates for governor.] Political Ads A television or radio station cannot censor a campaign ad. But the broadcaster is not required to give free air time to a candidate unless it has given free air time to a different candidate. Since 1971, television and radio stations have been required to make a reasonable amount of time available to candidates for federal office. And they must offer those ads at the rate offered the most favored advertiser. This rule is the result of a challenge from then-President Jimmy Carter (D-GA in 1980. His campaign request to buy ads was rejected by the networks for being too early. Both the FCC and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Carter. This rule is now known as the reasonable access rule. Fairness Doctrine The Equal Time rule should not be confused with the Fairness Doctrine.

Emily Dickinson s Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Outlook on Death in Dickinson’s â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† Death is considered by many to be the heartbreaking end of life; the moment when one is bound to hopelessness, to accept loss, and to accept the inevitable. As discouraging as this outlook on death may appear, it is captivating why Emily Dickinson preferred to make death one among the major themes of her poems. Because numerous poets of the 19th century wrote about death, Dickinson was not exceptional in picking this idea. However, she was exceptional when it was about how she wrote about death. Dickinson concentrated on Eternity and the â€Å"hereafter† part of death; she was positive and considered death as pleasant rather than as a dreadful end. Her pleasant outlook†¦show more content†¦Emily Dickinson in â€Å"Because I could Not Stop for Death† requires the phases of existence to consist of death and infinity. She refers to the unified features of the determinate and never-ending. From the perspective of infinity, Dickinson remembers happenings that took place periods ago, but so as to associate the infinite world to earthly standards, Emily Dickinson expresses that infinity elapse indeterminate time: â€Å"Since then—tis’ Centuries—and yet / Feels shorter than the Day† (21-22). Furthermore, she portrays death as a compassionate and courteous gentleman, and therefore does away with the terror from death. The integration of the physical universe with the superior one is noted in these lines: â€Å"The Dews drew quivering and chill- / for only Gossamer, my Gown- / My Tippet – only Tulle-† (14-16). Here, the poet’s earthly life, which lets her shudder as she relaxed by the ‘dews’, rages with the heavenly world, as the poet is clothed in a ‘gown’ and a cape (‘Tippet’) fabricated from ‘gossamer’, a spider web, and ‘Tulle’, some type of threadlike, open mesh temporal wrappers that indicate apparent, divine qualities. By remembering the various phases of existence on earth, the poet is in a position to reconcile her times on earth and perceive all these aspects from a superior consciousness, in both literal and figurative terms. Literal in that the wagon is going up to heaven; at that, the actual sight of the earth is unique, as noted in

Different Between Vietnam and Us Free Essays

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE U. S I am an immigrant person who came to the U. S under family sponsorship. We will write a custom essay sample on Different Between Vietnam and Us or any similar topic only for you Order Now Living here for 4 years, I have learned a lot of interesting things in this country. There are so many differences between Vietnam and the U. S as relationship, weather, religion, fashion, language†¦. but the most three obvious differences between them are country size, education system and culture. Country size is a great difference between these countries. Vietnam is very small country that has S shape . It is bother to the North by China and to the East by Lao and Cambodia. The total land of Vietnam is only 127,276 square miles . it is lightly larger than New Mexico stare of America. On another hand, the United States is the third largest country in the world, which has 3,536,274 square miles. It is located in North America between Canada and Mexico. Another difference is education system between these countries. Vietnamese students face with more difficult than U. S students. They have to wear uniform going to school. They should obey and show respect to their teachers. Tuition in Vietnam is very high. Parents have to pay for their children. Government doesn’t help for poor people attending school. In the contract, the U. S education system is more comfortable. Students can wear whatever they want to school. In class ,they can say what they think in their mind, discuss equally with their teacher. Government pays all tuition for students form fist grate to the twelve grade . After graduating form college , they have more opportunities to get a job . Today more people around the world come to the U. S to have better education The last obvious difference between Vietnam and The U. S is culture. Vietnam’s culture is suffered form China. There are two to there generations living together in the same house. Man is leader in the family, which has more power. They go out working and doing business while woman in Vietnam stay home, take care family. Children must listen to their parents. Unmarried people living together is unacceptable . However, American culture is pposite and it was strange to me when I came here . Man and woman are equally. American families are smaller. Adult people like to move out living with their friends when they finish high school . Children can decide what they want to do . They are independent from their parents . Man and woman can live together without getting married In conclusion, Vietnam and the U. S have a lot of differences. I cannot tell which one is better because each country has advances and disadvances. It depend on each person’s life so they can choose where is the best for them . How to cite Different Between Vietnam and Us, Essay examples

A piece of my heart (book) Essay Example For Students

A piece of my heart (book) Essay The other Vietnam VetsEverybody knows about the men who served in Vietnam. They have at least heard of the mentally trying conditions during the war and the resulting post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) so many veterans suffered from, or heard of the issues concerning negative public opinion of veterans for their role in a hated war. However, few are aware of the female role in the Vietnam War; women, the other veterans, shared in all of these problems and issues along with the gun-toting men. They were the nurses, and in A Piece of My Heart by Keith Walker the stories of many women are presented to better understand just how the Vietnam War affected women. Working in places like evacuation hospitals exposed women to the endless flow of casualties from the battlefield, and these experiences took major mental tolls upon the minds of the women who had to assist them, especially in their considerations for the value of human life. Women experienced other problems upon returning home s uch as the same PTSD and outlashes by anti-war protesters. Women were veterans of Vietnam just like the men, and they experienced many of the same problems as a result of their role there. Women were exposed to an enormous amount of pain while in Vietnam. As veteran Rose Sandecki said, The Vietnam War really did a number on all of us, the women as well as the men (20). Nurses in Vietnam were exposed to a nonstop flow of casualties from the field. The landing of a Chinook with mass casualties on board had become a standard to Christine Schneider, a nurse in Da Nang. Practically every nurse’s story described the hospital scenes in Vietnam as busy. Jill Mishkel explained that she experienced a minimum of at least one death per day. As Ms. Schneider described, There was just too much death (46). Ms. Schneider also mentioned, Everybody was bad (45); nurses only saw the bad because they were surrounded by it, day in and day out. Charlotte Miller described everything as on a very negative basis (324), and that she had to deal with these problems from twelve to fifteen hours per day, twelve to fifteen days in a row, a very rigorous schedule. Further emotional damage was incurred by the severity of the injuries that the nurses had to deal with. Nurses described situations such as little boys with their intestines hanging out, men with half their faces blown off, men missing their legs from a grenade explosion, paraplegics, quadriplegics, and in one case pulling someone’s shoe off and having the foot come with it. In addition, the soldiers they were treating were only eighteen or nineteen. As Ms. Mishkel said, They were young, healthy, good-looking men that could’ve been my brothers or my boyfriends or my husband, and they were dying (124). Women in the Vietnam War had a lot of trying emotional stress that they had to deal with. All of these emotional traumas that women had to experience day after day had a notable impact upon the women’s moral concept of the value of human life. Ms. Miller mad a very interesting statement, saying, I am a professional committed to the concept that before anyone can administer to the health needs of an individual, one must recognize the dignity of human life (322). One could believe that upon first being sent to Vietnam, nurses, being Americans, had a profound respect for the value of human life. Nurses such as Sara McVicker had a hard time accepting that we couldn’t keep everybody alive and bring everybody back (144). In the early days of her service, Ms. Mishkel said that she cried often, and that she thought the other nurses were totally insensitive (124). However, after day after day of experiences like Ms. McVicker’s, where there just simply weren’t the resources necessary to tend to everybody, where cases with low chances of survival had to b e dropped to make room for others; Ms. Mishkel soon became as apathetic as everybody else. Many nurses, such as Ms. Sandecki, put up an emotional wall around them; forcing themselves to care less. As Pat Johnson said, I don’t think I’ve ever taken life as lightly as I did then (64). The emotional stress was so great in Vietnam that often nurses lost their concept of the value of human life, a result of having to numb their emotions to cope with the pains they were subjected to. .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .postImageUrl , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:hover , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:visited , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:active { border:0!important; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:active , .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38 .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc49547a3a5404125c58575af923f3e38:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Love In Midsummer Nights Dream EssayWomen’s problems were not over upon returning to the states; women veterans continued to experience a variety of problems of treatment, in relationships, in the workplace, and emotionally. Problems began for women as soon as they left the compound they worked on. A number of nurses felt a degree of guilt in leaving the busy hospitals. As Ms. McVicker said, I felt bad about it; it was almost like I was deserting them (145). Upon arrival other nurses experienced antagonism from the American people; one nurse was denied passage on her plane home because her clothes were bloody, while another was greeted by anti-war protesters throwin g tomatoes. In addition, many women suffered from PTSD just as men did. For instance many like Ms. Johnson had trouble talking about the war because it was just too painful (65). Others, like Ms. Mishkel and Sandra Collingwood, experienced social problems and couldn’t get involved in any relationships upon returning. Ms. Sandecki had problems maintaining a job because of a continued apathetic tendency upon returning from Vietnam; Nothing meant anything when I came back from Vietnam (18). On the other hand, many women do claim to have grown mentally in Vietnam, like Georgeanne Andreason who learned not to take things for granted as a result of Vietnam. Never-the-less, the emotional consequences were still harsh for most leaving scars that would last for many years after the war. Women had much to say about the Vietnam War, on how it was being fought and mistakes that were made by the United States. For the most part, the women in A Piece of My Heart did not attack the US for being involved in Vietnam, through some like airline attendant Micki Voisard did have some general doubts about the necessity of the killing that went on there. Most of the women who did attack the US complained of how the US was operating in South-East Asia, not the fact that they were there. For example, a really important point made by Ms. Schneider which is shared by many people was that she was tired of hearing soldiers say time and time again that they could win, but they were told to go only so far (50). She was saying that the US wasn’t winning in Vietnam because its own government wasn’t letting it. After losing the war, many felt just like Ms. McVicker in that they felt that they had fought for nothing. These people were very upset with the government for just pul ling out, and with the South Vietnamese who had simply given up all the land America had fought so dearly for without a fight. However, probably the most intriguing observations of all were made by Sandra Collingwood, a civilian volunteer who wanted to work with the Vietnamese from their own point of view. She, unlike most, identified with the Vietnamese rather than the Americans through her knowledge of the Vietnamese language and farming culture. Because of this camaraderie with the locals, she got to see the American mistakes through the eyes of an Asian. For example, she heavily criticized the actions of the military. She called attention to the embarrassing calls GIs made at local women which alienated them; the fun games of GIs to grenade water buffalo, which ere the most important tools used by farmers which their entire lives revolved around; the the rocketing of apartment complexes to get a sniper or two, in the process losing the support of hundreds of Vietnamese who lived in those complexes. She also admonished the Strategic Hamlet Program, saying that removing locals from their sacred, ancestral ground was a terrible sin to commit in the culture of the Vietnamese. She herself exclaimed, I started developing antagonism toward the American military (217); I went through an irrational hatred of khaki (military) green†¦of anything military (224). If the actions of the American military could evoke the hatred of a fellow American, imagine the effects upon the Vietnamese! The insight of these women, especially of Ms. Collingwood, are quite fascinating. .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .postImageUrl , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:hover , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:visited , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:active { border:0!important; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:active , .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895 .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u92fc12dfdc26f092e997013aff71f895:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: How Drugs Affect The Economy EssayIt is really interesting to consider that the effects upon, and insight of the women as a result of the Vietnam War might be greater than those of the men. Though the men did the dying, the situations women were placed in were truly more emotionally taxing than the majority of males. Nurses only saw the bad, only the bodies of dozens of wounded and dying soldiers per day. They were surrounded by death without exception each and every day. There can be little doubt that the minds of nurses, especially in the concept of the value of human life, were dulled even more than the minds of the soldiers toting guns. In addition, women also had to s uffer through he same rough reception as men upon their return to the United States. Women also had many unique ideas spawning from unique experiences of women like MS. Collingwood which can be analyzed and learned from. Women definitely played a very important role in Vietnam, and it’s really amazing how these other veterans could so easily be overlooked by the American people.

Student survival guide

Free Essays on My Personal Goals

My Personal Goals As a University of Phoenix Student â€Å"I know I can. Be what I want to be. If I work hard at it, I’ll be where I want to be.† That is the chorus line to a rap song by popular hip-hop artist, Nas. The song’s purpose is to inspire young people and adults alike to the possibility that anything desired can be obtained in life with the help of confidence and hard work. Daily, I listen to this song and remind myself that I must strive to believe in myself and work as hard as I can to do my best in every aspect of my life. There are many important pieces that fit together to complete my life as a whole. One of the most important parts is my seven-year-old daughter, Jessica. It is my desire to be able to supply all of her needs. The way in which, I feel, I can make this happen is to acquire a well paying job. The road to a well paying job is through education. Because I want to be able to provide a good life for Jessica, I decided to become a University of Phoenix student and obtain my Bachelor’s degree. As a single mother, I am faced with the problem of not having enough time to attend classes, complete assignments and study in addition to catering to Jessica’s never-ending needs. I do not have the time I need to successfully complete the Criminal Justice Administration Program requirements in addition to properly taking care of Jessica. To go to college and take care of Jessica simultaneously, I would need an abundance of one thing- time. Many of the obstacles I face in college have to do with a lack of time. Time is the most important ingredient when it comes to achieving a positive balance of my â€Å"school time† and my â€Å"family time.† First, I would need a class schedule that did not meet too many days per week. University of Phoenix gives me the opportunity to attend classes only one time per week, at the same time giving me full-time student status. My college schedule allows me to utilize the re... Free Essays on My Personal Goals Free Essays on My Personal Goals My Personal Goals As a University of Phoenix Student â€Å"I know I can. Be what I want to be. If I work hard at it, I’ll be where I want to be.† That is the chorus line to a rap song by popular hip-hop artist, Nas. The song’s purpose is to inspire young people and adults alike to the possibility that anything desired can be obtained in life with the help of confidence and hard work. Daily, I listen to this song and remind myself that I must strive to believe in myself and work as hard as I can to do my best in every aspect of my life. There are many important pieces that fit together to complete my life as a whole. One of the most important parts is my seven-year-old daughter, Jessica. It is my desire to be able to supply all of her needs. The way in which, I feel, I can make this happen is to acquire a well paying job. The road to a well paying job is through education. Because I want to be able to provide a good life for Jessica, I decided to become a University of Phoenix student and obtain my Bachelor’s degree. As a single mother, I am faced with the problem of not having enough time to attend classes, complete assignments and study in addition to catering to Jessica’s never-ending needs. I do not have the time I need to successfully complete the Criminal Justice Administration Program requirements in addition to properly taking care of Jessica. To go to college and take care of Jessica simultaneously, I would need an abundance of one thing- time. Many of the obstacles I face in college have to do with a lack of time. Time is the most important ingredient when it comes to achieving a positive balance of my â€Å"school time† and my â€Å"family time.† First, I would need a class schedule that did not meet too many days per week. University of Phoenix gives me the opportunity to attend classes only one time per week, at the same time giving me full-time student status. My college schedule allows me to utilize the re...

Hitler's Table Talk Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hitler's Table Talk - Term Paper Example In the book, Hitler’s table talk, we find his thoughts brought out in his private conversations. Hitler was a man of many worlds as depicted by his varying thoughts. He talks about different aspects of life and brings out his personal opinion about such. Hitler addressed the mistakes of the monarchy system in Germany. He expressed his appreciation for social democracy, which abolished monarchies. He believed that the monarch system brought a great loss to the political, economical, and cultural setting of Germany. He argues that the Germans of that time should have condemned the injustice of the monarch system. In my opinion, he was not justified to criticize that system because he brought an economical collapse. He is also in history for the worst political system. One of the issues Hitler addresses is Christianity. Hitler has his own views about Christianity but this is justified as everyone has a right to hold opinion. When Hitler talks about Russia and the priest, he bring s about an issue of the hope Christianity brings to people. He believes that the priest only manages to convince Russia to reconciliation by promising him happiness in a foreign world. On another instance, Hitler claims that in every human being, there is a feeling of the existence of a supernatural being but the priests in society only exploit this feeling in people. They give these people threats that they will face punishment in the future. Hitler then elaborates that every individual needs a place to run to when there is danger implying that man should run to God for consolation. Hitler however does not take this as a reality in his world. Later in his thoughts, he also mentions that the church is irreplaceable. He claims that replacing the church would be terrifying but wisely notes that time would tell and honesty was fundamental. He however later points out that Christianity was the biggest blow that hit human race and believes that Christianity started the lie in religion. H e thought that Christianity established intolerance because of their belief in love. In my opinion, Hitler was not against Christianity but rather what Christians of that time thought and how they practiced their faith. He makes this clear to us in his October 14, conversation. He stated that Christians who preach love were the last people who practiced it. He acknowledges that each individual has a conviction from inside that there was a supernatural being and that included him. He was opposed to what the priests made of Christianity. Hitler does not agree to the fact Russia must consult the priest before making any major decision. He believes that this has caused Russia to lose its ability to think. During midday on October 14, he stated that the end of Christianity would not mean that the belief in God would fade. He describes the belief in God as a wonderful feeling. In another private conversation, he argues that Christianity encourages people to be poor, as the poor will go to heaven. The Church therefore takes advantage of this teaching to encourage people to give offerings. The leaders benefit from this teaching. He also indicated that Protestants and Catholics should not attack each other as they were doing. Therefore, Christians of Hitler’s time did not practice what they preached and this explains his opposition towards them. Hitler also addresses the issue of society making sure that equal opportunities are accessible to each

Company law, study case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Company law, study case - Essay Example 1 Thus, in Rolled Steel Products (Holdings) Ltd v British Steel Corporation the disputed transaction was not held to be void. The court came to this decision as the transaction was not wholly beyond the capacity of the company.2 The directors of a private company with just one class of shares are permitted to allot the same class of shares. In addition, they can convert securities into such shares. 3 Moreover, such directors can grant rights to subscribe to such shares. However, these share allotment activities are subject to the prohibitions of the Companies Act 2006. 4 In all other instances, share allotment is permitted to the directors of the company, only if there is specific authorisation to do so by the Articles of Association of the company or there is a company resolution to that effect. Such authorisation has to specify the maximum number of shares that can be allotted under the authorisation. 5 As such, directors are instrumental in decision making and other critical funct ions of the company. The law relating to conflict of interests is intricate, and the director of a company should seek legal advice in this regard. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the company’s constitution provides the required authority to a director in a specific situation. 6 However, Section 175 of the Companies Act 2006 does not cover all the functions of the directors. For instance, it does not deal with instances, where a director intends to have transactions with his company. This should be permitted by the constitution of the company. Moreover, under the provisions of section 177, the director has to make proper disclose to the board of the company. 7 There should be proper flow of information to the directors of a company. This is indispensable for the proper and efficient functioning of the company. As such, it is obligator for the company board to ensure that the directors have a proper flow of information. This is essential, as there is a statutory ob ligation on directors to take into consideration particular matters at the time of taking decisions. 8 Companies formed prior to the enactment of the Companies Act 2006, can acquire the same status regarding the issue of shares, by resolving to excise the clause relating to authorised share capital from their articles of association. In addition, these companies should resolve to bestow upon their directors the powers granted under section 550 of the Companies Act 2006.9 Companies formed under the Companies Act 2006 are not limited with regard to the number of shares that they can issue. 10 Section 550 of this Act provides that in the absence of a specific prohibition in the articles of association, the directors of a company with only one class of shares are at liberty to allot shares without requiring the authorisation of the shareholders.11 In addition, section 550 of the Companies Act 2006 empowers the allotment of shares by the directors of a private company that has only one c lass of shares. Such allotment of shares does not require prior authority from the members of the company. Furthermore, this power can be precluded or restricted by the members, via the Articles of Association of the company.12 In our problem, Ben and Holly realized that the Kingdom Ltd company would not be in a position to grow without the obtention of further financing for

Academic paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Academic paper - Essay Example The paper will also discuss the metrics of implementing change in the HR operations of the organization. As a recap of the SWOT analysis conducted, it has been observed that the main weakness being faced by PAC is that the management styles used by the HR department are divisive. As a result, the employees are not motivated and the other issue is that in the staffing department, only one person is responsible for performing various tasks related to recruitment along with another recruit. The other weakness is that the employee grievances are not addressed on time. The leaders lack understanding of the needs of the employees and this contributes towards low morale among them. The major threat witnessed from this analysis is that the benefits and compensation structures are significantly high and they strain the financial status of the organization. The company is paying large sums of money to cover the benefits of the employees and this scenario may not be sustainable in the long run. From the findings outlined above, it has been recommended that cost cutting measures particularly in the area of labour force should be implemented. This will go a long way in helping the company to save money while at the same time improving its operations. The human resources department should be tasked with assessing the viable measures that can be taken in order to make necessary changes that would not negatively impact on the operations of the company. The other issue is that in order for the company to operate viably, it is recommended that it should adopt change especially in the structure of human resources management. During the contemporary period, it can be observed that change in the operations of the company is inevitable due to the dynamism of the environment in which the company operates (Jackson and Schuler, 2010). Thus, enlightened leaders should anticipate change and act accordingly and they should also take a

Challenges to Defining Cybercrime

Challenges to Defining Cybercrime What is Cybercrime? At this point of time there is no commonly agreed definition of ‘Cybercrime’. The area of Cybercrime is very broad and the technical nature of the subject has made extremely difficult for authorities to come up with a precise definition of Cybercrime. The British police have defined Cybercrime as ‘use of any computer network for crime’ and council of Europe has defined Cybercrime as ‘any criminal offence against or with help of computer network. The two definitions offered by the British police and council of Europe are both very broad and they offer very little insight into the nature of conduct which falls under the defined term. Most of us do a vague idea what Cybercrime means but it seems that it is very to difficult to pinpoint the exact conduct which can be regarded as Cybercrime. For the purposes of the dissertation, I shall attempt to come up with my own definition of Cybercrime; the available definitions do not adequately explain the concept of Cybercrime. In order to understand and provide better insight into nature of Cybercrime, it will be a good idea to divide Cybercrime into two categories because computers can be used in two ways to commit Cybercrime. The first category will include crimes in which the computer was used as tool to commit the offence. The computer has enabled criminals to use the technology to commit crimes such as fraud and copyright privacy. The computer can be exploited just as another technical device which can be exploited, for e.g. a phone can be used to verbally abuse someone or stalk someone, someway the internet can be used to stalk someone or verbally abuse someone. The second category will include offences which are committed with intention of damaging or modifying computers. In this category the target of the crime is the computer itself, offences such as hacking. Whichever categories the offence committed falls in, ultimately it are us the humans who have to suffer the consequences of Cybercrime. Now we know that there are two ways in which the computer can be used to commit offences, my definition of Cybercrime would be: â€Å"Illegal acts using the computer as instrument to commit an offence, or targeting a computer network to damage or modifying computers for malicious purposes† Even my definition cannot be regarded as precise, as pointed earlier that due to the broad and technical nature of Cybercrime, it almost impossible to come up with a precise definition. The term Cybercrime is a social term to describe criminal activities which take place in world of computers; it is not an established term within the criminal law. The fact that there is no legal definition of Cybercrime within criminal law makes the whole area of Cybercrime very complicated for concerned authorities and the general public, it creates confusion such as what constitutes as Cybercrime and if Cybercrime cannot be defined properly how will the victims report the crime? The lack of proper definition means that majority of the Cybercrime which takes place is unreported as the victims and the authorities are not sure whether the conduct is a Cybercrime. It is estimated that 90% of the Cybercrime which occurs is unreported. Types of Cybercrime Computer can be used to commit various crimes, in order to have a better understanding of Cybercrime; we shall look at individually the types of crimes which are committed in the world of computers. It will not possible to describe every type of Cybercrime which exists due to the word limit, we will only concentrate on crimes which are considered to be major threats to our security. First Category Fraud Fraud can be defined as use of deception for direct or indirect financial or monetary gain. The internet can be used as means targeting the victim by replicating â€Å"real world† frauds such as get rich quick schemes which don’t exist, emails which demand an additional fee to be paid via credit card to stop loss of service such as internet or banking. The increasing availability of the internet means that fraudsters can carry out fraudulent activities on a grand scale. Fraud is a traditional crime which has existed for centuries and internet is merely a tool by which the fraudsters actions are carried out. Fraud has become a serious threat to e-commerce and other online transactions. Statistics suggest that internet only accounts for 3% of credit card fraud, credit card fraud is one of the more difficult frauds to commit on the internet, however other forms of fraud such as phising are more easier to carry out using the internet and equally lucrative. Phising is a form of fraud which is rapidly increasing. Phising is when you get emails from commercial organizations such your bank and other financial institutions, they would ask you to update your details, emails look genuine and it is a scam to trick people on giving their details. There are no official figures available on ‘phishing scams’ but on average I receive about three emails everyday asking me to update my bank account details. Recently there was email going around asking the staff members and students of LSBU to update their personal details, the email looked genuine but the ICT staff informed students/staff to ignore as it was a trick to gain personal information. Since the advancement of technology, it is has become easier and cheaper to communicate and fraudsters are also taking advantage of technology because it is easier to exploit the internet and it is cheaper than other alternatives such as phone and postal mail. There are other forms of fraud such as auction fraud, it is when buy goods in auction and you pay for the item but your item will never turn up. Fraud is one of the lucrative crimes on the internet; experts suggest that it is more than trafficking drugs. The reasons why fraudsters prefer internet is because: Internet has made mass communication easy and it is cheap, same email can be sent to millions of people very easily and cheaply with just one click of button. Majority of users do not have adequate knowledge on how technology works, this makes it easy for fraudsters to fool innocent people into taking an action such as giving their personal details. Internet users are considered naà ¯ve in the sense that they have too much faith in the information they receive via the internet, therefore, they do not take necessary steps to verify the information and often get tricked in handing out their credit card or personal details. Offences against person(s) Offence against a person can either be physical or mental, it is not possible to cause direct physical harm to a person using a computer but it is possible to cause mental harm such as anxiety, distress or psychological harm. It can be done by sending abusive or threatening emails or posting derogatory information online. Stalking is a crime which is done to harass another person repeatedly. As the number of user on the internet increased, the opportunities for abuse have also increased. It is possible to use internet as a tool for sending abusive emails, leaving offensive messages on guestbooks, or posting misinformation on blogs. In some cases, cyberstalkers have morphed images of their victims onto pornographic images and then emailing the pictures to relative and work colleagues to cause embarrassment. There are mainly three reasons for committing a crime such as stalking, Main reason is usually when relationships fail, former intimates usually target their ex-boyfriend/girlfriend to get revenge. Second reason for cyberstalking is boredom; some people usually pick random people and target them by sending them abusive and threatening emails just for fun. Cyberstalkers take advantage of anonymity of the internet to cause distress to their victim’s life. Hate and racist speech is also a form of crime which escalated since the introduction of the internet; it can cause traumatic experience and mental distress to those who are targeted. Post 9/11, there have been many websites set up to mock the religion Islam, such as www.laughingatislam.com, this website has been cause of distress to many Muslims around the world. Sexual offences This category includes offences which have sexual element, such as making undesired sexual approaches in chat-rooms and paedophiles harrasing children. Child pornography and child protection are one of the main concerns on the internet. Paedophiles are taking full advantage to exploit the technology for viewing and exchanging child pornography. Paedophiles use the internet to their advantage, they use chat rooms and other popular social networks such as facebook to entice and lure children into meeting them. Many popular chat rooms such as MSN Chat and Yahoo chat have closed down their chat rooms to protect young children but closure of popular chat rooms have not stopped paedophiles from using less popular chat rooms and other social networks. Second category Hacking related offences Hacking can be defined as gaining unauthorised access to a computer system. As soon as we hear the word ‘hacking’, we tend to think that it is a crime, it should be noted that hacking started of as show of skill to gain temporary access to computer systems. It was rather an intellectual challenge than a criminal motive. But now, many hackers misuse their skills to inflict damage and destruction. Examples of hacking include stealing confident information such credit card details. In a recent incident of hacking, Harriet Harman whose is a politician, taking part in upcoming elections. Her website was hacked and the blog section of her website encouraged the audience to vote for Boris Johnson whose is a competitor of Harman Harriet. Boris Johnson has also complained that his email account was hacked recently. Most politicians believe that internet as a medium will be a major part of election campaigns and activities such as hacking can sabotage election campaigns by posting disinformation on candidate’s websites. Virus and Other Malicious Programs Virus is a malicious code or program that replicates itself and inserts copies or new versions onto other programs, affecting computer systems. Viruses are designed to modify computer systems without the consent of the owner or operator. Viruses are created to inflict senseless damage to computer system. It is a widely accepted perception that crime is committed in times economic distress. Criminals do not gain any monetary benefit; it is simply done to show off their computer skills. Some viruses are failed programs or accidental releases. The most famous virus which was released is the I LOVE YOU virus or commonly known as the ‘love bug’. The virus damaged millions of computers worldwide; it caused damage worth of $8.5bn, the author of the virus claims that it was released to impress his girlfriend. Legislation on Cybercrime It is often believed that the internet is just like the ‘wild west’ where there no rules and regulations and people are free to carry out illegal activities. Fortunately, this is not true at all; there is legislation which exists to protect us from cybercrimes. Type of crime Legislation Fraud Fraud Act 2006(Covers all types of possible frauds) Offences against person(s) The Public Order Act 1986(Hate speech) Sexual Offences The Protection of children Act 1978 The Criminal Justice Act 1988 The Criminal Justice an Public Order Act 1988 Sexual Offences Act 2003 After carefully reviewing all pieces of legislations mentioned above, I can conclude by saying that legislation we have at the moment is adequate enough to protect us from any sort of traditional crime carried out using computers. There were few anomalies which have been removed now. Anomalies The Theft Act 1968 which previously covered fraud has been replaced by Fraud Act 2006 to cover anomaly under the previous legislation. In the case of Clayman, it was held that it is not unlawful to defraud a computer; the courts do not regard computers as deceivable as the process is fully automated. In theory if we apply the principle deriving from the Clayman case then it will not be unlawful to false credit card number when signing up for an online service such as subscription to a newsgroup or online gaming. There is only exception to this rule that it will not apply if deception involves licensed telecommunications services, such as dial-up chat lines pay-per-view TV. Second anomaly before us was that information was not regarded property. In the case of Oxford v Moss, in this case a student took a copy of forthcoming exam from a lecturer’s desk and made a photocopy of that exam paper, it was held that the student cannot be charged under the theft act as he did not deprive the owner of the asset, a copy had simply been taken. Computers only contain information, by applying the principle deriving from this case, it means that it is acceptable to print other people’s files as long they do not deprive the owner of the file by deleting it, one would only be prosecuted if he/she steals trade secret or confidential information. Decisions in both cases mentioned above are absurd, both of them were decided in 1970s, the only possible reason for reaching absurd decision could only be lack of knowledge on technology. Previous legislation took into account the consequences of the fraudster’s activities when deciding whether the conduct in question is an offence. The Fraud Act 2006 aims to prosecute the fraudsters on the basis of their actual conduct rather than the consequences of their activities. How serious is the threat? In order to determine the seriousness of the threat, it is important to look at the statistics available on cybercrime. Type of crime Number of cases reported Fraud 299,000 Offences against the person 1,944000 Sexual offences 850,238 Computer Misuse(Hacking) 144,500 Virus related incidents 6,000000 Total number of cases reported 9,237738 Source of statistics: Garlik According to the figures, they were approximately 9.23 million incidents of cybercrime reported in the year 2006. Statistics show that 15% of the population of the UK was affected by cybercrime in someway, after looking at these figures; one can easily conclude that we are having an epidemic of cybercrime. These statistics could only the tip of the iceberg of the totality of cybercrime; experts believe that real figure could be 10 times higher as cybercrime is massively under-reported. Reasons for under-reporting Reporting any crime involves a three stage process: The conduct needs to be observed. The conduct needs to categorised as criminal. The relevant authorities need to be informed of the criminal conduct. A particular crime will not be reported if there is failure in any of the stages, therefore the relevant authorities will not take action against the criminal. There are certain factors which affect reporting of cybercrime, factors include: Sometimes the criminal conduct is not noticed, internet fraud usually comprises of low-value transactions across a bulk body of victims, and victims are not always able to spot discrepancy in their bank accounts. Lack of awareness means that the victims may not know whether the conduct in question is a crime. Victims of viruses don’t see them as victims of crime, people tend to see viruses as technical issue, and therefore, the victim would believe that no one has broken the law. Most victims don’t know which authorities they should contact to report cybercrime. Police officers have inadequate amount of resources and don’t have the expertise to deal with cybercrime at the moment, therefore, pursuing a formal complaint can be a difficult process. Once I tried reporting a cybercrime, a laptop was purchased on EBay but the seller took my money and never sent the laptop, this is a common case of auction fraud. I did try to make a complain, the whole process was extremely slow, the officer dealing with me had no clue what EBay is, I was able to register a complaint but it has been two years and my complain is still unresolved. Under-reporting is factor which contributes towards increase in cybercrime, under-reporting mean that criminals will have less fear of getting caught and therefore, they are more likely to commit illegal acts online. People’s attitude towards cybercrime Traditional crimes such as murder, rape and robbery can have serious effects on the victim’s life; in some cases the victim may not be able to lead a normal life after being a victim of crime. In contrast to cybercrime, the impact is not that serious, majority of users have insurance against financial frauds, and frauds are usually of low-value. Viruses can easily be filtered using antivirus software. Other offences such as cyberstalking usually cause some anxiety and distress. Only crimes such as child pornography have a greater impact, it is the only the crime which can have a serious consequences on the victims life. A recent survey suggest that only 37% are afraid to use the internet after being a victim of crime, majority of the users do continue to use the internet after being a victim. Cybercrime and e-commerce Cybercrime is a growing concern for all of us, however, the effects of cybercrime are not hindering the growth of the internet, and the effects of cybercrime on the e-commerce have not been drastic. Financial transactions over the internet are on the rise, number of people using internet for shopping is increase day by day and over one third of population is using internet banking. One of the reasons why cybercrime spiraling out of control is the fact that it is very easy to commit if have the technical knowledge, all you need is a computer connected to the internet, the crimes on the internet are hard to detect. It can be committed from anywhere in the world, the criminal could sitting in Africa and targeting his victim in Australia. In the next chapter, we shall examine the problems faced by authorities when investigating cybercrime. Jurisdiction Jurisdictional issues and the cyberspace Cyberspace is a world without defined boundaries; anyone can access any website using his computer. It can very difficult to locate the source of crime in cyberspace because relative anonymity and as easy way to shield identity. Even if the relevant authorities are able to identify the source of crime, it is not always easy to prosecute the criminal. Double criminality When dealing cross border crime, it is imperative that both countries should recognise the conduct as illegal in both jurisdictions. The principle of double criminality prohibits the extradition of a person, if the conduct in question is not recognized as a criminal offence by the country receiving the request for jurisdiction. Imagine a situation where a computer programmer from Zimbabwe sends Barclays bank a virus which causes the computers in Barclays bank to malfunction, the bank cannot carry out their business for 1 hour and as a result they lose about $1 million worth of revenue. English authorities would want to extradite the offender to England so they could prosecute the offender. In an action for extradition, the applicant is required to show that actions of the accused constitute a criminal offence exceeding a minimum level of seriousness in both jurisdictions. Imagine now that they are no laws on spreading viruses in Zimbabwe, therefore it will not possible to show offender’s action constitute as criminal behavior. If they are no laws regarding on cybercrime in Zimbabwe then he cannot be extradited and he will walk free after deliberately causing damage to Barclays bank. Cybercrime has an international dimension, it is imperative that legal protection is harmonised internationally. There are still about 33 countries such as Albania, Yugoslavia and Malta; they have no laws on cybercrimes. If there are no laws then those countries are considered as computer crime havens. The perpetrator of ‘I LOVE YOU’ virus which caused $8.5 billion worth damage was caught in Philippines but he could not be prosecuted as Philippines had no laws on cybercrime. Cybercrime is global issue and the world will need to work together in order to tackle cybercrime. How real world crime dealt across borders? In relation to real world crime which transcended national borders, an idiosyncratic network of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties(MLATs) bound various countries to assist each other in investigating real world crime, such as drug trafficking. If there was no treaty agreement between two countries then they would contact the relevant authorities to ask for assistance and obtain evidence, this mechanism was sufficient in dealing with real world crime. This mechanism can only work if both countries have similar cybercrime laws; if any country lacks cybercrime laws then the process would fail. How should Jurisdiction be approached in Cybercrime? In a case of cyberstalking, An Australian man was stalking a Canadian Actress. The man harassed the actress by sending unsolicited emails. Australian Supreme Court of Victoria held that crimes ‘committed over the internet knows no borders’ and ‘State and national boundaries do not concern them’, therefore, jurisdiction should not be the issue. He was convicted. This case was straightforward as both nations recognise stalking as a criminal offence, however, there can be conflicts if both nations do not recognize the act as criminal. In Licra v Yahoo, French courts tried to exercise jurisdiction over an American company. Yahoo was accused of Nazi memorabilia contrary to Article R645-1 of the French Criminal Code. Yahoo argued that there are not in breach of Article R645-1 as they were conducting the auction under the jurisdiction of USA and it is not illegal to sell Nazi memorabilia under the American law. In order to prove that Yahoo is subject American jurisdiction, they argued the following points: Yahoo servers are located in US territory. Services of Yahoo are primarily aimed at US citizens. According to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed and any attempt to enforce judgement which restricts freedom of speech and expression would fail for unconstitutionality. The court ruled that they have full jurisdiction over Yahoo because: The auction was open to worldwide bidders, including France. It is possible to view the auction in France, viewing and displaying Nazi memorabilia causes public nuisance and it is offence to public nuisance under the French law. Yahoo had a customer base in France, the advertisements were in French. Yahoo did have knowledge that French citizens use their site; therefore they should not do anything to offend French citizens. Yahoo ignored the French court ruling and kept saying that they French court does not have the right to exercise jurisdiction over an American company. Yahoo was warned that they would have to pay heavy fines if they don’t comply. In the end Yahoo owners did comply with the judgement they had substantial assets in France which were at risk of being confiscated if they don’t claim. The sole reason why French courts were able to exercise jurisdiction over Yahoo because it is a multinational company with large presence in France. Imagine instead of France, if the action would have been taken by courts of Saudi Arabia on auctioning playboy magazines, under the Saudi Arabian Sharia law, it is illegal to view or buy pornography. Saudi Arabia court would have failed to exercise jurisdiction over Yahoo as they don’t have any presence in Saudi Arabia but it was possible to view Yahoo auctions from Saudi Arabia. The case of Yahoo is a rare example where a court was able to exercise jurisdiction over a foreign company. In majority of the cases concerning individuals, courts trying to exercise jurisdiction over foreign elements are usually ignored. In the case of Nottinghamshire County Council v. Gwatkin (UK), injunctions were issued against many journalists to prevent them from publishing disseminating a leaked report that strongly criticises [the Councils] handling of allegations of satanic abuse of children in the 1980s. Despite the injunctions, a report appeared on an American website. The website refused to respect the English jurisdiction as they argued that the report was a public document. The Nottinghamshire had no option then to drop the case. Cybercrime has an international dimension. International law is complicated area, it can be very difficult to co-operate with authorities if there is no or weak diplomatic ties, for e.g. Pakistan and Israel have no diplomatic ties, if a situation arises where Israeli citizen hacks into State bank of Pakistan steals millions of dollars from the bank, in a situation like this, one easily assume that both countries would not co-operate with each other even though both countries recognise hacking as a offence but they do not have diplomatic ties with each other, most probably the hacker would get away with the crime. A case involving Russian hackers, they hacked into Paypal and stole 53,000 credit card details. Paypal is an American company. The Russian hackers blackmailed Paypal and asked for a substantial amount of money, they threatened they would publish the details of 53,000 credit cards if they do not receive the money. Russia and American both have signed extradition treaty but still Russian authorities failed to take action, it is still not clear why they did not take appropriate action against the Russian hackers. Both nations struggled to gain jurisdiction over each other. FBI decided to take things into their own hands by setting up a secret operation, undercover agents posed as reprenstatives of a bogus security firm Invita. The bogus security firm invited the Russian hackers to US with prospects of employment. When the interview for employment by the bogus firm Invita was being carried out, the Russian hackers were asked to display there hacking skills, one of the hackers accessed his own system in Russia to show off his skills, the FBI recorded every keystroke and later arrested the Russian hackers for multiple offences such as hacking, fraud and extortion. The keystrokes recorded were later used to hack into one of the hacker’s computer in Russia to access incriminating evidence. All this took place without the knowledge of Russian authorities. When Russian authorities came to know about whole incident, they were furious and argued that US misused their authority and infringing on another sovereign nation’s jurisdiction. Lack of co-operation in relation to jurisdiction can lead to serious problems between nations, in order to avoid such conflicts, there is need to address the jurisdiction issue and come up with a mechanism which ensures that countries co-operate with each other. Where is the Jurisdiction? In the real world crime, the conduct and the effect of the conduct are easy to pin down because we can visibly see the human carrying out the conduct and the effect of the conduct is also visible. The location of the offence and the location of the perpetrator can easily be identified. Imagine a situation in which a shooter in Canada shots an American across Niagara Falls, it is clear from the example that the conduct took place in Canada and the effect of the conduct took place in Canada. Cyberspace is not real, people say that events on cyberspace occur everywhere and nowhere, a man disseminating a virus could release a virus which travel through servers of many different country before reaching the victim, for e.g. a person makes a racist website targeting Jews in Malta, uploads the website on American servers and the website is available for everyone to see, a Jewish living in Israel comes across the website and gets offended. In a situation like this where would you bring an action, should you bring an action in Malta because the perpetrator is based over there, would bring an action in America where the server is hosted or would bring the action in Israel where the victim is? There are specific laws regarding jurisdiction issues on the internet, the world is still struggling to come up with a solution which would solve the problem of jurisdiction. Positive or Negative Jurisdiction? The principle of negative jurisdiction occurs when no country is willing to exercise jurisdiction for a cybercrime. Cybercrime can have multiple victims in different countries; the ‘love bug’ caused damage in many different countries including USA, UK, France and Germany. If the damage is caused to multiple countries then who should claim jurisdiction over the cybercrime, should it by prioritised by the amount of damage suffered by each country. If the effected countries decide not to take action against the perpetrator because it is not in their best interest, the country may be occupied by other internal problems. If no country is willing to exercise jurisdiction over a cybercrime then the perpetrator would walk free. Positive jurisdiction is opposite of negative jurisdiction, how will the issue of jurisdiction be decided if more than two countries want to exercise t Challenges to Defining Cybercrime Challenges to Defining Cybercrime What is Cybercrime? At this point of time there is no commonly agreed definition of ‘Cybercrime’. The area of Cybercrime is very broad and the technical nature of the subject has made extremely difficult for authorities to come up with a precise definition of Cybercrime. The British police have defined Cybercrime as ‘use of any computer network for crime’ and council of Europe has defined Cybercrime as ‘any criminal offence against or with help of computer network. The two definitions offered by the British police and council of Europe are both very broad and they offer very little insight into the nature of conduct which falls under the defined term. Most of us do a vague idea what Cybercrime means but it seems that it is very to difficult to pinpoint the exact conduct which can be regarded as Cybercrime. For the purposes of the dissertation, I shall attempt to come up with my own definition of Cybercrime; the available definitions do not adequately explain the concept of Cybercrime. In order to understand and provide better insight into nature of Cybercrime, it will be a good idea to divide Cybercrime into two categories because computers can be used in two ways to commit Cybercrime. The first category will include crimes in which the computer was used as tool to commit the offence. The computer has enabled criminals to use the technology to commit crimes such as fraud and copyright privacy. The computer can be exploited just as another technical device which can be exploited, for e.g. a phone can be used to verbally abuse someone or stalk someone, someway the internet can be used to stalk someone or verbally abuse someone. The second category will include offences which are committed with intention of damaging or modifying computers. In this category the target of the crime is the computer itself, offences such as hacking. Whichever categories the offence committed falls in, ultimately it are us the humans who have to suffer the consequences of Cybercrime. Now we know that there are two ways in which the computer can be used to commit offences, my definition of Cybercrime would be: â€Å"Illegal acts using the computer as instrument to commit an offence, or targeting a computer network to damage or modifying computers for malicious purposes† Even my definition cannot be regarded as precise, as pointed earlier that due to the broad and technical nature of Cybercrime, it almost impossible to come up with a precise definition. The term Cybercrime is a social term to describe criminal activities which take place in world of computers; it is not an established term within the criminal law. The fact that there is no legal definition of Cybercrime within criminal law makes the whole area of Cybercrime very complicated for concerned authorities and the general public, it creates confusion such as what constitutes as Cybercrime and if Cybercrime cannot be defined properly how will the victims report the crime? The lack of proper definition means that majority of the Cybercrime which takes place is unreported as the victims and the authorities are not sure whether the conduct is a Cybercrime. It is estimated that 90% of the Cybercrime which occurs is unreported. Types of Cybercrime Computer can be used to commit various crimes, in order to have a better understanding of Cybercrime; we shall look at individually the types of crimes which are committed in the world of computers. It will not possible to describe every type of Cybercrime which exists due to the word limit, we will only concentrate on crimes which are considered to be major threats to our security. First Category Fraud Fraud can be defined as use of deception for direct or indirect financial or monetary gain. The internet can be used as means targeting the victim by replicating â€Å"real world† frauds such as get rich quick schemes which don’t exist, emails which demand an additional fee to be paid via credit card to stop loss of service such as internet or banking. The increasing availability of the internet means that fraudsters can carry out fraudulent activities on a grand scale. Fraud is a traditional crime which has existed for centuries and internet is merely a tool by which the fraudsters actions are carried out. Fraud has become a serious threat to e-commerce and other online transactions. Statistics suggest that internet only accounts for 3% of credit card fraud, credit card fraud is one of the more difficult frauds to commit on the internet, however other forms of fraud such as phising are more easier to carry out using the internet and equally lucrative. Phising is a form of fraud which is rapidly increasing. Phising is when you get emails from commercial organizations such your bank and other financial institutions, they would ask you to update your details, emails look genuine and it is a scam to trick people on giving their details. There are no official figures available on ‘phishing scams’ but on average I receive about three emails everyday asking me to update my bank account details. Recently there was email going around asking the staff members and students of LSBU to update their personal details, the email looked genuine but the ICT staff informed students/staff to ignore as it was a trick to gain personal information. Since the advancement of technology, it is has become easier and cheaper to communicate and fraudsters are also taking advantage of technology because it is easier to exploit the internet and it is cheaper than other alternatives such as phone and postal mail. There are other forms of fraud such as auction fraud, it is when buy goods in auction and you pay for the item but your item will never turn up. Fraud is one of the lucrative crimes on the internet; experts suggest that it is more than trafficking drugs. The reasons why fraudsters prefer internet is because: Internet has made mass communication easy and it is cheap, same email can be sent to millions of people very easily and cheaply with just one click of button. Majority of users do not have adequate knowledge on how technology works, this makes it easy for fraudsters to fool innocent people into taking an action such as giving their personal details. Internet users are considered naà ¯ve in the sense that they have too much faith in the information they receive via the internet, therefore, they do not take necessary steps to verify the information and often get tricked in handing out their credit card or personal details. Offences against person(s) Offence against a person can either be physical or mental, it is not possible to cause direct physical harm to a person using a computer but it is possible to cause mental harm such as anxiety, distress or psychological harm. It can be done by sending abusive or threatening emails or posting derogatory information online. Stalking is a crime which is done to harass another person repeatedly. As the number of user on the internet increased, the opportunities for abuse have also increased. It is possible to use internet as a tool for sending abusive emails, leaving offensive messages on guestbooks, or posting misinformation on blogs. In some cases, cyberstalkers have morphed images of their victims onto pornographic images and then emailing the pictures to relative and work colleagues to cause embarrassment. There are mainly three reasons for committing a crime such as stalking, Main reason is usually when relationships fail, former intimates usually target their ex-boyfriend/girlfriend to get revenge. Second reason for cyberstalking is boredom; some people usually pick random people and target them by sending them abusive and threatening emails just for fun. Cyberstalkers take advantage of anonymity of the internet to cause distress to their victim’s life. Hate and racist speech is also a form of crime which escalated since the introduction of the internet; it can cause traumatic experience and mental distress to those who are targeted. Post 9/11, there have been many websites set up to mock the religion Islam, such as www.laughingatislam.com, this website has been cause of distress to many Muslims around the world. Sexual offences This category includes offences which have sexual element, such as making undesired sexual approaches in chat-rooms and paedophiles harrasing children. Child pornography and child protection are one of the main concerns on the internet. Paedophiles are taking full advantage to exploit the technology for viewing and exchanging child pornography. Paedophiles use the internet to their advantage, they use chat rooms and other popular social networks such as facebook to entice and lure children into meeting them. Many popular chat rooms such as MSN Chat and Yahoo chat have closed down their chat rooms to protect young children but closure of popular chat rooms have not stopped paedophiles from using less popular chat rooms and other social networks. Second category Hacking related offences Hacking can be defined as gaining unauthorised access to a computer system. As soon as we hear the word ‘hacking’, we tend to think that it is a crime, it should be noted that hacking started of as show of skill to gain temporary access to computer systems. It was rather an intellectual challenge than a criminal motive. But now, many hackers misuse their skills to inflict damage and destruction. Examples of hacking include stealing confident information such credit card details. In a recent incident of hacking, Harriet Harman whose is a politician, taking part in upcoming elections. Her website was hacked and the blog section of her website encouraged the audience to vote for Boris Johnson whose is a competitor of Harman Harriet. Boris Johnson has also complained that his email account was hacked recently. Most politicians believe that internet as a medium will be a major part of election campaigns and activities such as hacking can sabotage election campaigns by posting disinformation on candidate’s websites. Virus and Other Malicious Programs Virus is a malicious code or program that replicates itself and inserts copies or new versions onto other programs, affecting computer systems. Viruses are designed to modify computer systems without the consent of the owner or operator. Viruses are created to inflict senseless damage to computer system. It is a widely accepted perception that crime is committed in times economic distress. Criminals do not gain any monetary benefit; it is simply done to show off their computer skills. Some viruses are failed programs or accidental releases. The most famous virus which was released is the I LOVE YOU virus or commonly known as the ‘love bug’. The virus damaged millions of computers worldwide; it caused damage worth of $8.5bn, the author of the virus claims that it was released to impress his girlfriend. Legislation on Cybercrime It is often believed that the internet is just like the ‘wild west’ where there no rules and regulations and people are free to carry out illegal activities. Fortunately, this is not true at all; there is legislation which exists to protect us from cybercrimes. Type of crime Legislation Fraud Fraud Act 2006(Covers all types of possible frauds) Offences against person(s) The Public Order Act 1986(Hate speech) Sexual Offences The Protection of children Act 1978 The Criminal Justice Act 1988 The Criminal Justice an Public Order Act 1988 Sexual Offences Act 2003 After carefully reviewing all pieces of legislations mentioned above, I can conclude by saying that legislation we have at the moment is adequate enough to protect us from any sort of traditional crime carried out using computers. There were few anomalies which have been removed now. Anomalies The Theft Act 1968 which previously covered fraud has been replaced by Fraud Act 2006 to cover anomaly under the previous legislation. In the case of Clayman, it was held that it is not unlawful to defraud a computer; the courts do not regard computers as deceivable as the process is fully automated. In theory if we apply the principle deriving from the Clayman case then it will not be unlawful to false credit card number when signing up for an online service such as subscription to a newsgroup or online gaming. There is only exception to this rule that it will not apply if deception involves licensed telecommunications services, such as dial-up chat lines pay-per-view TV. Second anomaly before us was that information was not regarded property. In the case of Oxford v Moss, in this case a student took a copy of forthcoming exam from a lecturer’s desk and made a photocopy of that exam paper, it was held that the student cannot be charged under the theft act as he did not deprive the owner of the asset, a copy had simply been taken. Computers only contain information, by applying the principle deriving from this case, it means that it is acceptable to print other people’s files as long they do not deprive the owner of the file by deleting it, one would only be prosecuted if he/she steals trade secret or confidential information. Decisions in both cases mentioned above are absurd, both of them were decided in 1970s, the only possible reason for reaching absurd decision could only be lack of knowledge on technology. Previous legislation took into account the consequences of the fraudster’s activities when deciding whether the conduct in question is an offence. The Fraud Act 2006 aims to prosecute the fraudsters on the basis of their actual conduct rather than the consequences of their activities. How serious is the threat? In order to determine the seriousness of the threat, it is important to look at the statistics available on cybercrime. Type of crime Number of cases reported Fraud 299,000 Offences against the person 1,944000 Sexual offences 850,238 Computer Misuse(Hacking) 144,500 Virus related incidents 6,000000 Total number of cases reported 9,237738 Source of statistics: Garlik According to the figures, they were approximately 9.23 million incidents of cybercrime reported in the year 2006. Statistics show that 15% of the population of the UK was affected by cybercrime in someway, after looking at these figures; one can easily conclude that we are having an epidemic of cybercrime. These statistics could only the tip of the iceberg of the totality of cybercrime; experts believe that real figure could be 10 times higher as cybercrime is massively under-reported. Reasons for under-reporting Reporting any crime involves a three stage process: The conduct needs to be observed. The conduct needs to categorised as criminal. The relevant authorities need to be informed of the criminal conduct. A particular crime will not be reported if there is failure in any of the stages, therefore the relevant authorities will not take action against the criminal. There are certain factors which affect reporting of cybercrime, factors include: Sometimes the criminal conduct is not noticed, internet fraud usually comprises of low-value transactions across a bulk body of victims, and victims are not always able to spot discrepancy in their bank accounts. Lack of awareness means that the victims may not know whether the conduct in question is a crime. Victims of viruses don’t see them as victims of crime, people tend to see viruses as technical issue, and therefore, the victim would believe that no one has broken the law. Most victims don’t know which authorities they should contact to report cybercrime. Police officers have inadequate amount of resources and don’t have the expertise to deal with cybercrime at the moment, therefore, pursuing a formal complaint can be a difficult process. Once I tried reporting a cybercrime, a laptop was purchased on EBay but the seller took my money and never sent the laptop, this is a common case of auction fraud. I did try to make a complain, the whole process was extremely slow, the officer dealing with me had no clue what EBay is, I was able to register a complaint but it has been two years and my complain is still unresolved. Under-reporting is factor which contributes towards increase in cybercrime, under-reporting mean that criminals will have less fear of getting caught and therefore, they are more likely to commit illegal acts online. People’s attitude towards cybercrime Traditional crimes such as murder, rape and robbery can have serious effects on the victim’s life; in some cases the victim may not be able to lead a normal life after being a victim of crime. In contrast to cybercrime, the impact is not that serious, majority of users have insurance against financial frauds, and frauds are usually of low-value. Viruses can easily be filtered using antivirus software. Other offences such as cyberstalking usually cause some anxiety and distress. Only crimes such as child pornography have a greater impact, it is the only the crime which can have a serious consequences on the victims life. A recent survey suggest that only 37% are afraid to use the internet after being a victim of crime, majority of the users do continue to use the internet after being a victim. Cybercrime and e-commerce Cybercrime is a growing concern for all of us, however, the effects of cybercrime are not hindering the growth of the internet, and the effects of cybercrime on the e-commerce have not been drastic. Financial transactions over the internet are on the rise, number of people using internet for shopping is increase day by day and over one third of population is using internet banking. One of the reasons why cybercrime spiraling out of control is the fact that it is very easy to commit if have the technical knowledge, all you need is a computer connected to the internet, the crimes on the internet are hard to detect. It can be committed from anywhere in the world, the criminal could sitting in Africa and targeting his victim in Australia. In the next chapter, we shall examine the problems faced by authorities when investigating cybercrime. Jurisdiction Jurisdictional issues and the cyberspace Cyberspace is a world without defined boundaries; anyone can access any website using his computer. It can very difficult to locate the source of crime in cyberspace because relative anonymity and as easy way to shield identity. Even if the relevant authorities are able to identify the source of crime, it is not always easy to prosecute the criminal. Double criminality When dealing cross border crime, it is imperative that both countries should recognise the conduct as illegal in both jurisdictions. The principle of double criminality prohibits the extradition of a person, if the conduct in question is not recognized as a criminal offence by the country receiving the request for jurisdiction. Imagine a situation where a computer programmer from Zimbabwe sends Barclays bank a virus which causes the computers in Barclays bank to malfunction, the bank cannot carry out their business for 1 hour and as a result they lose about $1 million worth of revenue. English authorities would want to extradite the offender to England so they could prosecute the offender. In an action for extradition, the applicant is required to show that actions of the accused constitute a criminal offence exceeding a minimum level of seriousness in both jurisdictions. Imagine now that they are no laws on spreading viruses in Zimbabwe, therefore it will not possible to show offender’s action constitute as criminal behavior. If they are no laws regarding on cybercrime in Zimbabwe then he cannot be extradited and he will walk free after deliberately causing damage to Barclays bank. Cybercrime has an international dimension, it is imperative that legal protection is harmonised internationally. There are still about 33 countries such as Albania, Yugoslavia and Malta; they have no laws on cybercrimes. If there are no laws then those countries are considered as computer crime havens. The perpetrator of ‘I LOVE YOU’ virus which caused $8.5 billion worth damage was caught in Philippines but he could not be prosecuted as Philippines had no laws on cybercrime. Cybercrime is global issue and the world will need to work together in order to tackle cybercrime. How real world crime dealt across borders? In relation to real world crime which transcended national borders, an idiosyncratic network of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties(MLATs) bound various countries to assist each other in investigating real world crime, such as drug trafficking. If there was no treaty agreement between two countries then they would contact the relevant authorities to ask for assistance and obtain evidence, this mechanism was sufficient in dealing with real world crime. This mechanism can only work if both countries have similar cybercrime laws; if any country lacks cybercrime laws then the process would fail. How should Jurisdiction be approached in Cybercrime? In a case of cyberstalking, An Australian man was stalking a Canadian Actress. The man harassed the actress by sending unsolicited emails. Australian Supreme Court of Victoria held that crimes ‘committed over the internet knows no borders’ and ‘State and national boundaries do not concern them’, therefore, jurisdiction should not be the issue. He was convicted. This case was straightforward as both nations recognise stalking as a criminal offence, however, there can be conflicts if both nations do not recognize the act as criminal. In Licra v Yahoo, French courts tried to exercise jurisdiction over an American company. Yahoo was accused of Nazi memorabilia contrary to Article R645-1 of the French Criminal Code. Yahoo argued that there are not in breach of Article R645-1 as they were conducting the auction under the jurisdiction of USA and it is not illegal to sell Nazi memorabilia under the American law. In order to prove that Yahoo is subject American jurisdiction, they argued the following points: Yahoo servers are located in US territory. Services of Yahoo are primarily aimed at US citizens. According to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed and any attempt to enforce judgement which restricts freedom of speech and expression would fail for unconstitutionality. The court ruled that they have full jurisdiction over Yahoo because: The auction was open to worldwide bidders, including France. It is possible to view the auction in France, viewing and displaying Nazi memorabilia causes public nuisance and it is offence to public nuisance under the French law. Yahoo had a customer base in France, the advertisements were in French. Yahoo did have knowledge that French citizens use their site; therefore they should not do anything to offend French citizens. Yahoo ignored the French court ruling and kept saying that they French court does not have the right to exercise jurisdiction over an American company. Yahoo was warned that they would have to pay heavy fines if they don’t comply. In the end Yahoo owners did comply with the judgement they had substantial assets in France which were at risk of being confiscated if they don’t claim. The sole reason why French courts were able to exercise jurisdiction over Yahoo because it is a multinational company with large presence in France. Imagine instead of France, if the action would have been taken by courts of Saudi Arabia on auctioning playboy magazines, under the Saudi Arabian Sharia law, it is illegal to view or buy pornography. Saudi Arabia court would have failed to exercise jurisdiction over Yahoo as they don’t have any presence in Saudi Arabia but it was possible to view Yahoo auctions from Saudi Arabia. The case of Yahoo is a rare example where a court was able to exercise jurisdiction over a foreign company. In majority of the cases concerning individuals, courts trying to exercise jurisdiction over foreign elements are usually ignored. In the case of Nottinghamshire County Council v. Gwatkin (UK), injunctions were issued against many journalists to prevent them from publishing disseminating a leaked report that strongly criticises [the Councils] handling of allegations of satanic abuse of children in the 1980s. Despite the injunctions, a report appeared on an American website. The website refused to respect the English jurisdiction as they argued that the report was a public document. The Nottinghamshire had no option then to drop the case. Cybercrime has an international dimension. International law is complicated area, it can be very difficult to co-operate with authorities if there is no or weak diplomatic ties, for e.g. Pakistan and Israel have no diplomatic ties, if a situation arises where Israeli citizen hacks into State bank of Pakistan steals millions of dollars from the bank, in a situation like this, one easily assume that both countries would not co-operate with each other even though both countries recognise hacking as a offence but they do not have diplomatic ties with each other, most probably the hacker would get away with the crime. A case involving Russian hackers, they hacked into Paypal and stole 53,000 credit card details. Paypal is an American company. The Russian hackers blackmailed Paypal and asked for a substantial amount of money, they threatened they would publish the details of 53,000 credit cards if they do not receive the money. Russia and American both have signed extradition treaty but still Russian authorities failed to take action, it is still not clear why they did not take appropriate action against the Russian hackers. Both nations struggled to gain jurisdiction over each other. FBI decided to take things into their own hands by setting up a secret operation, undercover agents posed as reprenstatives of a bogus security firm Invita. The bogus security firm invited the Russian hackers to US with prospects of employment. When the interview for employment by the bogus firm Invita was being carried out, the Russian hackers were asked to display there hacking skills, one of the hackers accessed his own system in Russia to show off his skills, the FBI recorded every keystroke and later arrested the Russian hackers for multiple offences such as hacking, fraud and extortion. The keystrokes recorded were later used to hack into one of the hacker’s computer in Russia to access incriminating evidence. All this took place without the knowledge of Russian authorities. When Russian authorities came to know about whole incident, they were furious and argued that US misused their authority and infringing on another sovereign nation’s jurisdiction. Lack of co-operation in relation to jurisdiction can lead to serious problems between nations, in order to avoid such conflicts, there is need to address the jurisdiction issue and come up with a mechanism which ensures that countries co-operate with each other. Where is the Jurisdiction? In the real world crime, the conduct and the effect of the conduct are easy to pin down because we can visibly see the human carrying out the conduct and the effect of the conduct is also visible. The location of the offence and the location of the perpetrator can easily be identified. Imagine a situation in which a shooter in Canada shots an American across Niagara Falls, it is clear from the example that the conduct took place in Canada and the effect of the conduct took place in Canada. Cyberspace is not real, people say that events on cyberspace occur everywhere and nowhere, a man disseminating a virus could release a virus which travel through servers of many different country before reaching the victim, for e.g. a person makes a racist website targeting Jews in Malta, uploads the website on American servers and the website is available for everyone to see, a Jewish living in Israel comes across the website and gets offended. In a situation like this where would you bring an action, should you bring an action in Malta because the perpetrator is based over there, would bring an action in America where the server is hosted or would bring the action in Israel where the victim is? There are specific laws regarding jurisdiction issues on the internet, the world is still struggling to come up with a solution which would solve the problem of jurisdiction. Positive or Negative Jurisdiction? The principle of negative jurisdiction occurs when no country is willing to exercise jurisdiction for a cybercrime. Cybercrime can have multiple victims in different countries; the ‘love bug’ caused damage in many different countries including USA, UK, France and Germany. If the damage is caused to multiple countries then who should claim jurisdiction over the cybercrime, should it by prioritised by the amount of damage suffered by each country. If the effected countries decide not to take action against the perpetrator because it is not in their best interest, the country may be occupied by other internal problems. If no country is willing to exercise jurisdiction over a cybercrime then the perpetrator would walk free. Positive jurisdiction is opposite of negative jurisdiction, how will the issue of jurisdiction be decided if more than two countries want to exercise t

The Emergence of the Middle Ages: 1000 ad Essay -- essays research pap

The Emergence of the Middle Ages: 1000 AD When the Old World Order began to crumble with the fall of the Roman Empire and the break up of the Mediterranean the foundation was laid for a new type of civilization to emerge, a â€Å"western civilization†. The Empire in the East continued, based in Constantinople.. It was the most obvious heir to the culture of the classical world. This culture still dominates Eastern Europe and Russia, through Orthodoxy. Islam was the religion of Arab townsmen. Led by Mohammad (d. c. 640, Hijira 622). They swept out of the Arabian Peninsula. [Lacey, 174] They eventually took control of all North Africa, Egypt, Anatolia (under the Turks) and for a time Spain. Islam is also is an heir to Classical civilization. It gleamed mathematics from Mesopotamia, Philosophy from the Greeks and Monotheism from the Jews. For almost a thousand years Muslims were by all objective standards more advanced than Western Europe Finally, Barbarians and Germanic tribes dominated what was left in the area known today as; France, Spain, Italy, Britain, Germany. This was the least developed of the three cultures that succeeded the classical world. It was dominated increasingly also by the Church of Rome. It was a Latin reading and speaking world, therefore the term "Latin Christendom." This area was to become the West. From around 600 to 1000 AD conditions were fairly bleak in the emergence of a western civilization. By 1050 AD the Latin Christendom movement ...

Benito Cereno and American Characteristic

19th Century Literature Prof. Bland Typical American Character â€Å"Benito Cereno† is a work that exceedingly depicts how ideological self-delusion of an American character is one of the most dangerous capacities of mankind. Captain Delano a Yankee from â€Å"Duxbury Massachusetts† exemplifies these two American cultures of concerning nature and confidence. As Americans we have concerned and helped other less fortunate (i. e. the amount we donate to help third world countries), we are also confident and fearless in nature that we can accomplish anything (i. e. American dream).These traditional American characteristics I believe forms the American arrogance that we are stereotyped to have. We maybe helping others we have no business helping. Just like the American culture Delano truly believes he is doing the right thing, by showing concern and having confidence in being able to help the San Dominick slave-ship and he is incapable of seeing the horrifying consequences o f his actions both with respect to his â€Å"friendly racism† and his fantasy of â€Å"superiority†. He spends a day on the  San Dominick  following a slave mutiny, never quite aware that anything is wrong until the truth all but bites his head off.Delano subscribes to a typical â€Å"Northern† view of African slaves: he considers them to be naturally good-natured, submissive servants. He spends much of his time aboard the  San Dominick  condescendingly admiring Babo's performance. Melville critiques this naivete arrogance of superiority and friendly racism to which although these characteristic are positive if not careful, can be a barrier that blinds a person from seeing the actual situation. â€Å"None wore fetters, because the owner, his friend Aranda, told him that they were all tractable† (BC 224) As Delano first boards Benito's ship, the slaves are still unfettered. The ship seems unreal; these strange costumes, gestures, and faces, but a s hadowy tableau just emerged from the deep, which directly must receive back what it gave† (BC). This â€Å"shadowy tableau,† on the ship inhabited mostly by unregulated African slaves, roaming around freely is there for Captain Delano to develop his own understanding as to why this ship culture is the way it is. Having the traditional American character of concern, Delano in nature is concerned about the ship and his intention of genuinely helping the troubled captain Benito Cereno becomes a curtain that prevents him from seeing the real intentions of the slaves.Symbols that have previously been formed and encoded by the American culture and upbringing in the back of his mind; Delano's â€Å"trustful good nature† makes him accept the image of the faithful slaves in his understanding of the unknown Africans slaves on the ship. With this idea of faithful slaves, confronted with a genuine signs and warning; the frail captain Benito Cereno, the vigilant Babo, chained Atufal, the oakum-pickers and hatchet-polishers, the flaring moments of violence and unease—he is not capable of understanding and arranging them accurately or truthfully.This trustful and concerned nature of Americans is one of the characters Captain Delano represents. That an American upbringing create a perception even today that we, as a country, had a right to go around the world helping other struggling nations who were beset by tyrants or internal fighting with the attendant killing and raping of the populace. This trusting and concerned nature makes us delusional preventing us from seeing the facts that maybe these country America is helping does not want our help.The same goes for captain Delano his trustful nature creates a delusion of â€Å"faithful and harmless slaves† that helping this slave ship and its current condition of unfettered slaves is a result of the poor management of Captain Delano’s lesser Hispanic counter Captain Benito Cereno theref ore his is obliged to help to get it under control. This concerning nature blinds Captain Delano from seeing the truth. Before even making contact with the blacks on the ship, Delano readily stresses their good-natured and pristine qualities.These â€Å"unsophisticated Africans,† with their â€Å"self-content† and â€Å"peculiar love . . . of uniting industry with pastime,† (BC) bring out Delano's â€Å"weakness for negroes. † In his understanding of them, they are a mixture of docility and nobility. Delano feels confident as he sees â€Å"the affectionate zeal† and â€Å"good conduct† (BC) As this book reveals, Delano alternates between his images of the Africans as an innocent faithful slaves, he completely misinterprets the slave revolt and totally neglects the blacks' inner motivations.While revealing how Delano adapts these ideological images of the black man to fit his own understanding. This confidence from his own American upbringing and staying in his own paradigm of slaves being kind in nature, and are submissive servants make Captain Delano a benign racist. He does not express hate for the black people; he likes them. But his fondness of them shows in a characteristic of overconfidence or arrogance, in which that he is confident in his own knowledge that the slaves are obedient creatures, incapable of harm and completely demeaning the black slaves.He considers Babo, for instance, to be a childish slave of limited intelligence. In Delano's understanding, the faithful blacks are closer to animal nature than the white man is. Delano's dialogue continuously dehumanizes the slaves by attaching animal imagery to them. First, as the narrator mentions, â€Å"Delano took to negroes, not philanthropically, but genially, just as other men to Newfoundland dogs† (BC).When Babo looks up at Don Benito, he is â€Å"like a shepherd's dog,† (BC) whose grins denote â€Å"mere animal humor† (BC). These refe rences and comparison to animals of the slaves becomes not to decline them as human, but instead to acknowledge them within the white community in their position as docile servants, the image of the dog, domesticated animal, is significant in this context. At the same time, their animal reference accounts for their inability for being totally free.This show of confidence and trust completely blinds Captain Delano from the truth and maybe be seen by the majority as a weakness but this ignorance ultimately helped him from the slave revolt. Delano's trustfulness and perception that all the blacks are docile and faithful slaves and are good nature saves their lives. Delano's ignorance prevents him from discovering the truth, which would almost certainly lead him to a untimely demise.Cereno conveys his surprise that Babo refrained from murdering Delano,   Cereno conveys his surprise that Babo refrains from murdering Delano, â€Å"to think of some things you did – those smilings and chattings,  rash  pointings and gesturings. For less than these, they slew my mate† (BC) This reinforces the fact that if Delano makes any indication of recognizing the truth, he would have been killed on the spot. Delano’s confident, arrogant and absolutely insulting demeanor and perception of slaves being too stupid to be able to formulate a revolt ultimately saves him and Benito Cereno.If Delano is not so unaware of the events encircling him and exhibits a little more suspicion, Babo would certainly have him executed. This confidence that conveys a typical American characteristic is also part of Captain Delano’s. This confidence created a barrier that prevented him from once again seeing the truth in the situation. An arrogant demeanor that he underestimates his adversary, in which nine out of ten will completely destroy you but in this particular story turned out to be an advantage.Captain Delano’s overconfidence in his own â€Å"limited† knowledge and upbringing and from his own experiences growing up, and perhaps his interaction with the black community, he views them as a lesser being forming an idea of himself as a superior or idea of white supremacy that completely limits his understanding and cannot read the gravity of the situation. This overconfidence in his understanding became ignorance and although I believed it helped him from getting killed on the ship by Babo and the slaves, is the same overconfidence that can potentially be deadly.With the revelation of the slave revolt, we should realize that one of the main reasons Delano has been incapable of seeing through the masquerade has been his benign racism, in which that he see’s the slaves as harmless and too stupid to come up with such an idea. Delano’s racism can be understood most directly it seems to be a reflection of his upbringing in a somewhat liberal Northern racism that practice anti-slavery views (it’s important to rememb er Delano is from Massachusetts, a hotbed of anti-slavery activity during the period).The story suggests that Delano, like others who viewed slaves sympathetically, may have a weak recognition of the horrors of slavery and may consider himself the slaves’ friend, but such feelings depend on viewing himself as superior to the slaves and to the slaves staying in their appointed position of submission. In conclusion while Delano finds blacks utterly charming and â€Å"fun-loving,† fond of bright colors and of â€Å"uniting industry with pastime,† this â€Å"admiration† masks his deep-seated conviction that blacks are not entirely human.In fact, when in the midst of trying to understand the odd occurrences on the San Dominick, it briefly occurs to Delano that Cereno might be in league with the blacks, he dismisses the thought with a shudder: â€Å"who ever heard of a white so far a renegade as to apostatize from his very species almost, by leaguing in agains t it with Negroes? † (BC). This proves once again his overconfidence in his understanding limiting him from seeing the big picture that the slaves are controlling the situation. He can never imagine that the slaves are the one who thought up the grandiose plan, that he thinks Captain Cereno is orchestrating something gainst his kin. He fails to discern that the Spanish vessel is in fact in the hold of a complex, meticulously plotted mutiny, that the slaves have successfully revolted, and that the dutiful Babo is in fact the revolutionary in command. Delano's trusting and overconfidence in this regard is very nearly fatal, and in a way that the text explains, and that critics have frequently described, it is his concerning, unselfconscious, absolutely stubborn ideology of slaves and creates a benign racism—his offhand white supremacism—that drives and sustains this ignorance.Despite his several moments of deep suspicion, is his unmoved confidence that a slave like Babo, so naturally docile, so ideally suited to those watchful and pleasant â€Å"avocations about one's person,† could never surpass the â€Å"unaspiring contentment of a limited mind† common to all Africans (BC). The blacks in league with a piratical Cereno? â€Å"But they were too stupid,† Delano reminds himself (BC).Believing this, he cannot see what's before him, because of his paradigm and views of the slaves in a northern upbringing of being sympathetically to the slaves, He is incapable of imagining the black slaves in any but a passive role of devoted and faithful servants, docile and incapable of harming their white superiors, This overconfidence is ultimately ignorance that Delano cannot perceive the true situation on the San Dominick. Works Cited Page Melville, Herman, and Herman Melville. Bartleby ; And, Benito Cereno. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print.