New perspectives on power, danger of World Wide Web

Those of us who depend on the Internet to do our work everyday can't imagine what it would be like to get along without it -- although we get an idea on those rare occasions when it does break down.

And while we've become accustomed to dealing with the downsides of the World Wide Web -- identity theft, spam, pornography -- we're willing to put up with them in order to have a powerful tool for research, communications and business at our disposal.

In fact, nearly 70 percent of us in North America -- more than 232 million people -- use the Internet, according to the Internet World Stats Web site.

A couple of stories over the last few days have added new twists and perspective to issues surrounding the online world.

Taming of the Napster peer-to-peer file sharing system a few years ago hasn't put an end to what the music industry sees as the massive theft of its property.

And Nebraska, a leader in Internet use, is unfortunately a leader in this activity as well, with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln the number three top school for illegally downloaded music.

Under federal law, universities that receive complaints about students illegally distributing copyrighted songs generally must act to stop offenders, or else the schools can be sued, according to a story by The Associated Press.

The entertainment industry typically can identify a student only by his or her numerical Internet address, and it's up to the school to make the connection to the student's real-world identity.

If caught, students may receive warnings, then have their Internet connection unplugged and perhaps even be suspended.

We hope schools and students will own up to their activities, and not do what one former IBM employee is doing -- claiming his misuse of the Internet is an illness.

After he was repeatedly caught online in adult chatrooms while at work, James Pacenza was fired. He responded with a lawsuit claiming that his chatroom use is a disability, like drug and alcohol addiction, that he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome from his Vietnam war experiences, and that IBM violated the Americans with Disability Act by firing him.

Pacenza is seeking $5 million from IBM.

It will be up to the court to decide whether he has a legitimate claim, but a Stanford study found that 14 percent of Internet users neglected work, school, family, food and sleep because of Internet use. Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, who directed the studies, said he was most concerned about users who hid their use of the Internet, or turned to online activities to cope with negative mood swings -- booth akin to alcoholism.

And don't think you're immune if all you use is e-mail.

Now there's a new 12-step for e-mail addicts. It starts with: "1. Admit that e-mail is managing you. Let go of your need to check e-mail every 10 minutes." and includes points like "2. Commit to keeping your inbox empty." and "9. Involve others in conquering your addiction."

Yes, the Internet is a powerful tool and an enjoyable experience -- as long as we are able to keep it under control.