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Introduction

 

Although the Space vacuum that surrounds the earth has been declared the “Final Frontier”, the argument could be made that it is the Internet that truly deserves such a title. Postdating the formation of the galaxies, nothing made by man since the Internet functions almost as a territory unto itself, comprising bandwidth and supercomputers and populated with settlements known as websites, social arenas like chat rooms and message boards, and trading posts that involve the exchange of money and goods. Real-world institutions, governments, museums, and churches have created their own presence online as well, adding to the social structure of this true final frontier, one crafted not by nature but by man.

However, like any new frontier capable of being inhabited, it remains a region that is wild, savage, and untamed. Viruses are sent in mass emails, shutting down entire systems like raiders upon helpless villages, immoral activities such as pornography are provided to any unsuspecting traveler, all but guaranteeing the advancement of an addiction as hard to break as any physical drug. In addition to the virus and pornography amongst other cyber-pathologies, there exists an ideological pariah officially called a web log, but universally known as a blog. The whole international community of these blogs is known as the bloggosphere. Although by no means all blogs engage in political activism, the ones that do present a danger to civil debate through their virtually unregulated dissemination of vitriol.