Book: The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
“The Family Guide to Digital Freedom,” June 2007 edition is now available for purchase at Lulu.com, have a look at the website to know more.
Marco Fioretti, the aythor, is a freelance writer living in Italy, he did write also “File Format: Hidden traps in OpenDocument (or any other open standard) and how to avoid them“, an interesting article about problems and issues related to every open standard.
Below some information about the book and also an excerpt of the book.
What is the Family Guide to Digital Freedom?
Today your rights and the overall quality of your life depend very heavily on which software is being used around you – even if you don’t care much about computers, or don’t use them yet. The situation is even more serious for today’s children. All the issues discussed in the Guide are already affecting their civil rights and future opportunities.
Software and other digital technologies already control and influence every aspect of our education, business and social activity. All parents and teachers should make sure that schools, grocery stores, Public Administrations, movie companies… use their computers to the best advantage of all families and children, something that doesn’t happen very often yet.
The Family Guide to Digital Freedom is here to change this situation: it explains, in one place and in normal language, what everybody should know about software, digital technologies and digital culture, how to act and above all the real reasons why they should care.
The real issues are presented mainly, but not exclusively, from a parent’s point of view. The Guide doesn’t require any technical knowledge. If you have ever heard of computers, you have all the background needed to take advantage from this book.
What is the Digital Freedom and Why Should I care?
The Family Guide to Digital Freedom explains, in one place and in normal
language, what everybody should know about software, digital technologies and digital culture, and above all the real reasons why they should care.Today your rights and the overall quality of your life depend very heavily on which software is being used around you: this is true even if you don’t care much about computers, or don’t use them yet.
Don’t be scared! This book is not a software manual, and doesn’t require any technical knowledge. If you have ever heard of computers, you have all the background needed to take advantage from this Guide.
Today software and other digital technologies control and influence every aspect of our education, business and social activity. Even if you don’t use them personally, you need to be sure they are chosen and used properly, just like the ingredients of the food you order at a restaurant. In other words, you have to make sure that your grocery store, school, post office, government… use their computers to yours best advantage, something that doesn’t happen yet very often.
Correct use of software and hardware, together with fair digital copyright laws,
can help to protect civil rights, lower expenses for both families and
businesses, and help many children to have the best possible education and a
good job when they grow up. Properly used and regulated software can help even those who don’t use it to keep as much of their money, privacy and freedom as possible.There’s a lot of stuff happening now to make sure that very powerful interests in these fields are protected. This is one of the worst kept secrets of our time, but also one of the best kept. Everything is happening legally, in plain sight, counting on the fact that, until now, almost everybody has been (kept) in such a state of ignorance, disinformation and bliss that one could basically get away with murder. This book is here to change this situation, and allow you to protect yourself and the future of your children.
The real issues are presented mainly, but not exclusively, from a parent’s point of view. The book is also written for teachers and other educators, as well as politicians: they all have to benefit from truly open digital technologies, and each category can and should stimulate the other two to do so.
patrizia paoletti are discussing.
patrizia paoletti 11:51 am on September 13, 2007 Permalink
It’s very interesting and useful to have such a book to read but i think parents and teachers can’t sleep quietly because some tools(i.e smart-phone)let them use individually without any adults’help or presence.
The following quote:”This book is here to…allow you to protect yourself and the future of your children.”
is very relaxing but you cannot lower the danger level, because kids aren’t aware or responsible yet.So the solution to solve the problem is Media Education,better the New ME,to give them the chance to be digital citizens
mfioretti 9:51 pm on September 27, 2007 Permalink
It’s very interesting and useful to have such a book to read but i think parents and teachers can’t sleep quietly because some tools(i.e smart-phone)let them use individually without any adults’ help or presence.
Patrizia,
Thanks for your comment. Now, while what you say is certainly true, it is not the focus of my book at all, for a couple of reasons. I do mention the fact that constantly keeping a watchful eye on what children do even in the digital space is essential, but this would have never be a reason to take up such a challenge: first of all because there already are plenty of books and blogs giving practical advice at this level, and then because this is an issue that most parents are naturally able to see by themselves, without any external support. “It is important to monitor your children while they are online and explain the risks of being there” is not so different conceptually from “it is important to monitor your children while they are playing in the street, or at school, and explain etc etc…”, even if the knowledge to handle the former case is much less widespread.
What the Guide is about is showing to parents and teacher the dangers for the future of their children of which they don’t even realize the existence:
what are the environmental impacts of the software you install on your home computer?
why is the very concept of e-voting seriously limited?
what is the real, practical reason why it is bad that you should pay hundreds of dollars to use a Disney soundtrack in your home movies, even if it is almost impossible that they find and fine you?
how much is the average family already paying or will pay, in the most different and unexpected ways (from destruction of cultural heritage to already paying fines, many times, for crimes they never committed or the reduction of truly creative and satisfying jobs for adults of tomorrow) thanks to arcane acronums like DRM, IP, ECMA-376 or
ISO 26300?
These and many others are all bad things that are already happening and would continue to happen in the same way even if all parents had the ability to never make their children use smart-phones or computers without supervision, or if all children of the world were wise enough to never misuse these tools.
This is what the Guide is about: explaining in the simplest possible language what these dangers are, why and how they are actually hurting all of us (“your civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how software is used around you”), and how to fight them. And it does this without ever assuming, as several radical FOSS supporters do, that in order to act one should become a software professional or love programming.
The following quote: “This book is here to “allow you to protect yourself and the future of your children.” is very relaxing but you cannot lower the danger level
This depends on which danger(s) you are looking at, or on how many dangers today’s average parent and teacher are already able to see. This is what really worries me, this is why I wrote the book. There are many Digital Dangers that can be neutered, and the moment to do it is now: but only if enough people start seeing them.
kids aren’t aware or responsible yet.So the solution to solve the problem is Media Education,better the New ME,to give them the chance to be digital citizens.
Of course. But in this specific time and age, it is absolutely
necessary that parents and teachers have the right information take the matter in their own hands, that they make by themselves the right choices and vote accordingly. Because it’s not a technical decision, it is an ethic one. Otherwise that New Media Education will be one that only benefits a few corporations.