reading assignment 1

Piper, Paul S. Web Hoaxes , Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet. Web of Deception.


In Piper’s chapter on Web sites that provide misleading information, he breaks down misleading websites in different categories: counterfeit, malicious, product, fictitious, parodies/spoofs/entertainment, hacks, disinformation, and mistakes. Piper distinguishes webs sites using a definition as well has example of that specific type of web site. A counterfeit site is one that attempts to pass itself off as an authentic site. Malicious has the intent to sway information to do harm to the reputation of a product, person or group. Parodies/spoofs/entertainment is not normally used to be taken seriously but under the right circumstances they are mistakenly used as creditable sources. Hacks are cases where reputable web site is hacked into and the information is purposely changed by a third party without the consent of the administrators of the site. Disinformation is defined as the “dissemination of deliberately false information, especially when supplied by a government or its agent to a foreign power or the media, with the intention of influencing the policies or pinion of those who receive it.” Mistakes are just that mistake made not on purpose but accidentally. Piper states that the elderly and young children are most susceptible to misinformation on the internet and that most dangerous information is often that involving medicine and health. Piper also explains the dangers of the misleading web sites and ways to protect your self from false information. Piper suggestions include: consider the source and check where the web site is registered and certain organization as dedicated to eliminating internet hoaxes.
The most interesting aspect of Piper article was the examples he provided to prove that such information is available on the internet. I agree with Piper in that if one uses common sense information on the internet can be used every affectively. The only problem that exists is that one has to be able to determine if the site is creditable or not.