Get clued up on the 'anarchic' power of the world wide web

THE ever-changing world of the Internet will be put under the spotlight in Hull next month.

The inaugural conference of the VIRT3C group aims to put Hull University on the map for Internet studies research.

Organiser Dr Athina Karatzogianni said: "This is an academic conference but we are trying to reach out to the public as well. It will be a fantastic opportunity to hear (keynote speaker) Geert Lovink (from the Institute of Network Culture in Amsterdam).

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"The idea is to discuss virtual collaborative networks and looking at the conflicts which are emerging, their difficulties and their successes."

The Internet revolution has been a huge boon to both anti-war movements, who have been able to mobilise support more rapidly than ever before, and groups like Al-Qaeda which uses the Web to recruit and train members in a way, she said, which "works like a franchise almost".

Dr Karatzogianni added that until recently the US Government has been "uncomfortable and clueless" about how to deal with the "uncontrollable and anarchic dimensions of the web".

The world-wide scandal of Abu Ghraib, whose images were first released on the Internet, was a wake-up call.

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The US military now posts its own propaganda on YouTube, such as videos of soldiers engaging with local people and playing football with children, in "an effort to humanise an inhuman war".

Cyberattacks by the Chinese against other powers – German chancellor Angela Merkel brought the issue up with the Chinese when her office was found to be infected with spyware – is another hot topic.

Dr Karatzogianni, a lecturer in media, culture and society at the University, said it remains to be seen whether the emerging conflicts on the Net will transfer to the "real world", but concluded: "The Internet now is like a teenager – you never know what will come out of it."

The conference runs from Friday, March 19 to Saturday, March 20, with a public session on Friday at Lecture Theatre in D, Larkin Building, starting at 5pm when Prof Lovink will be speaking. The theorist, activist and net critic has been involved in new media since the early 1980s.

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