INST201 Exam #3 Study guide

What is democratic governance?

system in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.

What are social movements?

Social movements are organized efforts by a large group of people to bring about or impede social, political, economic, or cultural change.

What is civic technology?

Civic technology refers to technology that enables citizens to engage with government and improve their communities, often through digital tools.

What are the four types of social movements?

alternative, redemptive, reformative, and revolutionary.

What is digital social movement?

Digital social movements are social movements that utilize digital tools and platforms to organize, mobilize, and advocate for change.

What was the Arab Spring?

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests and uprisings that spread across the Arab world beginning in late 2010.

What is the significance of Operation Payback?

Operation Payback was a series of coordinated DDoS attacks by Anonymous against organizations perceived to be against WikiLeaks, highlighting the power of online activism.

What are rare earth metals?

Rare earth metals are a group of 17 elements that are critical for many high-tech applications but are difficult to extract and process.

What is a Superfund site?

A Superfund site is a contaminated location in the United States that requires long-term cleanup of hazardous material, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)?

The DMCA is a U.S. copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization, aimed at protecting copyrighted works in the digital environment.

What is fair use?

Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the rights holders, based on specific factors.

What are the four fair use factors?

purpose and character of the use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of the portion used, and effect on the market for the original work.

What is the right to repair?

The right to repair is a movement advocating for consumers' ability to repair their own devices and equipment, promoting consumer empowerment and sustainability.

What is a DDoS attack?

A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.

What is the Domain Name System (DNS)?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the hierarchical system that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses, allowing browsers to load Internet resources.

What is algorithmic management?

Algorithmic management refers to the use of algorithms to manage and optimize tasks, often in the context of communication and interactions between constituents and representatives.

What is the significance of the information space reversal?

The phenomenon where governments learn to manipulate social media to counteract protests by flooding platforms with propaganda.

What is the role of social media in the Arab Spring?

Social media played a crucial role in the Arab Spring by facilitating organization, communication, and dissemination of information among protesters.

What is the significance of the term 'visibility is not leverage'?

'Visibility is not leverage' emphasizes that simply being seen or known does not equate to having power or influence in a social movement.

What is astroturfing?

the practice of creating a deceptive appearance of grassroots support for a cause, often orchestrated by organizations or corporations.

What are the environmental effects of niobium mining?

deforestation, water contamination, and the generation of radioactive waste.

What is the significance of the Dodd-Frank Section 1502?

requires companies to disclose their use of conflict minerals, aiming to reduce the funding of armed groups in conflict regions.

What is the difference between copyright and patent protection?

Copyright protects original works of authorship, while patents protect inventions and processes, granting exclusive rights to the inventor.

What is the current state of right-to-repair law in the US?

The current state of right-to-repair law in the US is evolving, with increasing advocacy for legislation that allows consumers to repair their own devices without restrictions.

What is the significance of the Oracle v. Google case?

The Oracle v. Google case addressed the legality of using Java APIs in Android, impacting software interoperability and copyright law.

Alternative movements

focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individuals beliefs and behavior. Alcoholics anonymous, mothers against drunk driving

Redemptive movements

focused on a specific segment of the population, and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals

Reformative movements

to change something specific about the social structure. Environment movements, “Buy nothing day” which protests the rampant consumerism of black Friday

Revolutionary movements

to completely change every aspect of society—-their goal is to change all of society in a dramatic way. The civil rights movements or the political movements, such as a push for communism

Why the Arab Spring largely failed

no decision-making processes, no leadership, hierarchies, no sustained institutions

The information space reversal

governments learned to flood social media with propaganda

Who is WikiLeaks

Founded in 2006 by julian assange. Publishes leaked materials provided by (often!) anonymous sources

Social media and democracy

information overload, selective exposure, surveillance, capitalism's anti-democratic tendencies

Environmental effects of niobium mining

deforestation, water contamination, radioactive waste

Why cobalt is not classified as a conflict mineral

it is not explicitly listed under current legislation like the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act (Section 1502),

Ingrid Burrington's argument

toxic tech culture is connected to toxic supply chains because the tech industry is built on exploitative labor, harmful mining/manufacturing, and environmental pollution

What is a semiconductor

Material that can both conduct and block electricity, making it useful for computer chips.

Why silicon matters:

It’s cheap, abundant, stable, and easy to manipulate for controlling electrical current in electronics.

Computer chip manufacturing process

Purify silicon → slice wafers → print circuits → etch/doping → add layers → test, cut, and package

How contamination began in silicon valley

Accidental disposal

How contamination persists

Vapor intrusion

Toxic and carcinogenic materials in chip manufacturing

Chip production uses hazardous chemicals like solvents, acids, and heavy metals, which can expose workers and nearby communities to pollution and cancer risks.

Why clean rooms protect chips, not workers

Clean rooms are designed to keep dust and particles away from chips so they work correctly, not to reduce workers’ exposure to toxic chemicals or protect their health.

ContentID

YouTube system that scans uploads for copyrighted material and lets owners block, monetize, or track videos.

What ContentID doesn’t do

Doesn’t decide fair use or fully resolve copyright disputes automatically.

ContentID and fair use

the system does not acknowledge fair use

Public Domain

Works not protected by copyright, so anyone can use them freely

What enters the public domain & when

Works enter the public domain when copyright expires, or if the creator never copyrighted them.

Star’s infrastructure characteristics

A “star” system depends on hidden infrastructure layers that become visible only when something fails or is analyzed closely

Botnet

A network of hacked computers or devices controlled remotely by a hacker, usually used to send spam, launch attacks, or steal data.

What the IBNS was

A system used by banks to send real-time alerts (like texts or emails) about account activity such as withdrawals, deposits, or suspicious transactions.

What MCAS was designed to do

A flight control system on the Boeing 737 MAX designed to automatically push the plane’s nose down if it detects a risk of the plane stalling (losing lift) at high angles.

How MCAS failed,

single angle-of-attack sensor, no redundancy, no pilot override