Random Thoughts...

A person cannot be charged for murder if his intentions are not clear... Wow. Things u can learn from inane shows on the telly like True Files. :P

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Anywho... Thought the debate just now was just ok... Not too satisfactory. It was rather too technical - they kept arguing what was meant by "private space" and their definitions of this sphere were at loggerheads with each other... which was to the disadvantage of the whole debate since it immediately formed 2 factions which simply would not be able to see face to face - and they literally did not! There was no eye contact at all between the teams and though it was kinda fierce what with the direct 'attacks' when they addressed the individuals by name, what they all brought to the table was not very useful though it was very engaging I must admit.

Let's see... Pointers I picked out that could have helped somewhat. First thing that struck me was that they should have simply compared blogs to personal (physical) diaries in the form of books. This would have set off a comparison of sorts that could have been dynamic. For example, diaries can really really be intimate. Secrets that you really do not want people to know and you can bring it along with you everywhere you go and the security of its contents depend on you and only you. A blog however is of a totally different nature. Blog contents are undeniably affected by the fact that you know people read it. Precisely because of this, your writings are somewhat skewed. You have this nagging thought in your head that people will read this, and especially if you know that friends read your blog, you will skewer your blog to suit your audience. You will not spell out a person's name in your blog as it can directly be read by the person himself and if he knows who the blog belongs to, the repercussions will be felt by you and you alone. And you cannot stop people from reading your blog, unless you put a password on your blog. Even this is not safe enough. Blogs can be easily hacked as can be seen by Xiaxue's hacked blog recently. Thus, the security of your blog itself falls on the company's server on which your blog resides. Thus, all this would simply mean that a blog cannot be truly a private and personal space on the web. The fact that it is on the web itself is a declaration that it is a public space since all webspaces on the web are public. Phew... that was a tiring feat.

But, there is such a thing as the Copyright Law on the net. As it is with print media, the law does recognize the fact that webpages are also intellectual property as it is a personal expression using words and graphics and what have you nots. Therefore there is a protection of personal rights on the web. This however does not contribute to the debate's topic I think. :P Personal rights does not equal to personal space. Personal space refers more to privacy and of freedom of speech. With so much red tape going on and with some webpages saying that you are liable to be under the laws of your own country, it's the same as saying that you're not able to practise the freedom of speech that some countries enjoy. What personal space are we talking about then?

Lol... :P Those were just my thoughts. But I have to admit that I personally felt Madrasah Wak Tanjong had the topic right from the beginning. I felt that the topic was more to be opposed than to be agreed with and thus... I think the right team won. :)

Hey anyway... All these words abovementioned are just my own personal thoughts... Bludgeon me not!!! :P