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Of Citizenship and Software

Posted by mfioretti on · Post a comment
Open and Shut; By R. Poynder 		Mail this story
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What is the role, purpose and point of software? Most people might assume that question to have an obvious answer: as the Berkman Center for Internet & Society puts it, software is “the programs or other ‘instructions’ that a computer needs to perform specific tasks. Examples of software include word processors, e-mail clients, web browsers, video games, spread sheets, accounting tools and operating systems.” What this description omits of course is human agency, which ultimately determines what software does, how it does it, the degree to which it supports or undermines the rules and laws of society, and how it encourages or discourages ordinary citizens to participate in the process of defining those rules and laws.

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