Over the past 3 years, the Kardashian family has blown up in popularity and attention. They are constantly on the covers of magazines, television ads, and even have their own show on the E! Network. Kim, Chloe, and Courtney are the main characters in their reality TV show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The show focuses on their everyday lives and drama surrounding the family. Their mother, Kris Jenner, has two daughters with her, now divorced, husband Bruce Jenner. The appearance of these two girls caught the attention of many views. Kendall is 17 years old, and Kylie is 16. At such a young age these girls were thrust into the spotlight for all of America, and the rest of the world, to see.
The media starts rumors of Kendall and Kylie partying and drinking underage with fake IDs.
On October 15, 2013, paparazzi spotted Kedall and Kylie Jenner entering a night club while using fake IDs. Not only was it a 21-and-over club, but that night was supposedly sex-themed and included nudity. The media had a field day with this news which led to more outrageous accusations. With the recent split of their parents, some reported that the girls were partying to deal with the stress. Others accused them of drug abuse and driving while under the influence of alcohol. To the public, this is most definitely not a scene that should include a 17 or 16 year old. The reporters even went as far as to blame their parents and created even more fabricated tension between the newly divorced couple. Fans took to twitter to question the girls about the rumors, and some even displayed being let down by the girls.
Kendall and Kylie rant on twitter about the media's ridiculous accusations.
Almost a week after the night at the club, Kylie and Kendall both used their twitters to assure audiences and fans that the media was fabricating the story. Apparently, both girls went to the club as an after party for a fashion show they were paid to attend. They were with their family, did not have fake IDs, and did not drink any alcohol. The effect that these rumors had on these girls was clear after reading their, very disgruntled, tweets. To them, it was insulting to publish stories that made them seem like Hollywood train wrecks. Kendall even tweets, "we're smarter than that, we have goals and personally I think it's sad that some people sit at their desk making things up." They used twitter to address the rumors spreading in the media, and to keep the media from destroying their image.
The girls use twitter to update followers on their lives and shines a light on their happiness.
Aside from addressing the media, they use Twitter just like every other teenage girl. Tweeting about frozen yogurt, puppies, and music; it helps people remember that even though they are celebrities, they are still average teenagers. Amiss all the scandals surrounding themselves and their family, Kendall and Kylie constantly tweet pictures of themselves looking happy and bright. They tweet to inspire girls to be confident. They generally get a positive response from their followers and have many that look up to them.
Both the media and Twitter offer views of Kendall and Kylie that must all be taken with a grain of salt.
While the media portrayal of Kendall and Kylie are a stark contrast to their innocent personas on Twitter, it is important to note that there is bias on both ends. The media will obviously exaggerate certain facts and manipulate stories in order to get people to read their content. However, Kendall and Kylie could also be using their Twitters to get people to think better of them, for the sake of their own reputations.
The media portrays Kendall and Kylie as wild, spoiled teenagers that took advantage of their fame. While their Twitter accounts tell us that they are innocent and determined girls that are great role models to younger girls. The difference in these two portrayals is incredibly wide and so both sources are not the most reliable when looking for unbiased opinions.
The Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is an attempt at restricting access of copyrighted material. DRM removes usage control after the user purchases the content, through security codes and various technological restrictions. DRM is used to restrict the user from copying, sharing and printing content. This content includes movies, video games, software, music, eBooks and much more.
While DRM does take the initiative to protect the copyrighted material for the content producer, it is possible that it may cause adverse effects on the users. It creates tension between the producer and consumer. Some may even argue that it give studios the right to treat consumers as criminals. Generally, DRM protected files cannot be transferred between devices and usually requires a specialized player; creating a grave inconvenience to a paying customer.
Not only does DRM create an incentive for people to break the rules, it also is incredibly common for it to be hacked. One man even created a lego contraption to hack into Kindle eBook security. Pirated content, like movies or shows, almost never require navigation through DRM in order to view it. There are now special players and software that accommodate for pirated content and provide no play-back errors.
A study by the US TV network NBC Universal "estimates that in January 432 million people accessed copyright infringing material and in the process of doing so consumed a rather substantial 9,567 petabytes of data." This means that almost a quarter of all internet traffic is attributed to digital piracy. Clearly there are loop holes in digital rights management that have yet to be addressed.
Despite these loop holes, industries are still increasing the security and DRM on certain content. The creator of the world wide web and director of the web standards body W3C, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has publicly supported measures to embed digital rights management in HTML5. Him and others like him have proposed to add encrypted media extensions that would provide a hook for DRM-protected content within the new HTML code. Their overall goal is to cut the means of piracy and by doing this, they wish to avoid content being completely removed from the internet by its creators because it is too often being pirated.
Not surprisingly, there has been much disapproval from media users. Some argue that it is another way for the media industry to try and control its users. It shows who is really in charge of your web experience. Many believe that the internet is a place for sharing not for restrictions.
The controversy over DRM is still very prevalent today as more and more copyrighted content is continuously being produced. Should these companies continue to lace their products in security codes or will piracy always find a loop hole?
