By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Can ``Big Brother’’ monitor all of cyberspace?
That question was raised as Professor Jo Jung-yul of Korea’s Sookmyung Women’s University Wednesday unveiled new management software, titled ``Merry X-MAS,’’ that gathers all data on the Internet related to a certain word.
The new program, short for Extraordinary Marketing PR Advanced System, combs through bulletin boards on various Web sites, blogs, news sites and community sites for the selected word.
The software demonstrates exposure of the word searched on the Internet, its preference, main topics related to it and all rumors, thus showing netizens’ interest and fondness for the word.
``Up until now, search engines just showed a raft of results for the search. But X-MAS adds more value with analysis and presentation,’’ the 37-year-old Jo said.
He added that politicians or entertainers can use the program to check their reputation while companies also can use the software to learn about the popularity of their products.
``Politicians and entertainers will be able to get the opinions of Internet users on a real time basis. They can also counter vicious rumors about themselves as soon as they appear in the virtual world,’’ Jo said.
However, experts raise concerns that the sophisticated program can be misused to collect private data en masse since the process is conducted without the consent of those who provide information.
In response, Jo claimed such worries are overblown as X-MAS does not specify sources of information and netizens can prevent their blogs or personal sites from being open to the search.
But Jo admitted a Big Brother copycat could appear, trying to use X-MAS to keep an eye on everything that is happening on the Internet.
``Technically, it is possible for someone to upgrade this program to gain details on information providers. Actually we did not recognize such a risk. We will attempt to find a measure to prevent misuse of our system,’’ Jo said.
X-MAS is being sold by GIGO Partners, a co-developer of the program. The price ranges from tens of millions of won to hundreds of millions of won, depending on solutions and the package.
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
댓글 안에 당신의 성숙함도 담아 주세요.
'오늘의 한마디'는 기사에 대하여 자신의 생각을 말하고 남의 생각을 들으며 서로 다양한 의견을 나누는 공간입니다. 그러나 간혹 불건전한 내용을 올리시는 분들이 계셔서 건전한 인터넷문화 정착을 위해 아래와 같은 운영원칙을 적용합니다.
자체 모니터링을 통해 아래에 해당하는 내용이 포함된 댓글이 발견되면 예고없이 삭제 조치를 하겠습니다.
불건전한 댓글을 올리거나, 이름에 비속어 및 상대방의 불쾌감을 주는 단어를 사용, 유명인 또는 특정 일반인을 사칭하는 경우 이용에 대한 차단 제재를 받을 수 있습니다. 차단될 경우, 일주일간 댓글을 달수 없게 됩니다.
명예훼손, 개인정보 유출, 욕설 등 법률에 위반되는 댓글은 관계 법령에 의거 민형사상 처벌을 받을 수 있으니 이용에 주의를 부탁드립니다.
Close
x