【英语语言学习】我们生活在一个充满监视的社会吗

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

 

All the news about NSA spying on the Internet has been especially upsetting for people outside the United States. They don't have the same protection from NSA surveillance that Americans have. In response, many other governments are now saying it's time to downgrade the dominant¹ U.S. role on the Internet.

 

But as NPR's Tom Gjelten reports, some of those changes could undermine Internet privacy, not protect it.

 

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE²: First, a bit of history from Milton Mueller, a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. What's revolutionary about the Internet, he says, is that it grew so fast, no one had a chance to get control over it.

 

MILTON MUELLER: The reason the Internet worked, the reason it created this massive amount of innovation is precisely³ because, for a brief period of about 10 years, it just completely overcame the telecommunications system of national boundaries. It created a virtual space that was completely interconnected and globalized, and governments had to react to that after the fact.

 

GJELTEN: To the extent one country dominated the Internet, it was the United States. The only organization with any Internet governance function - it controlled the addressing system - was set up by the United States. And the companies most associated with the Internet around the world - Microsoft, Google, Facebook - are U.S. companies.

 

Andrew McLaughlin is an Internet entrepreneur and former deputy chief technology officer at the White House. He thinks there's freedom and openness on the Internet in part because it was a U.S. creation.

 

ANDREW MCLAUGHLIN: Now in the area of free speech, I think it's been a great thing that the United States has had this hugely disproportionate role in providing the Internet's infrastructure⁴ because our First Amendment⁵ traditions have meant that the U.S. tradition of freedom of speech and freedom of expression has prevailed and really has characterized the Internet globally.

 

GJELTEN: But if fans of the Internet around the world have been grateful to the United States until now, some of that good will has been undone⁶ by news of NSA spying.

 

MCLAUGHLIN: We've now, kind of, blown it on surveillance, which is to say that the global fear and suspicion about American surveillance is pushing countries to centralize their infrastructures⁷, get the U.S. out of the picture. And I think that will ultimately have negative consequences for free speech as well as for protection of privacy.

 

GJELTEN: The prime mover demanding changes in the way the Internet is governed is Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. She was furious to learn she was herself a target of NSA surveillance.

 

PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF: (Foreign language spoken)

 

GJELTEN: Speaking at the United Nations last month, Rousseff called for changes in the governance of the Internet. At home, she has suggested that Brazil partially⁸ disconnect from U.S.-based parts of the Internet, so Brazilians' online data would be stored in Brazil, supposedly out of the NSA's reach.

 

The irony⁹ here is that putting the Internet more under the control of individual governments may actually leave the citizens in some of those countries more vulnerable to surveillance, if not by the United States, then by their own governments.

 

As a cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier has helped uncover some of the NSA's secret surveillance activity. He is nevertheless alarmed that some people have reacted to the NSA disclosures by proposing to break up the Internet.

 

BRUCE SCHNEIER: This is bad. All right, this is bad for the Internet. We really need a global Internet. And the NSA's actions embolden¹⁰ these people to say we need more sovereign control. So unfortunately, there's an enormous blowback - which I think can affect the way the Internet works today.

 

GJELTEN: Last week, the drive to take the Internet away from U.S. control got a huge boost, when the head of the Internet addressing group - the one set up by the United States - endorsed¹¹ a move to drop its official connection to the U.S. government.

 

Besides these proposals to change the architecture and governance of the Internet, there's talk of regulating how information can flow around the world, restrictions¹², for example, on how U.S. companies like Google can operate in other countries. Milton Mueller of Syracuse says that would be costly¹³.

 

MUELLER: Is it practical in a sense that you can create regulations that block off trade in these information services? Yeah, you can do that. There will be massive sacrifices of economic efficiency. But you can introduce barriers, definitely.

 

GJELTEN: So, people around the world are angry the NSA has used the Internet for spying. But what to do about it?

 

The Internet has largely been a free and open space because of the way it was set up. Changing it - even to protect Internet users' freedom - might actually backfire.

 

Tom Gjelten, NPR News, Washington.

1 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

6 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

7 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

8 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

9 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

10 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

11 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。