This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1527476408323345v1 9/6/487    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Google Scholar Articles by Schulte, S. R. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

"The WarGames Scenario": Regulating Teenagers and Teenaged Technology (1980-1984)

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stephanieschulte{at}gmail.com.

	Abstract

WarGames (1983), the first mass-consumed, visual representation of the internet, served as both a vehicle and framework for America’s earliest discussion of the internet. WarGames presented the internet simultaneously as a high-tech toy for teenagers and a weapon for global destruction. In its wake, major news media focused on potential realities of the "WarGames Scenario." In response, Congress held hearings, screened WarGames, and produced the first internet-regulating legislation. WarGames engaged a "teenaged technology" discourse, which cast both internet technology itself and its users as rebellious teenagers in need of parental control. This discourse enabled policy makers to equate government internet regulation with parental guidance rather than with suppression of democracy and innovation, a crucial distinction within 1980s cold war context. Thus, this article historicizes the internet as a cultural text, examining how technology and its regulation shaped and were shaped by cultural representations.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?