What are webcams? The word webcam is a compound word formed from two abbreviations, "web" from the World Wide Web and "cam" from camera. Webcams are cameras which are situated at various places and linked to the World Wide Web. They allow 24-hour viewing of a wide array of places and activities around the world. They can be as educational as they are fascinating, entertaining as they are eye-opening. Not everyone raves about this new technology, however. Some cite sinister implications in a technology which can unobtrusively spy on our goings-on without our permission. Others note that with rapid increases in telephotography and the science of acoustics, the days of privacy are numbered. Anyone can mount a webcam with a telephoto lens and microphone, aim it at his neighbors' living room or bedroom, and then broadcast one's "private" life to the whole world. A script for the next sci-fi film, or a current reality? Are these doomsayers overreacting, or is their charge legitimate?[qh]
什么是 webcams（網絡攝影機）? webcam 這個字是由兩個縮寫字組成的復合字，"web" 是全球網絡的縮寫，"cam" 則是攝影機的縮寫。網絡攝影機就是位于各地和全球網絡聯機的攝影機。它們能夠讓人24小時觀看全世界許多不同的地方和活動。它們既具教育性又同時吸引人，有娛樂性并能讓人大開眼界。然而，并非每個人對這項新科技都贊不絕口。有些人視這項科技為洪水猛獸，認為它能不經我們同意就悄悄監視我們的行動；其它人則指出隨著遠距離攝影術和音響科學的快速增長，擁有隱私的日子屈指可數。任何人都可利用電子攝影鏡頭和麥克風架設一臺網絡攝影機對準鄰居的客廳或臥室，然后將某人的“隱秘”生活轉播給全世界。這是下一部科幻電影的劇本，還是當今的現狀呢？是這些杞人憂天的人反應過度，還是他們的指控確實有道理呢？[qh]
On one side of the debate are those who point out that webcams offer more real advantages than supposed disadvantages. They cite numerous websites on which people can observe the world around them for educational or aesthetic purposes. Today one can watch urban scenes like city streets and squares or even haunted houses! Nature lovers can revel in the undetectable webcasting of bats, sharks, and penguins at various sites around the world. A huge collection of webcams can be found at www.earthcam.com. Another great collection can be viewed at www.discovery.com. Most educators, parents, and politicians would agree that these websites allow for a better understanding of both the human and natural environments in the world we all live in. Certainly, they would say, webcams provide an invaluable service and should not be restricted.[qh]
這項討論的一方人馬指出網絡攝影機提供的實際益處多過假想的壞處。他們舉出無數的網站，人們可上網去觀察他們周遭的世界以達到教育或美學的目的。今天人們可以觀看城市的風景，像是都市街道和廣場甚或鬼屋！愛好自然的人可以在全球的網站上盡情欣賞悄悄從旁拍攝的蝙蝠、鯊魚和企鵝等。在 www.earthcam.com 這個網站可以找到許多網絡攝影機。另外在 www.discovery.com 網站上亦可看到不少網絡攝影機。大部分的教育家、父母和政治人物都會同意，這些網站讓我們更加了解我們大家所住的世界上的人類和自然環境。他們當然會說網絡攝影機提供了珍貴的服務，所以不該受限制。[qh]
Others are not so sure. Every technology cuts both ways. Even fire can cook food as it can burn our flesh. Railroads gave us faster and more convenient transportation as they simultaneously signaled the death knell of many species of migratory animals as well as served up noise and air pollution. Nuclear energy gives millions heat, light, and power just as it creates unwanted radioactive side effects. Seemingly harmless technologies such as telecommunications also have their dark side.[qh]
有些人可就不這么認為。每項科技都像一把雙刃劍；即使是火能夠烹煮食物，但它卻也會燒傷我們的皮肉。鐵路為我們帶來更快速和便利的交通，卻也敲響許多遷移性動物的喪鐘以及產生噪音和空氣污染。核子能源帶給無數人暖氣、光和電力，卻也制造有害的幅射副作用。表面看似無害的科技，諸如電子傳播媒體同樣也有黑暗的一面。[qh]
Opponents of webcams note that the sleazy, commercial instinct of some people is unleashed with the offering of for-pay viewing of certain starlets or other celebrities' home lives, which most people prefer to think of as their "private" life. Perhaps not much longer. In some controversial cases, webcams have been mounted in public installations such as washrooms so that voyeurs may watch the intimate goings-on of anonymous people. Even more sinister is the capacity for the new technology to be used in both economic espionage and "good old" state-to-state spying. Webcams mounted surreptitiously in business offices or factories can reveal on-screen "secrets" from those unaware that they are being bugged. With microelectronics technology reducing the size of telecommunications devices, this is no paranoid fantasy any longer.[qh]
反對網絡攝影機的人指出，某些人齷齪的商業本能被釋放開來，他們為了賺錢而提供一些付費的網站，讓上網者觀看小明星或其它名人的家居生活，這部分大多數人寧愿視為是“私人的”生活?；蛟S不再是這樣也說不定。有些備受爭議的案例中，網絡攝影機被架設在廁所等公共設施，以便讓那些愛偷窺的人看到匿名人士的隱密舉動。更可怕的是，這項新科技可以被用在經濟間諜活動和“昔日盛行”的國對國間諜戰。被偷偷安裝在商業辦公室或工廠的網絡攝影機，可以把不知道自己被監控人們的“秘密”顯露在屏幕上。隨著微電子科技不斷把電子信息裝置的體積縮小，上述情況已不再只是胡思亂想了。[qh]
The human mind is as devious as the many progressive devices it produces. No matter what technology mankind develops in the future, we can be sure that it will offer an opportunity to exercise the dark side of our potential. On balance, we must move forward and allow these new technologies. Only by practicing them —— for good or bad —— can we realize our human potential. On balance, too, despite the horrific deadly or sinister potential in technology, the world offers a more productive, comfortable, and progressive environment today than in our previous low-tech centuries. At the end of the day, it is not our technology that we must learn to control so much as ourselves.[qh]
人心和它所制造出來的許多進步裝置一樣詭詐。不管將來人類發展出什么樣的科技，我們都可確定它必然會提供我們機會去運用我們潛力的黑暗面。就整體看來，我們必須前進并且容許這些新科技。唯有透過應用這些科技——不管是好是壞——我們才能了解人類的潛力。另外，盡管科技有可怕的致命或兇惡潛質，比起以前那些低科技的世紀，今日世界仍提供了一個生產力較高及較舒適和進步的環境。總歸一句話，我們必須學習去控制的不是我們的科技，而是我們自己。[qh]