TOPICS
The topics being discussed here on the film Akira(1988) come from the textbook Ethics for the Information age by Michael J. Quinn. Exploring various ideas and problems regarding Computation and Information Processing in Society.
NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS
Although having numerous edge technology in Neo-Tokyo, there isn’t much difference in the networked communications between Akira’s world and that of ours. Given this background, censorship is still a main theme in the movie. As the government actively experimenting on the possibility to reproduce the new Akira, it blocked any information about these experiments to the citizens. They did a very good job for quite a while in that there is no indication in the movie that people are aware of this secret. One way of the government hiding the truth is, for example, when the experiment subject evaded from the lab, the Neo-Tokyo government sent out the army and the police to hunt down “anti-government group” but secretly try to retrieve him. In addition, when it is later revealed that Akira is buried low below the ground level, the general commented it is the shame of the government and they are scared so they had to hid it away from the civilization. In this way, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable is solely decided by the government. Not only does the government has absolute say in the control of information, but it also has total control of the freedom of expression. In the Akira’s world, Neo- Tokyo reached a state where the economy is rapidly reforming but the balance between government, army, and people is chaotic. Subsequently, civilian groups and religious groups emerged to fight for their rights, but the government and the army reacted to these group with violence(having soldiers open fire at the protest). What’s more, the freedom of the press is also strictly limited by the government. When the reporter is reporting on Tetsuo, which is a top secret of the government, the army demanded the commentator to shut down live reporting.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The issue of intellectual property and its implications for a corrupt, self-centered world like that of Neo-Tokyo are largely absent throughout Akira. Some interesting dilemmas do arise from thinking about aspects of the story, however. The superhuman children who were experimented on in pre-WWIII Tokyo are individuals, but they have received substantial abilities and augmentations by researchers. Who owns the technologies used to create their metahuman brains, and could someone patent the outcome? Would a corporation be able to limit and own people who benefited through such drastic changes to their physicality and mental abilities? In other words, who owns these kids’ brains, the kids who are no longer the same people post-procedure, or the researchers and companies who changed these kids into literal gods among men? While this issue is interesting to consider, it is never brought up during the course of the film, in no small part because the world of Neo-Tokyo is violently ripping itself apart at the seams, and thus discussions of ownership over others bodies’ plays second fiddle to issues about human evolution and creating beings that humans are unable to comprehend or control.
INFORMATION PRIVACY
In Akira there are not many things in the film that relate to information privacy ,but it is easy to imagine there being a lack of thereof. At the beginning of the film the government used one of the experiment children, number 27 Masaru, to locate another missing experiment child, number 26 Takashi. Id imagine using the children as a technology they could find the location of anyone in that society. This is similar to the way we are always being tracked in our current society by the gps in our always on phones.
Another example of privacy being infringed on was when tetsuo left the hospital the first time. He was being surveillanced the whole time he was out but was only revealed to the viewers when he started to get pains in his head. While the examples are loosely related to information privacy, It is clear to see that the government in this society does not value privacy. Throughout the whole movie it is clear to see that the military has probably the greatest authority. This being the case one can reasonably assume that this society would prioritize public safety over privacy because they will do whatever it takes to meet their notion of safety without regard to any civilian's privacy.
PRIVACY AND THE GOVERNMENT
One of the most significant, influencing forces in Akira is the government. The government is responsible for the experiments that were conducted on the Numbers and also the coverup of the Akira project. At the beginning of the film, Tetsuo crashes his bike as a result of seeing one of the “Numbers,” children psychics that the government experiment on. After this, Tetsuo is abducted and held hostage by the government and tested for psychic powers. On numerous occasions, Tetsuo escapes captivity, but is quickly recaptured by the government. This highlights the issue of the government restricting the individual’s freedom when it comes to technology. However, the question still remains about how the government influences the privacy and freedom of the citizens of Neo-Tokyo. Throughout the film, there are two factions that the government suppresses, the anti-government resistance organization and the cult of Akira. The government uses violence and technologically-advanced weaponry to put down protests by both of these groups. Examples of this advanced weaponry include the laser guns, one of which Kaneda uses in his final encounter with Tetsuo, and the orbital laser weapon SOL that the military use to attack Tetsuo. Also, the government’s ambition to chase down the technologically superior being of Tetsuo leads them to negatively interfere in the lives of other people.
COMPUTER AND NETWORK SECURITY
The implication of Computer and Network security and it’s implication to any society is an important issue . Although it has no part in Akira. Computer and network security principles can prevent crucial information to get into the hands that it does not belong. There are no computer or network that is immune to attacks, but having a stronger security simply means that it is less likely falling victim of data theft and sabotage. With a setting in Neo-Tokyo in 1988 in Akira, it is very important for the government to have their networks and computers secured. This is because working on something as classified as Akira shouldn’t be something that any people in the city can know. Especially with the presence of cult societies who could misuse this information to their benefit in order to gain the support of the people. They are very capable of this as seen in the scene where the cults try to say that Tetsuo is Akira, and a god. Moreover the people should also treat network and computer security as a major concern , as the government works on recreating Akira. Which means that they may try to hack information from networks and computers in order to learn more about Akira, and any connections to him they can find. Moreover being a time of censorship the government will also try to read data from private networks in order to ensure anything done falls within given standards. Hence people and the government must invest their time to ensuring that there is a low risk of data theft.
COMPUTER RELIABILITY
One of the reasons the movie ends the way it does is because Tetsuo’s power consumes him and causes him to go berserk. This highlights the pivotal role of computer reliability in the film Akira. Even from the beginning of the film, this role is highlighted when a mysterious explosion occurs in Tokyo, plunging the entire world into war and transforming Neo-Tokyo into a desolate, corrupt metropolis. As the movie progresses, it is made apparent that history is doomed to repeat itself as we see the scientists lose control of Tetsuo’s newfound, rampant power. Because the technology that gave Tetsuo his powers was unreliable, he lost control and destroyed a large portion of the city. Besides this primary example, there are other examples of computer reliability, or lack thereof, in Akira. For example, scientists of the past decided to cryogenically freeze Akira because the technology at that point was not reliable enough to proceed with research.