Hassan's+Story

Questions
Watch the film "Hassan's Story". Now answer the following questions:

1. Why are Hassan’s parents concerned about him?

2. Hassan believes that he is ‘adventurous and creative’. Why?

3. Hassan uses a program called ‘LinkedUp’. This is an example of a peer-to-peer, file-sharing network. (a) Why does Hassan use LinkedUp? (b) Suggest some advantages of a file-sharing network. (c) What are some of the possible disadvantages of a file-sharing network? (d) Is Hassan doing anything illegal by using LinkedUp? (e) Name some other well known peer-to-peer or file sharing networks.

4. Hassan sells the music and games that he downloads to his friends at school. (a) Is Hassan doing anything illegal? (b) What is meant by the term ‘intellectual property’? (c) What are the possible consequences for people who download and sell music, movies and games in this way?

5. Hassan says he is going to do his History essay ‘the easy way’ – on the Internet. (a) What does Hassan mean by this? (b) Describe how Hassan goes about producing an essay based on other people’s work. (c) Do you think there is anything wrong in what Hassan is doing? (d) Are there any risks or possible consequences of using other people’s work in this way?

6. Hassan says he comes across lots of cool web sites and one of his favourites is Nuclearfax.com. (a) Why does Hassan think that Nuclearfax.com is a cool web site? (b) What seems to be the main message of the Nuclearfax web site? (c) Most people would find the claims made on Nuclearfax to be ridiculous. Some people like Hassan, however, believe them to be true. Suggest some reasons for this. (d) What are some of the possible dangers of Nuclearfax.com and other such controversial web sites?

7. Hassan says that he is ‘addicted’ to Worlds of Warfare. (a) What do you think Hassan means by this? (b) Do you think it is possible for someone to be ‘addicted’ to a computer game? Explain your answer.

8. Worlds of Warfare is an example of a collaborative online game, sometimes known as MM ORPG. (a) Describe briefly how games like this work. (b) Give examples of other popular or well-known MM ORPG games.

9. One of the players in Hassan’s team calls himself ‘Blade of the Immortal’. Hassan believes that he lives in Japan. (a) Are there any indications that ‘Blade’ might not be who he says he is? (b) Is Hassan acting in a safe way by chatting with Blade outside of the game? What risks might he be taking?

10. Hassan received an email advertising a link to a new World of Warfare web site. (a) Do you think this web site was genuine? Say why. (b) Hassan has no idea who sent the email with the web link. Who might have sent this email? (c) Why do you think Hassan was so willing to click the link and explore the web site? (d) What was the web site offering? (e) What were some of the risks taken by Hassan in browsing this web site? (f) In what way did Hassan pay for the items he decided to buy? (g) What were the risks taken by Hassan in buying items with his father’s credit card? (h) What do you think is the most likely explanation for the failed download from World of Warfare web site?

11. At the end of the story, Hassan’s father is angry to find that his credit card has been used without his knowledge and that money has been taken from his bank account. Hassan suspects that it might be something to do with what he did on the World of Warfare web site. (a) How could other people carry out these financial transactions without his father’s knowledge? (b) Do you think that Hassan should tell his father about what he did? Say why.

12. Police officers have visited Hassan’s home recently. (a) What are the police investigating? (b) What might be the possible consequences for Hassan if the police continue their investigation?

13. A computer virus has suddenly affected his father’s computer. In what way might this be connected with Hassan?

14. In the story, Hassan often did things that were unsafe or risky. List as many examples of risky or unsafe behaviour as you can.

15. For each of the risks you have identified, suggest what Hassan could have done to reduce that risk, and stay safe online.