Cyberpunk Reference

I’ve tried everything to contact anyone connected to this material, but all of the contact information seems to be outdated. So, if anyone knows where I can get a permission from, please put up a comment. In any case, this list is from this site.

2. What is cyberpunk, the subculture?

Spurred on by cyberpunk literature, in the mid-1980’s certain groups
of people started referring to themselves as cyberpunk, because they
correctly noticed the seeds of the fictional “techno-system” in
Western society today, and because they identified with the
marginalized characters in cyberpunk stories. Within the last few
years, the mass media has caught on to this, spontaneously dubbing
certain people and groups “cyberpunk”. Specific subgroups which are
identified with cyberpunk are:

Hackers, Crackers, and Phreaks: “Hackers” are the “wizards” of the
computer community; people with a deep understanding of how their
computers work, and can do things with them that seem
“magical”. “Crackers” are the real-world analogues of the “console
cowboys” of cyberpunk fiction; they break in to other people’s
computer systems, without their permission, for illicit gain or simply
for the pleasure of exercising their skill. “Phreaks” are those who do
a similar thing with the telephone system, coming up with ways to
circumvent phone companies’ calling charges and doing clever things
with the phone network. All three groups are using emerging computer
and telecommunications technology to satisfy their individualist
goals.

Cypherpunks: These people think a good way to bollix “The System” is
through cryptography and cryptosystems. They believe widespread use of
extremely hard-to-break coding schemes will create “regions of privacy”
that “The System” cannot invade.

Ravers: These are the folks who use synthesized and sampled music,
computer-generated psychedelic (“cyberdelic”) art, and designer drugs
to create massive all-night dance parties and love-fests in empty
warehouses.

However, one person’s “cyberpunk” is another’s everyday obnoxious
teenager with some technical skill thrown in, or just someone looking
for the latest trend to identify with. This has led many people
to look at self-designated “cyberpunks” in a negative light. Also,
there are those who claim that “cyberpunk” is undefinable (which
in some sense it is, being concerned with outsiders and rebels), and
resent the mass media’s use of the label, seeing it as a cynical
marketing ploy.

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3. What is cyberspace?
How does it relate to today’s “net” and “virtual reality”?

To my knowledge, the term “cyberspace” was first used by William
Gibson in his story “Burning Chrome”. That work first describes users
using devices called “cyberdecks” to override their normal sensory
organs, presenting them with a full-sensory interface to the world
computer network; when doing so, said users are “in cyberspace”. (The
concept had appeared prior to Gibson, most notably in Vernor Vinge’s
story “True Names”.) “Cyberspace” is thus the metaphorical “place”
where one “is” when accessing the world computer net.

Even though Gibson’s vision of how cyberspace operates is in some
senses absurd, it has stimulated many in the computing community. The
word “cyberspace” is becoming commonly used in the “mainstream world”
in reference to the emergent world-wide computer network (especially
the Internet). Also, some researchers in the “virtual reality” area of
computer science are trying to implement something like Gibson’s
information space. However, “cyberspace” is also used to refer to any
computer-generated VR environment, even if its purpose is not
“accessing the net”.