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?
什么是 webcams（网络摄影机）? webcam 这个字是由两个缩写字组成的复合字，"web" 是全球网络的缩写，"cam" 则是摄影机的缩写。网络摄影机就是位于各地和全球网络联机的摄影机。它们能够让人24小时观看全世界许多不同的地方和活动。它们既具教育性又同时吸引人，有娱乐性并能让人大开眼界。然而，并非每个人对这项新科技都赞不绝口。有些人视这项科技为洪水猛兽，认为它能不经我们同意就悄悄监视我们的行动；其它人则指出随着远距离摄影术和音响科学的快速增长，拥有隐私的日子屈指可数。任何人都可利用电子摄影镜头和麦克风架设一台网络摄影机对准邻居的客厅或卧室，然后将某人的“隐秘”生活转播给全世界。这是下一部科幻电影的剧本，还是当今的现状呢？是这些杞人忧天的人反应过度，还是他们的指控确实有道理呢？
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.
这项讨论的一方人马指出网络摄影机提供的实际益处多过假想的坏处。他们举出无数的网站，人们可上网去观察他们周遭的世界以达到教育或美学的目的。今天人们可以观看城市的风景，像是都市街道和广场甚或鬼屋！爱好自然的人可以在全球的网站上尽情欣赏悄悄从旁拍摄的蝙蝠、鲨鱼和企鹅等。在 www.earthcam.com 这个网站可以找到许多网络摄影机。另外在 www.discovery.com 网站上亦可看到不少网络摄影机。大部分的教育家、父母和政治人物都会同意，这些网站让我们更加了解我们大家所住的世界上的人类和自然环境。他们当然会说网络摄影机提供了珍贵的服务，所以不该受限制。
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.
有些人可就不这么认为。每项科技都像一把双刃剑；即使是火能够烹煮食物，但它却也会烧伤我们的皮肉。铁路为我们带来更快速和便利的交通，却也敲响许多迁移性动物的丧钟以及产生噪音和空气污染。核子能源带给无数人暖气、光和电力，却也制造有害的幅射副作用。表面看似无害的科技，诸如电子传播媒体同样也有黑暗的一面。
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.
反对网络摄影机的人指出，某些人龌龊的商业本能被释放开来，他们为了赚钱而提供一些付费的网站，让上网者观看小明星或其它名人的家居生活，这部分大多数人宁愿视为是“私人的”生活。或许不再是这样也说不定。有些备受争议的案例中，网络摄影机被架设在厕所等公共设施，以便让那些爱偷窥的人看到匿名人士的隐密举动。更可怕的是，这项新科技可以被用在经济间谍活动和“昔日盛行”的国对国间谍战。被偷偷安装在商业办公室或工厂的网络摄影机，可以把不知道自己被监控人们的“秘密”显露在屏幕上。随着微电子科技不断把电子信息装置的体积缩小，上述情况已不再只是胡思乱想了。
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.
人心和它所制造出来的许多进步装置一样诡诈。不管将来人类发展出什么样的科技，我们都可确定它必然会提供我们机会去运用我们潜力的黑暗面。就整体看来，我们必须前进并且容许这些新科技。唯有透过应用这些科技——不管是好是坏——我们才能了解人类的潜力。另外，尽管科技有可怕的致命或凶恶潜质，比起以前那些低科技的世纪，今日世界仍提供了一个生产力较高及较舒适和进步的环境。总归一句话，我们必须学习去控制的不是我们的科技，而是我们自己。