xperience with RealJukebox. He learned that RealJukebox, which he has used to listen to music in the past, had been “ surreptitiously sending users’ playlists back to RealNetworks, where the company was logging them into its database.” The only warrant that Goodell offers is the statement that, “in effect, the company was spying on its customers.” Most of this article is his own speculation—he offers the opinion that this kind of consumer “trailing” is harmless; as he says, “these corporations…don’t care about your politics or your sex life—they just want to sell you stuff.” This article does, however, contain both a qualifier and a rebuttal.His qualifier points out that these corporate databases may not be as useful as they seem in theory; this is due to the overwhelmingly large numbers of people using the Internet every day. There are just too many keystrokes to record them all.Goodell’s rebuttal states that lawmakers are pushing for laws that limit the amount of information that can be gathered about a user without his or her permission.In this article, Goodell’s warrant does not offer a smooth transition between his claims and grounds. He offers the reader weak claims and weaker grounds. Overall, this article is a poor one according to Toulman’s informal method of logic.By analyzing a variety of discourse devoted to a single topic, especially such a controversial and flexible topic as the Internet, a clearer picture of the past, present, and future begins to emerge. Choppy events in our lives become one smooth, full discourse, and many tentative theories can be proved or disproved once we look at the big picture. It is important to focus on the changing world around us, and to be certain that we understand it completely. For this reason, it is also important to be thoughtful, attentive readers; we need to be able to separate fact...
