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A mere week ago I lived a pretty ordinary, routine life of a young guy had it not been for two circumstances. I was a hacker in the past and, as result, I was prohibited from doing staff that has conquered modern generation. A court decision prohibited me from using any electronic device more complex than a calculator. That meant that the World Wide Web which had penetrated and established itself in every household, was off the limits for me. To be more precise, according to the verdict, I wasn’t able to use any device which operated on a processor. That prohibition included a computer, a tablet, a smartphone and even an ordinary cell phone. It made my life to certain degree similar to the lives of my parents when they were my age. I was particularly prohibited using social media. For long-distance communication I could only use the good old telephone (the helpful invention of Alexander Bell).
The opinion of the judge was that any electronic device connected to the Internet pose a potential threat to the society when in my hands, but at the same time my mingling with other citizens was quite admissible on certain conditions. The first condition was deprivation of any opportunity to get connected to the Internet, because the World Wide Web was where my hacker’s skills had found their fulfillment. And the second one was my obligation to do community service. The penalty for what I’d done might have been much more severe had I not been a minor.
Chapter II