What is the information society definition. Information Society as a New Social Formation

Russian Institute of Management

Course work

in the discipline "Theory of State and Law" on the topic:

"Information Society: Concept and Trends"

Is done by a student

_________________

reg. number _________________

Specialty: "Jurisprudence"

Moscow

1. INTRODUCTION

2. Main part. INFORMATION SOCIETY: CONCEPT AND TRENDS

2.1. Concept and essence of information

2.2. Development of ideas about information

2.3. The concept and essence of the information society

2.4. Causes and consequences of information revolutions

2.5. The emergence and main stages of development of the information society

2.6. Informatization of society at the present time

2.7. Information Society and Power

2.8. Computerization of modern society

2.9.

3. CONCLUSION

4. BIBLIOGRAPHIC LIST

1. INTRODUCTION

The information society is one of the theoretical models used to describe a qualitatively new stage of social development, which developed countries entered with the beginning of the information and computer revolution. The technological foundation of society is not industrial, but information and telecommunication technologies (ITT).

An information society is a society in which: Information becomes the main economic resource, and the information sector comes out on top in terms of development rates, the number of people employed, the share of capital investments, and the share in GDP. ITT are becoming the main means of increasing production efficiency, strengthening competitiveness both in the domestic and world markets. There is a well-developed infrastructure that ensures the creation of sufficient information resources. This is primarily the education system and science.

There is a redistribution of resources in favor of science and education. In the United States, the so-called accumulated human capital is three times the assets of all American corporations.

Intellectual property is becoming the main form of ownership. In the competition for world championship, a new factor appears - the level of development of the information infrastructure and industry.

Information is becoming a subject of mass consumption. The Information Society provides any individual with access to any source of information. This is guaranteed by law (military and state secrets are also determined by law) and technical capabilities.

New criteria for assessing the level of development of society appear - the number of computers, the number of Internet connections, the number of mobile and fixed telephones, etc.

The legal foundations of the information society are being developed. A single integrated information system is being formed on the basis of technological convergence (merger of telecommunications, computer-electronic, audiovisual technology).

Unified national information systems are being created (in the USA - in the 80s, in Western Europe - in the 90s).

The information society is being formed as a global one and includes: the world "information economy"; a single world information space; global information infrastructure; the emerging world legislative and legal system.

In the information society, business activity flows into the information and communication environment. A virtual economy, a virtual financial system and the like are being formed, which raises the most important questions about the mechanisms of their regulation and connection with the real, "physical" economy.

2. The main part. INFORMATION SOCIETY: CONCEPT AND TRENDS

2.1. Concept and essence of information

Often the concept of "information" is used without thinking about the depth of its content, identifying the concepts of knowledge, data, information.

It is obvious that the "everyday" use of the term "information" is completely inappropriate when it comes to the theory or theories of information. Often in these theoretical constructions the term "information" is filled with different meanings, and, therefore, theories themselves highlight only part of the facets of a certain system of knowledge, which can be called general information theory or "informology" - the science of the processes and tasks of transmission, distribution, processing and transformation of information.

The emergence of informology as a science can be attributed to the end of the 50s of our century, when the American engineer R. Hartley made an attempt to introduce a quantitative measure of information transmitted through communication channels.

The scientific definition of information is given quite simply if we assume that information is a dynamic object that does not exist in nature by itself, but is formed in the course of the interaction of data and methods. It exists only as long as this interaction lasts, and the rest of the time it is in the form of data.

The Soviet encyclopedic dictionary gives the following definition of information. Information (from Lat. Informatio - "explanation", "presentation"), initially - information transmitted by people orally, in writing or in another way (by means of conventional signals, technical means, and so on); since the middle of the 20th century - a general scientific concept that includes the exchange of information between people, man and machine, machine and machine.

Information is one of the basic concepts of cybernetics in the section of information theory. In information theory, mathematical methods are used to study ways of measuring the amount of information contained in any messages and transmitting information.

Information is a product of the interaction of data and methods, considered in the context of this interaction.

Information appears in the process of communication with a specific object. Obtaining information is almost impossible without communication with the object.

For example, in order to fetch the necessary information from the newspaper, it is necessary to read the newspaper itself and draw conclusions, that is, to collect and process the information. If we just touch the newspaper, we will not receive the necessary information.

Communication - transmission of a message from one side to the other (who is with whom, by means of what, what is the content, the effects of communication).

Communication can occur at several levels - between individuals, between social groups, within one society, between different societies.

Various signs in communication are endowed with different semantic meanings and are presented in the form of codes.

Much of modern communication is organized in the form of institutions that appeal to a mass audience.

Communication is what is transmitted, it is the form of ownership, the internal structure, the value of the organization, the reaction of the audience.

In our definition, it is important to clarify "... viewed in the context of this interaction."Here are some examples of why this is really important. Books are known to be data stores. They are designed to receive information by reading. But if you try different books by touch or taste, you can also get information.

Such methods will make it possible to distinguish between books made in leather, cardboard and paper bindings. Of course, these are not the methods that were suggested by the authors of the books, but they also provide information, although not complete.

Analyzing the information value of newspapers, magazines, TV shows, we can come to the conclusion that it depends both on the data and on the methods by which they are consumed. It's one thing to watch a TV movie carefully, listening to every word, and quite another to watch it while talking on the phone.

2.2. Development of ideas about information

Despite the fact that the concept of information is very widely used in science and in everyday life, its strict scientific definition did not exist until recently. To this day, different scientific disciplines introduce this concept in different ways. There are three possible approaches here: anthropocentric, technocentric and indeterminate.

The essence anthropocentric approach is that information is identified with information and facts, which theoretically can be obtained and assimilated, that is, converted into knowledge... This approach is currently the most widely used. We can observe its examples, in particular, in Russian legislation.

"Information is understood as information about persons, objects, facts, events, phenomena and processes, regardless of the form of their presentation"

(Federal Law No. 24-F3 No. "On Information, Informatization and Protection of Information" dated 25.01.95, "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" No. 39 dated 22.02.95)

The essence technocentric approach is that information is identified with data. This approach is very widespread in technical disciplines. For example, we often come across references to the fact that "information is transmitted over computer networks", "information is processed by computers", "information is stored in databases." In all these cases, there is a substitution of concepts.

The fact is that only data is transmitted over computer networks, computers process only data, and databases also store only data. Whether this data will become information, and if so, which one, depends not only on the data, but also on numerous hardware, software and natural methods.

We do not find clear signs of a technocentric approach in Russian legislation, but they are found in the legislation of other states, for example, Germany. In particular, concepts such as information, access to information, modification of information,all cases when it comes to the operation of technical systems are presented as data, data access, data modification.

Non-deterministic approach to the concept of information is also found quite widely. It consists in rejecting the definition of information on the grounds that it is fundamental, such as matter and energy. In particular, we will not find a definition of information in the “Law on State Secrets” and in the “Law on Mass Media”, although this concept is used in both legal acts.

The lack of a definition of the concept used is not at all an oversight of the legislator. In many cases, the refusal to define information can be considered traditional. So, for example, we will not find a definition of information in such a respected reference publication as the Encyclopedia Britannica. The definition can be obtained only indirectly through the article "Information Processing and Information Systems", which states that "... this term is used in relation to facts and judgments obtained in everyday life from other living beings, from the media, from electronic databases, and also by observing environmental phenomena ”.

Both anthropocentric and technocentric approaches are mixed here, after which the definition is reduced to the everyday level. At the same time, an extensive list of literature published over the past 50 years is given, the analysis of which did not give a direct definition.

2.3. The essence and concept of the information society

First, you need to understand exactly what a "post-industrial society" is.

The society in which we live at the beginning of the 21st century is called the information society.

The term "information society" appeared in the United States in the theory of the same name in the 70s of the XX century. So they began to call a society that has outgrown industrial.

In modern literature, many definitions are given to post-industrial society, but in my term paper I chose, in my opinion, the most complete and accurate definition.

So, between the postindustrial society and the informational one, one can put an equal sign, since modern post-industrial society in its daily activities does not do without information technology.

Information society - the concept of a post-industrial society; a new historical phase in the development of civilization, in which information and knowledge are the main products of production.

Postindustrial society, in turn, is a society in which the service sector has priority development and prevails over the volume of industrial production and agricultural production.

In the social structure of post-industrial society, the number of people employed in the service sector is increasing and new elites are being formed: technocrats, scientists.

The hallmarks of the information society are:

1.) increasing the role of information and knowledge in the life of society;
2.) an increase in the share of information communications, products and services in the gross domestic product;
3.) creation of a global information space that provides:

a) effective information interaction of people;

b) their access to world information resources;

c) meeting their needs for information products and services.

The service sector implies mass service of the population. It is thanks to the emergence of such a sphere as the service sector that the emergence of a global information infrastructure took place, the users of which are the entire information society.

New information technologies are used in almost all areas of activity and have a huge impact on social reality, greatly changing it.

Philosophers associate the main change with the emergence of a new social structure - information infrastructure.

First of all, let's give a definition to the concept of "information infrastructure".

Information infrastructure is a set of tools for the processing and use of information, united in computer and information networks. Toffler believes that the information infrastructure will become the basis for the social and economic activity of the future, and will also allow any person at any time and in any place to receive all the information he is interested in.

Global information infrastructure (GII) is an information education that began to form in 1995 by a group of developed countries.

The global information infrastructure is being developed as a global information network for the mass service of the planet's population based on the integration of global and regional information and telecommunication systems, as well as digital television and radio broadcasting systems, satellite systems and mobile communications.

So, the information revolution has launched the process of building an information society. Some theorists (for example, J. Masuda) predict its establishment in developed countries in the middle of the XXI century.

2.4. Causes and consequences of information revolutions

Until the 16th century, the activities of society were aimed at mastering the substance, that is, the knowledge of the properties of the substance and the manufacture of primitive, and then more complex tools of labor.

Then, in the process of the formation of an industrial society, the problem of mastering energy - first thermal, then electrical, and finally, in the 20th century - atomic energy came to the fore. The mastery of energy made it possible to master the mass production of consumer values \u200b\u200band, as a result, to raise the standard of living of people and change the nature of their work.

At the same time, people have always had a need to express and remember information about the world around them.

Several information revolutions have taken place in the history of the development of civilizations.

First revolution associated with the invention of writing. It became possible to spread knowledge and preserve it for passing on to future generations.

Second revolution (mid-16th century) was caused by the invention of printing, which radically changed social culture.

Third revolution (late 19th century) due to the invention of electricity. The telegraph, telephone, radio appeared, allowing the prompt transmission of information.

Fourth revolution (70s of the XX century) is associated with the invention of the personal computer (PC).

The creation of personal computers was predetermined by the growing volume of information, which is difficult to cope with using traditional technologies: paper and pens. This contradiction began to negatively affect the growth rates of scientific and technological progress (STP). They began to talk about the "information explosion", calling it the rapid growth of flows and volumes of information.

As a result, scientific and technological progress offered the society a personal computer as a means for storing, processing and transmitting information.

2.5. The emergence and main stages of development of the information society

In the 80s and 90s, philosophers and sociologists developed the theory of the information society. This work united the efforts of such well-known philosophers in the West as Yoshita Masuda, Zbigniew Brzezinski (some time ago, a former adviser to the President of the United States), J. Nasbitt.

But the best known is the theory of the information society of the American philosopher Alvin Toffler (b. 1928), since his sensational books "Future shock" (Shock from a collision with the future, 1971), "Ecospasm" (1975), "The third wave" (1980) we were transferred.

Toffler, like many other Western philosophers, criticized the shortcomings of industrial society, noted its crisis and signs of transition to a new form of existence, an information society.

Toffler associates the transformation of society into an informational one with the information revolution, which began in the second half of the 20th century.

The information revolution, as Alvin Toffler notes, consists of two revolutions:

1) computer;

2) telecommunication.

The telecommunications revolution begins in the mid-70s and merges with the computer revolution. The computer revolution begins much earlier and proceeds in several stages.

The first big stage covers the years 1930-1970, which is called the "zero cycle". It begins with the creation of the first computers by the American physicist J. Atanasov and the German engineer K. Zuse.

At this stage, in 1951, the first commercial computer UNIVAC-1 was created (it weighed 30 tons, contained 18 thousand lamps and performed 5 thousand operations per second). Second significant stage the computer revolution begins with the creation of the first personal computers and their mass production.

The telecommunications revolution is associated with the creation

a) fiber optic technologies;

b) satellite technology.

The merger of computer and telecommunication technologies has spawned many new products and services on the market. The information and telecommunications industry has become today a key sector of the economy of developed countries.

Developed countries prefer to import consumer goods, but export the products of the information industry, and earn national wealth on their sale.

Information technology is expensive, much more expensive than consumer goods, which provides developed countries with a high standard of living, which is significantly higher than that of developing countries.

In addition, leadership in information technology enables them to continue to claim political leadership in the world.

For example, the United States is one of the recognized leaders in world politics, controlling over 40% of the information technology trade market.

The United States has mothballed its fossil resources and imports more goods than it exports, but it exports more services (especially in the field of information technology) than it imports.

Leadership in the field of informatization of the United States is understandable: 41% of all computers in the world are located there; 40% of families there own personal computers, and 20% own modems, that is, they are Internet users.

Thanks to the merger of the computer and telecommunications revolutions, it became possible to create information networks of huge scales, up to global ones. Through these networks, it is possible to transfer, find and process the necessary information much faster.

2.6. Informatization of society at the present time

Until recently, no one imagined that humanity would be on the verge of a new era in the development of civilization - informational.

Currently, there is an active process of informatization of society.

Informatization is understood as the active introduction of computer technology and new information technologies in various spheres of production, public and personal life of people.

The information society is a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing, sale and exchange of information.

Recently, a new category of culture has appeared - informational. This is due to the fact that in order to live and work in an information society, a person must be prepared for the rapid perception and processing of large amounts of information; he needs to master modern means, methods and technology of work.

In addition, in the new life conditions, the degree of awareness of one person directly depends on the information acquired by other people. Therefore, it is no longer enough to be able to independently master and accumulate information, but it is necessary to learn this technology of working with information, when decisions are prepared and made on the basis of collective knowledge. Thus, a person must have a certain level of culture to work with information.

Information culture - the ability to purposefully work with information and use computer information technology, modern means and methods to receive, process and transmit it.

As the most important component of culture in general, information culture is the product of a variety of human creative abilities.

Information culture is manifested in the following:

Specific skills in the use of various technical devices - from a telephone to a personal computer and computer networks;

The ability to use computer information technology in their work;

In the ability to extract information from various sources - from periodicals to electronic communications;

In the ability to present information in an understandable form and use it effectively;

Knowledge of analytical methods of information processing;

In the ability to work with various types of information.

Information culture borrows and uses the achievements of many sciences: cybernetics, computer science, information theory, mathematics, database design theory and a number of other disciplines. An integral part of information culture is knowledge of information technology and the ability to apply it in practice.

Relatively recently, another new information technology has appeared - virtual reality.

Virtual reality (VR) is a highly developed form of computer simulation that allows the user to immerse themselves in the artificial world and directly act in it using special sensory devices that associate their movements with audiovisual effects.

In this case, the user's visual, auditory, tactile and motor sensations are replaced by their imitation, generated by the computer.

The characteristic features of virtual reality are:
- simulation in real time;
- imitation of the environment with a high degree of realism;
- the ability to influence the environment and have feedback at the same time.

A kind of virtual reality can be called a computer game.

Computer game - a game built using the multimedia capabilities of a computer.

A computer game is determined by an algorithm that describes the process of passing it. Computer games are subdivided into business, educational, educational and entertaining.

In the book "The Third Wave" (under the name of which the informational, or postindustrial society stands here), Toffler, considering the emerging new characteristics of everyday life, notes that the information society is revising the basic principles of organizing the life of society (or, as he says, "the revision of the code of civilization ").

The civilization of an industrial society was based on six principles:

1) synchronization;

2) specialization;

3) standardization;

4) concentration;

5) maximization;

6) centralization.

All of them collapse in the information society and are replaced by others that make up the features of the information society:

1) Synchronization. Synchronized with the rhythms of production, the mechanized rhythm of life is replaced by social rhythms - the rhythms of activity that are not associated with the production of things. Social activity itself is becoming more diverse, and its rhythms are also diversified.

The main types of social activity are those that are associated with the production of information, in particular, the role of science and education, which feed the development of new technologies, is greatly increasing.

2) Specialization. Information production is emerging as a new way of creating social wealth. This method is based not on physical strength, but on the mental abilities of a person, and they develop in the process of education.

New requirements are imposed on education in the information society, due to the fact that in production now the change of technologies occurs very quickly, new types of labor appear, and the old ones disappear completely. In this regard, it becomes necessary to transfer labor resources from one industry to another.

Who can switch from one job to another faster? - Someone who is not a narrow specialist, but has a good fundamental education. Therefore, a characteristic feature of the labor market in the information society is its despecialization and high educational level.

Toffler makes very interesting remarks about the new social role of knowledge. In an industrial society, wealth was expressed in the form of capital (money), in information society, wealth takes on a new, immaterial form - the form of symbolic capital, or information (knowledge). If the industrial society was a society of mass production of durables, then the information society, according to Toffler, will be a society of mass production of knowledge.

Knowledge how capital is radically different from money capital: they:

a) inexhaustible;

b) available to an infinite number of users.

Even money, which was the unit of exchange in the industrial society, in the informational society takes on the form of information, becomes electronic money - credit cards, the use of which occurs with the help of a computer.

Electronic money is becoming more widespread. In 1990, there were more than 187 million credit card holders in the world; today, thanks to the inclusion of Russia in the global banking electronic network, their number has increased significantly.

Electronic money - this is, first of all, security in settlements, as well as convenience, ensuring the speed of concluding a major transaction.

Over the past three decades, the term "electronic money" has become widespread, both in foreign and domestic economic practice. There are many scientific works devoted to various aspects of the development of electronic money.

Electronic money is understood as both non-cash money and cash. Initially, electronic money in domestic science was understood as new means of payment based on the use of computers.

One of the first to use the term “electronic money” was V.M. Usoskin. In Western circles, the so-called technological approach to the definition of electronic money prevails.

By the definition of the well-known Bank for International Settlements, electronic money is a stored value or prepaid products, where a record of the funds at the disposal of the consumer or the value is stored on a technical device in the possession of the consumer.

Electronic money (Electronic money - E-money) - in a broad sense - a form of organization of money circulation in the association of information networks.

In a narrow sense, digital money.

Digital money (Digital cash) is an electronic analogue of cash. Digital money can be bought, it is stored electronically in special devices and is at the disposal of the buyer.

Smart cards or special computer systems are used as storage devices.

(Smart-card; Chip card; Integrated circuit card (IC) - a credit card with a built-in microprocessor, which has a high level of protection and the ability to carry out multicurrency payments.

Cash cards are used to exchange electronic money for cash.

Cash card (Cash card) - a bank card used to receive cash from cash machines.

Cashless payment for goods, works, services is carried out by means of a payment card.

(Charge card) - a plastic card that provides the person using it with the possibility of basic cash payment for goods or services.

There are also discount cards.

Discount card (Discount card) - a special card issued by a commercial organization that provides a discount on the price of goods.

By means of discount cards:
- purchases are encouraged; or
- events are stimulated: marriage, anniversaries, etc.

There are other cards, but the most common ones I have named.

3) Standardization. In the information society, there is a tendency towards individualization in everything.

4) Concentration. The principle of concentration of production, which entailed the concentration of the population in large cities, will be replaced in the information society by the principle of the optimal combination of large and small, because the main production - the production of knowledge - is not tied to the sources of fossil resources.

Computers can be delivered anywhere in the world, from anywhere you can enter the information network and become a participant in the production of knowledge (write a book, calculate a project, draw up a report, and so on).

5) Maximization. The principle of maximization, which led to the construction of giant factories and factories, huge research institutes, will be replaced (and has already begun to change) by the principle of creating temporary teams to solve special problems. These teams will be able to set up a convenient working regime for themselves.

6) Centralization. The principle of centralization will be replaced by the principle of decentralization and deurbanization (from the Latin urbs - city) - a decrease in the role of cities in public life, since the need for the existence of huge cities (megacities) disappears.

Toffler also notes that in the socio-political sphere and the field of international economics, information technology opens up completely unprecedented prospects.

Currently, there are all prerequisites for:

1) building a global economy (the first step in this direction was the United Europe);

2) solutions to social problems.

Openness of information makes a person stronger, and state power more dependent on citizens. Telecommunication networks create opportunities for the direct participation of all citizens in government, which avoids the adoption of important government decisions that ignore the interests of citizens or even their minorities.

Of course, all the optimistic forecasts sounding in the theory of the information society have as their prerequisite a revision on the scale of all mankind of the relationship to the goals and objectives of production.

Production should be placed at the service of vital interests, not war. It should develop taking into account the current global problems; all people of the information society should have a high level of environmental awareness.

The main question, the solution of which will determine the development of production, should not be the question "how?", But the question "why?"

It is believed that Western countries have already entered the information society, Russia, like all developing countries, is on its doorstep.

In his other book, "Futurshok", Toffler notes the already manifested features of the new society: too rapid change in life, the associated feeling of instability of everything that happens, and notes the new problems caused by this, which he calls the word "futurshok". “Transience, novelty and variety are the characteristics of the future that shock us,” wrote Toffler. "Futurshok" - literally, "shock from a collision with the future." According to Toffler, it manifests itself in the violation of decision-making processes.

People can no longer use the recipes for life created by past generations, they have to create their own.

The ongoing changes concern not only the production activities of people, but also their personal life, human relations. Permanent relationships (friendships, family) become a luxury.

For example, the family has always been a shock absorber, an island of stability. But she is also changing, and no one can say what will happen to her tomorrow.

The family is destroyed:

1) new technologies of birth - they change the attitude towards motherhood and fatherhood: the mother and father may no longer be the only ones or unknown, or in general - only the mother (multi-mouse, cloning);

2) mobility in pursuit of work;

3) increase in life expectancy: love passes due to unequal development.

Next, we will consider the interaction of the information society with another socially important political institution - power.

2.7. Information Society and Power

The management of the information society is carried out on the basis of powers of authority by a system of state bodies.

Power is information not speaking at all. It is those people who know how to listen effectively and are able to extract valuable information from what they hear, and who have the power.

The famous English statesman and politician F. Chesterfield said on this score: "By listening to a person, we educate him in self-respect."

One of the most meaningful classifications of power is its division according to resources:

- economic,

- social,

- spiritual and informational,

- compulsory (political in the narrow sense).

Economic power is control over economic resources, ownership of values.

Social power assumes the distribution of statuses, benefits, privileges.

Spiritual and informational power - This is power over people, exercised with the help of scientific knowledge and information (preparation of decisions, impact on consciousness, including manipulation).

Coercive power relies on power resources and means control over people through the threat or use of violence (a sign of political power).

As we can see from the definition of spiritual and informational power, information is also a tool for managing the modern information society.

In the United States, back in 1966, a law on freedom of information was passed. The essence of the law is given below.

The Freedom of Information Act 1966 - FOIA - in the United States - a law that requires all U.S. federal agencies to provide citizens with free access to all information they have, except for national defense, law enforcement, financial and personal documents.

Subsequently, new technologies appeared in the information sphere directly related to information, economics and other important spheres of life.

Information sphere (Information sphere) according to the legislation of the Russian Federation is the sphere of activity of subjects related to the creation, transformation and consumption of information.

The information sphere requires an information environment.

Information environment (formation environment, iformation societies environment) - a set of hardware and software for storing, processing and transmitting information, as well as socio-economic and cultural conditions for the implementation of informatization processes.

Even e-government, e-taxes, Internet voting and much more have appeared in the information sphere.

Let's take a closer look at each of these technologies.

(Electronic government - e-Government) - a public administration system based on electronic means of processing, transmission and distribution of information.

Electronic taxes (Electronics taxes - e-Taxes) is a technology for online processing and transmission of tax statements.

Internet voting (Internet vote) - voting using the Internet environment. In Internet voting, a voter receives an electronic ballot on a specific website and votes. The authenticity of the newsletter is guaranteed by means of a digital signature.

In this regard, the authorities made it easier for their fellow citizens to carry out certain actions prescribed by law, such as voting or paying taxes.

The emergence of handling electronic money has led to the emergence of information crime.

Information crime - illegal actions in the information sphere that violate the statutory rights of an individual, organization or state and cause moral harm or material damage to them.

But how to protect information from misuse, protection of information from information crime?

For this, special information legislation was developed.

Information legislation (Information legislation) - a set of laws, regulations and other forms of legal regulation in the field of circulation and production of information and the use of information technologies.

Such legislation exists in the Russian Federation as well. An example is the Federal Law No. 24-F3 No. "On Information, Informatization and Information Protection" dated 25.01.95.

As in the Russian legislation, the freedom of the individual is spelled out, so the information legislation has its own, informational freedom of the individual.

Personal information freedom - human right:
- to receive information necessary for his life, professional activity and development;
- express your point of view about certain natural or social phenomena;
- transfer information to other people.

Information here means any information other than that which is a state secret of the country.

In order to educate cultural professional users in their country, it is necessary to instill in them computer literacy.

Computer literacy (Computer literacy) implies possession of a sufficient set of knowledge and skills of working with a computer.

To achieve these goals, at present in educational institutions, including secondary educational institutions, subjects of information technology have been introduced, where future potential information users are taught various computer programs, shells, and the like.

2.8. Computerization of modern society

The development process of the information society begins with its computerization.

Computerization (Computerization) is the process of introducing computers that provide automation of information processes and technologies in various spheres of human activity.

The goal of computerization is to improve the quality of life of people by increasing productivity and facilitating their working conditions.

Along with computerization, there is a more specific concept of home computerization.

Home computerization (Home computerization) - the process of equipping households with computer devices. In the Russian Federation, home computerization is an element of the state policy of informatization, focused on meeting the needs of the population for information and knowledge directly at home.

It can satisfy the needs thanks to special search engines.

(Information retrieval system) - a system that performs the functions:

Storage of large amounts of information;
- quick search for the required information;
- adding, deleting and changing the stored information;
- displaying information in a human-friendly form.

Distinguish:
- automated (coputerised);
- bibliographic (reference);
- interactive (online);
- documentary and factual information retrieval systems.

(Search engine) - on the Internet - a special website where a user, upon a given request, can get links to websites that match this request.

The search engine has three components:
-1- search robot;
-2- system index;
-3- programs that:

a) processes the user's request,

b) finds documents in the index that meet the query criteria,

c) displays a list of found documents in descending order of relevance.

As a society can be divided according to interests into different groups (subcultures), so in an information society there is a division into different subcultures.

Subculture (Subculture, from Latin Sub - under + Cultura - upbringing) is a system of values, behavior models, life style of any social group, which is an independent holistic education within the framework of the dominant culture.

Subculture arises as a positive or negative reaction to the prevailing culture and social structure in society among various social strata and age groups.

Along with the division of society, the reverse process is also taking place - merging. In the information society, information groups merge into one community with the help of a network, i.e. society becomes networked.

Network Society (Network society) - a society in which a significant part of information interactions is carried out using information networks. Moreover, the composition of this society is constantly replenished with new users.

The main factor that increases the number of users is, of course, the information needs of the population of the entire planet.

Information need (Information need) - a need that arises when the goal facing the user in the course of his professional activity or in his social and everyday practice cannot be achieved without the involvement of additional information.

Additional information in this context means the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web (World Wide Web - WWW, Web) - the main service on the Internet, allowing you to access information on any servers connected to the network. The World Wide Web is organized on the principles of a hypermedia.

Under hypermedia (Hypermedia) is understood as the technology of presenting information in the form of relatively small blocks associated with each other.

Of course, the World Wide Web allows you to access any information on any servers connected to the network. But in order to obtain information using the web, you need a device with Internet access.

(Internet) is a global information network, parts of which are logically interconnected with each other through a single address space based on the TCP / IP protocol.

The Internet is made up of many interconnected computer networks and provides remote access to computers, email, message boards, databases, and discussion groups.

A device is a computer.

(Electronic computer - computer, Computer) in the broadest sense of the word, a programmable electronic device capable of processing data and performing calculations, as well as performing other tasks of manipulating characters.

There are two main classes of computers:
- digital computers (computers) that process data in the form of numerical binary codes;
- analog computers that process continuously changing physical quantities, which are analogs of calculated quantities.

In a narrower (personal) sense personal Computer (PC, Personal computer - PC) - a universal computer designed for individual use.

Typically, personal computers are designed on the basis of the principle of open architecture and are built on the basis of microprocessors.

Home computer (Home computer) is a household personal computer designed for use in homes and aimed at non-professional users.

A computer is a thing that has a certain value. Therefore, in order to join the information society, it is necessary to purchase a computer.

Any computer consists of two components:

1). ;

2).

(Hardware)- a complex of electronic, electrical and mechanical devices that are part of a system or network.

Hardware includes:
- computers and logical devices;
- external devices and diagnostic equipment;
- power equipment, batteries and accumulators.

(Software) - a set of programs:
- providing data processing or transmission;
- designed for multiple use and application by different users.

According to the types of functions performed, software is subdivided into system, application and instrumental.

Software - according to GOST 19781-90 - a set of programs for the information processing system and program documents required for their operation.

Both hardware and software are interconnected. One does not work without the other. Each "chain element" is necessary and fulfills its function.

The process of acquiring computers by the population is directly related to the social inequality of modern society.

2.9. Information inequality of modern society

(Social inequality) is a form of social differentiation in which individual individuals, social groups, strata, classes are at different levels of the vertical social hierarchy and have unequal life chances and opportunities to satisfy needs.

Consider three main social classes:

one). The rich (i.e. the elite);

2). Middle class;

3). Poor.

All these three social classes constitute the concept of society in the broad sense of the word.

Society(Society) - a collection of people:
- united by the historically established forms of their interconnection and interaction in order to satisfy their needs;
- characterized by:

1) stability;

2) integrity;

3) self-development;

4) the presence of special social values \u200b\u200band norms that determine their behavior.

Society is a human community, the specificity of which is the relationship of people to each other. Society is a product of human interaction.

Society is an integral system of social institutions that perform the functions of regulating economic, political, legal, moral and other relations.

According to many scientists, philosophers, political scientists and politicians, the middle class was unanimously recognized as the basis of society, the middle class was unanimously recognized as the middle class.

It is the middle class that subtly feels any changes in the state and is subject to it to change the situation, if necessary.

Middle class (Middle class) - a class that occupies an intermediate position between the main classes in the system of social stratification.

The middle class is characterized by a heterogeneous position, conflicting interests, consciousness and political behavior.

Distinguish between the old middle class and the new middle class.

Old middle class - medium and small owners: small entrepreneurs, traders, artisans, representatives of the liberal professions, small and medium farms, owners of small manufacturing firms.

New middle class - employees, managers, engineers, professional mental workers, etc. who do not own the means of production and live off the sale of their labor.

Next, let us compare the ratio of the rich, middle class and poor in the Russian Federation and the United States. Since this ratio is constantly changing, we will study the general appearance of the picture.

Since purchasing a computer and learning how to work on it as a professional requires constant study and retraining. As scientific progress does not stand still, it follows that it is only the rich and the middle class that can join the information society.

In connection with the above, let us analyze the situation.

It is customary to depict the structure of US society in the form of a quadrangle.

Table 1 shows that the middle class forms the basis of American society and makes up about 40% of the entire society, while the poor and the rich each make up 30% of the entire US society.

Based on these data, we can conclude that the middle class (40%) and the rich (30%) can actually become an information society.

In total, 70% of US citizens come out. It should be noted that the indicator is very high.

The structure of society in the Russian Federation is usually depicted in the form of a pyramid.

Table 2 shows the ratio of the classes of modern society in our country. It can be seen with the naked eye that the basis of society in Russia is made up of such classes as the middle class and the class of the poor. So, the poor - 45%, the middle class - 45%, the remaining 10% are the elite.

From this it follows that no more than 55% of the total population of the Russian Federation (45% of the middle class + 10% of the rich) can consider themselves an information society.

Let's compare the indicators obtained during the analysis.

The information society in the United States makes up 70% of the citizens, while in Russia this society can be characterized with 55% of the citizens of the Russian Federation.

Next, let's calculate the number of information society in the United States and the Russian Federation in specific figures, since the population in the countries we are comparing is unequal.

According to Tables No. 3 aboutlet us limit what part of the total population can be considered informational in these countries. For each of the countries we are comparing, we will take the population as a basis (according to data for 2006) - 100%.

We get that the number of information society in the Russian Federation is about 80 million people (145\u003e< 0,55 = 79,75).

In the United States, however, the number of information society is much higher and amounts to approximately 190 million people (271\u003e< 0,7 = 189,7).

So, the information society and potentially ready to become one in the United States is more than twice (2.38) more than in Russia.

The negative result obtained was influenced, first of all, by two factors (problems):

1. Decrease in population (in 2006, the resident population of Russia decreased by 561.2 thousand people, or 0.39%.);

2. Half of the country's population living below the poverty line.

On the first problem, the Government of the Russian Federation in recent years has been actively trying to avoid the crisis in the country caused by these two problems. Various social programs are being created, including material incentives (maternity capital) for mothers for the birth of their second child.

It is not yet possible to track the changes in the population and their social quality component, the above social programs were introduced recently.

Unfortunately, on the second social problem, the question remains open, despite the fact that our country currently occupies a leading position in terms of prices, ahead of New York, Tokyo and London.

3. CONCLUSION

It is obvious that we are currently entering the information era, where the main commodity will be information in its various forms.

While receiving indisputable benefits, such as the availability of information, its rapid dissemination, free exchange of data between people, etc., one cannot but take into account the increased and changed requirements for a person as a member of society.

In the period of transition to the information society, in addition to solving the problems described above, it is necessary to prepare a person for the rapid perception and processing of large amounts of information, mastering modern means, methods and technology of work. In addition, new working conditions create dependence of one person's awareness on the information acquired by other people.

Now it is no longer enough to be able to independently master and accumulate information, but it is necessary to learn this technology of working with information, when decisions are prepared and made on the basis of collective knowledge. This suggests that a person must have a certain level of culture in handling information.

It should be noted that the problem of informatization of society is being discussed today by scientists more and more widely. Since obtaining information about what is happening in the country and in the world no longer requires direct communication between people, a person will increasingly isolate himself from society, subject to the illusion of independence from it.

It is necessary to foster a sense of responsibility of each person for what is happening in the world, achieving a clear understanding of the interdependence of all people. This task applies primarily to the education system and the media.

The nature of changes in the social structure predicted by scientists under the influence of informatization in the above directions is as follows:

The number of social groups will grow, which will naturally lead to a decrease in their average size. Modern information technologies provide a real opportunity for more accurate, operational consideration of people's interests.

The qualitative parameters of social groups will improve in terms of such parameters as the level of education, intelligence, etc.

The new percentages between social groups distinguished in society according to various criteria will probably look as follows:

1) the proportion of people engaged in intellectual work - intellectuals - will increase.

The emergence of a special class of "intellectuals" is predicted. For those who do not want or will not be able to work intellectually, work is assumed in the field of information services, which, as noted earlier, should make up more than 50% in the information society in the structure of employment, or in the sphere of material production.

2) the number of able-bodied people will increase. Older people will be able to continue working even after retirement, as the bar for working age will rise (the body ages before the brain).

The pyramidal socio-economic structure will more and more give way to a network-like (mosaic) structure. The structure of the network more closely matches the new information technology.

American researchers note that "the convergence of changing social and personal values \u200b\u200bwith new technology and energy-economic needs makes the formation of a mosaic society essentially inevitable."

One of the highest places in the hierarchy of values \u200b\u200b(along with innovation) is the autonomy of the individual, which is not typical of a traditional society.

Personality is realized only through belonging to a certain corporation, being an element in a strictly defined system of corporate relations. If a person is not included in any corporation, he is not a person.

In a technogenic civilization, a special type of personality autonomy arises: a person can change his corporate ties, since he is not rigidly attached to them, he can and is able to very flexibly build his relations with people, immerse himself in different social communities, in different cultural traditions.

Modern science and technical creativity are drawing fundamentally new types of objects into the field of human activity, the development of which requires new strategies. We are talking about objects that are self-developing systems characterized by synergistic effects. Their development is always accompanied by the passage of the system through special states of instability, when small random influences can lead to the emergence of new structures, new levels of organization of the system, which affect the already established levels and transform them.

For a free orientation in the information flow, a person must have an information culture as one of the components of the general culture. The growing power of the flow of information exchange between people has given rise to a new type of culture in which everything is subordinated to the need for classification, unification in order to maximize compression and increase efficiency in transmission from person to person, whether personally or through the media.

There is a problem of human life and activity in a new society, the form of its existence. Will he live in the "Electronic Cottage" as predicted by some futurists, or the form of life will not change dramatically.

Philosopher Alwyn Toffler, for example, predicts the birth of a "prosumer" - a consumer and a producer rolled into one.

During the first wave, most people consumed what they produced themselves. You can call them “consumers”. The Industrial Revolution separated the functions of production and consumption, thus giving birth to the producer and the consumer.

Currently, the border separating the producer from the consumer is becoming less and less clear. The importance of the "prosumer" is growing ... In a word, there is, as it were, a return to society of the "prosumer", who was the dominant figure in the society of the "first wave". Of course, it will be a prosumer equipped with modern technology, working in an electronic cottage and leading a modern lifestyle. "

Everyone will have to rethink their position in life as an individual, it is absolutely clear that a redistribution of life values \u200b\u200bwill take place.

Our future largely depends on the direction along which modern society directs the development of scientific and technological progress.

4. REFERENCE LIST:

1. Lecture notes of the RIU teacher on the discipline "Theory of State and Law"

2. Lecture notes of the RIU teacher on the discipline "Philosophy"

3. Komarov SA, Malko AV, Theory of State and Law: Study Guide. - M .: NORMA, 2003

4. “Introduction to Philosophy. Part I ", under total. ed. I. T. Frolova, Moscow: Politizdat, 1989

5. Toffler O. The third wave. In magazine: USA - economics, politics, ideology. No. 7-11 for 1982.

6. Contemporary Western philosophy. Dictionary. M .: Publishing house polit. literature, 2001

7. Romanina V.V., Klimenko A.V. Theory of State and Law: Methodological Guide. - M .: INFRA-M, 2002
8. Morozova L.A. Theory of State and Law: A Refresher Course in Questions and Answers. - M .: NORMA, 2003

9. "Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary", A.M. Prokhorov, M.S. Gilyarov, E.M. Zhukov, Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1981

10. Protasov V.N. Theory of State and Law: A Handbook for Examinations, 2nd ed. - M., 2004
11. Nersesyants V.S. Theory of law and state: A short training course. - M .: NORMA, 2001
12. Chervonyuk V.I. Theory of State and Law: Textbook. - M .: INFRA - M, 2006

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Civilization in the process of its development went through several stages, at each of which the level of life of both individuals and communities depended on their awareness and ability to efficiently process data. The stages of creating new means and methods of data processing that have entailed significant changes in society, that is, which have changed the mode of production, lifestyle, value system, are called information revolutions.

Information revolutions caused a gradual transition from an agrarian society to an informational one, where intelligence and knowledge are the means and products of production.

Why is society called informational?

The information society is a new historical phase in the development of civilization, in which data and knowledge are the main products of production.

The name "information society" first appeared in Japan. The specialists who proposed this term explained that it defines a society in which high quality circulates in abundance, as well as all the necessary means for its storage, distribution and use. Information is easily and quickly disseminated according to the requirements of interested people and organizations and is issued to them in a form that is familiar to them. The cost of using information services is so low that they are available to everyone

Under the term "information" ("computerized") society is understood as one, in all spheres of life of the members of which computers are included, and services that satisfy the information needs of the user, as well as other means of informatics as tools of intellectual labor.

The information society is also called the knowledge society or the society of global competence, since the main requirements of the 21st century society for the training of competitive specialists include:

• ability to think critically;
• universal, systemic knowledge;
• key competencies in information and communication technology (ICT);
• ability to make decisions;
• ability to manage dynamic processes;
• ability to work in a team (team)
• fruitful communication skills.

These skills were formulated by twenty leading companies in the world that are engaged in forecasting the development of the economy for the future and the development of appropriate tools and technologies for the effective implementation of various processes: economic, social, educational, and are called skills of the XXI century.

In the information society, the acquisition of key basic knowledge and skills, which include, in particular, knowledge of the possibilities of using modern computer systems and the ability to apply them in practice, is the key to the success and creative realization of each person. This is what caused the emergence of a new category of culture - informational.

Information culture - the ability to purposefully work with data and use information and communication technologies, modern technical means and methods for their receipt, processing and transmission.

Information culture manifests itself in humans:

• in specific skills of using various technical devices - from a telephone to a personal computer and network devices;
• in the ability to use information and communication technologies in their activities;
• in the ability to receive data from various sources - from periodical printed sources to electronic communications;
• in the ability to present information in an understandable form and use it effectively;
• in knowledge of analytical methods of data processing;
• in the ability to work with messages of various types.

Information culture encompasses much more than a simple set of technical data processing skills using computers and telecommunications. Information culture should become a part of universal human culture. A cultured (in a broad sense) person should be able to evaluate the information received qualitatively, to understand their usefulness, reliability, and the like.

An essential information culture is the ability to make a collective decision. The ability to effectively interact with other people is an important sign of a person in the information society.

For the effective use of information and communication technologies in professional activities, each person must have information competence, which implies the ability of a person to navigate the information space, to operate with data based on the use of modern information and communication technologies in accordance with the needs of the labor market for the effective performance of professional duties. For students, information competence can mean the formed ability to effectively use information and communication technologies for teaching.

What does informatics do as a science and as a branch of human activity?

Computer science, as a relatively young science, emerged in the middle of the 20th century. A prerequisite for this was a sharp increase in the volume of information data and messages that had to be processed by a person. The computer appears, and then the powerful - technical means that allow you to store, process and transfer large amounts of data.

The main goal of computer science as a science is to search for new knowledge in various fields of human activity using computer technology.

Informatics is a science that studies the structure and general properties of data, as well as methods and means of their creation, search, storage, processing, transmission and use in various fields of human activity.

The term informatics originated in the early 60s of the XX century. in France (from the French. information - information and automatique - automation) to denote the automated processing of various data. In English-speaking countries, this term corresponds to the synonym Computer Science, since the term informatics means not only a reflection of the achievements of computer technology, but is also associated with the processes of transferring and processing data of various nature.

The main directions of development of informatics are: theoretical, technical and applied informatics. Theoretical informatics is designed to develop general theories of search, processing and storage of data, identification of patterns of creation and transformation of data, the use of modern information technologies in various spheres of human activity, the study of the relationship "man - electronic device", the development of information technology. Technical informatics examines automated data processing systems, the creation of a new generation of computer technology, flexible technological systems, robots, artificial intelligence, etc. Applied informatics creates knowledge bases, develops rational methods of production automation, creates theoretical foundations for design, serves to link science with production and provides information society requests.

What technologies are called information technologies?

For effective processing of various data in the modern information-rich environment, which is changing extremely rapidly, and making timely and correct decisions based on the results obtained, new knowledge and skills are needed, or rather, mastery of technologies.

The term "technology" comes from the Greek. τεχνη - art, craftsmanship, technique, skills and λογος - word, ability to convey.

Technology is a set of methods and means for people to implement a specific complex process by dividing it into a system of sequential interrelated procedures and operations performed more or less unambiguously and which aim to achieve high efficiency of a certain type of activity.

The general level of development and the totality of created and used technologies is an important component of the culture of society, significantly affects the sustainability of economic development, and therefore is one of the characteristic features of civilization.

Information technology (IT) is a set of methods and techniques used to collect, store, process, distribute, display and use various data for the interests and needs of users.

Information technology reflects the modern understanding of the processes of data transformation in the information society. It is a set of clear, targeted actions for processing data using a computer.

In the modern information society, the main technical means of processing various data are computers of various types. Programs are used to implement data processing methods. The combination of information and modern communication technologies, providing the transmission of messages and data by various means (computer networks, telephone, fax, television, satellite communications, etc.), has radically changed the level and forms of business and social activity of people.

Information technologies have gone through certain stages in their development:

Technology development stages	Technology name	Tools and communications	primary goal
1st stage (second half of the 19th century)	Manual information technology	Quill, inkwell, ledger. Communications are carried out manually by mailing letters, packages, messages	Presenting messages in the right form
2nd stage (from the end of the 19th century - 30s of the 20th century)	Mechanical technology	Typewriter, telephone, voice recorder, mail. More modern delivery vehicles are used	Presenting messages in the right form with more convenient means
3rd stage (40-60s of XX century)	Electrical technology	Large computers and related software, electric typewriters, photocopiers, portable tape recorders	The emphasis is gradually shifting from the form of notification to the formation of its content.
4th stage (from the early 70s to the mid 80s of the XX century)	Electronic technology	Large computers and automated control systems and information retrieval systems created on their basis, having basic and specialized software	The emphasis is shifted to the formation of the content side of the message for the management environment of various sectors of public life, especially to the organization of analytical work
5th stage (from the mid 80s of the XX century.)	Computer technology	Personal computer with a large number of standard software products for various purposes	Creation of decision support systems at different levels of management. The systems have built-in elements of analysis and artificial intelligence, are implemented on a personal computer and use network technologies and telecommunications to work in the network
6th stage (from the mid-90s of the XX century)	Latest Internet / Intranet Technologies	In various fields of science, technology and business, systems are widely used in which different users (systems), global, regional and local computer networks have access at the same time.	Electronic commerce is developing. The increase in information has led to the creation of data mining technology
7th stage (modernity)	Cloud technologies, Internet of things	Remote processing and storage of data on servers and the use of software as an online service	Complex calculations and data processing are performed on a remote server. The formation of a network consisting of interconnected physical objects (things) or devices that have built-in sensors, as well as software, which allows the transfer and exchange of data between the physical world and computer systems, has led to the creation of technologies "Smart city" or "Smart home "

Various classifications of information technology.

According to the methods and means of data processing, the following classification of information technologies is distinguished.

1. Global - technologies that include models, methods, ways of using data in society.
2. Basic - information technology, focused on a specific area of \u200b\u200bapplication.
3. Specific - technologies that process data in the process of performing real user tasks.

According to the subject areas served, they are distinguished: technologies with a scope of application in accounting, banking and tax activities, to provide insurance, e-government, statistics, e-commerce, education, medicine.

According to the types of data, technologies for processing are distinguished:

• data using algorithmic languages, table processors, database management systems;
• texts using a word processor;
• graphic images using graphic editors;
• knowledge using expert systems;
• objects of the real world using multimedia technologies and the like.

There are other classifications of information technology.

Some interesting facts about the modern information society:

• The amount of knowledge generated by the world community doubles every 72 hours;
• 204,000,000 messages are sent by e-mail every minute;
• The amount of data transmitted by artificial satellites for two weeks is sufficient to fill 19 million volumes;
• In industrialized countries, students at the time of graduation receive more information than their grandparents in their entire lives;
• In the next three decades, society will undergo as many changes as there have been in the last three centuries.

Intellectual property and copyright

Intellectual property is the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization, protected by law.

Let's consider the main characteristics of intellectual property.

1. Intellectual property is intangible. This is its main and most important difference from the ownership of things (property in the classical sense). If you have a thing, you can use it yourself or transfer it to another person for use. However, it is impossible to simultaneously use one thing together independently of each other. If you own intellectual property, you can use it yourself and at the same time grant rights to it to another person. Moreover, there may be millions of these persons, and all of them can independently use one object of intellectual property.
2. Intellectual property is absolute. This means that one person - the owner of the rights - is opposed by all other persons who, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, have no right to use the object of intellectual property. Moreover, the absence of a prohibition to use the object is not considered a permission.
3. Intangible objects of intellectual property are embodied in tangible objects. By buying a disc with music, you become the owner of the thing, but not the copyright holder of the musical works that are recorded on it. Therefore, you have the right to do whatever you want with the disc, but not with the music. It is unlawful, for example, to change a piece of music, arrange or otherwise process it without the consent of the author. Copyright governs relations arising in connection with the creation and use of works of science, literature and art. At the heart of copyright is the concept of "work", which means the original result of creative activity, exists in any objective form. It is this objective form of expression that is subject to copyright protection. Copyright does not apply to ideas, methods, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries, facts.

The software is an object of intellectual property, all rights to which belong to the person who created it, or the developer company. This right is protected by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. Under this law, when selling software, the developer does not transfer his rights to a particular program to the end user, but only allows the use (licenses) this program. A special mark is often displayed on the packaging of a software product, indicating that there is a license agreement that defines the basic rights and obligations of the manufacturer and purchaser of the resulting software product. The text of the license agreement is displayed during the installation of the software on the computer.

Unfortunately, not all software products on the market are legal. From a legal point of view, pirated software includes all computer programs that are distributed, installed on computers, and used in violation of the terms of their license agreement. For example, self-created copies of a licensed program cease to be legal, and such actions are copyright infringement and provide for legal liability.

Ethical standards in the information society

Information ethics is concerned with moral issues arising from the development and application of information technology. Information ethics is an integral part of computer ethics.

Computer ethics is concerned with the consideration of technical, moral, legal, social, political and philosophical issues. The problems discussed in it can be divided into several groups.

1. Problems of developing moral codes for computer professionals and ordinary users, whose work is related to the use of computer technology.
2. Problems of protecting property rights, copyright, privacy and freedom of speech in the field of information technology.
3. A group of crimes that arise with the emergence of computer technologies, the determination of their status, that is, mainly legal problems.

These problems are only part of computer ethics.

Key provisions of the Code of Computer Ethics:

1. Do not use your computer to harm other people.
2. Do not interfere with or interfere with the work of users of computer networks.
3. Do not use files that are not intended for free use.
4. Do not use your computer to steal.
5. Do not use your computer to disseminate false information.
6. Do not use pirated software.
7. Do not misappropriate someone else's intellectual property.
8. Do not use computer equipment or network resources without the permission of the owner or appropriate compensation.
9. Think about the possible consequences for society from the created programs and developed information systems.

The information (post-industrial) era began around the middle of the 20th century with the emergence of foci of post-industrialism in industrialized countries. They quickly turned into regions of post-industrialism. The post-industrial society is becoming the leading one in the world. International organizations of a post-industrial type appear, and the UN becomes an organ of the post-industrial era. The basic systems of the information society are also changing.

Technological basis This society is made up of information technology, the automation of production processes based on computers and cybernetics, the globalization of information and technological relations. The basis of informatism is formed by mental labor, spiritual capital and knowledge (theoretical and applied), information technology, computer technology.

Demosocial system the information society is characterized by:, the emergence of a mass of migrants and national diasporas, the growth of megacities, a society of mass consumption, mass culture, pollution of the environment, a significant number of the middle class, a population explosion, confirming the fears of Malthus.

The economic system are characterized by: automation and computerization of production processes; growth in the number and power of transnational companies (TNCs); private, collective and state property; domination services (medicine, education, leisure, etc.); production, exchange and consumption of knowledge (information); transformation of science into a direct productive force of society, and technical specialists (experts, consultants) - into a leading professional group; domination of finance capital.

Political system information societies are characterized by: a strong democratic legal social state; developed civil society (parliamentary democracy, free media, etc.); taking into account the interests of different social classes; the political culture of the middle class; the growing influence of international political organizations.

For spiritual system industrial society is characterized by: the transformation of science into the leading form of social consciousness; flourishing of the system of general, secondary and higher education; weakening of the influence of world religions; the development of art and the emergence of its new directions; postmodern thinking; growing influence of mass culture; dominance of television, etc.

Public subjectivity characterized by the strengthening of the role of the spiritual and the weakening of the unconscious, the growth of the value-rational, the spread of solidarity principles, the co-evolution of liberal, social democratic, conservative, communist and religious ideologies.

In the information age, countries coexist with different types of societies (formations and civilizations): liberal-capitalist, Soviet, social-democratic, etc. Between world religions, religious communities associated with them and world civilizations, and within them, there is a struggle for domination and creation new world society, formation and civilization of earthlings. All this is accompanied by a deepening environmental crisis.

The urban population is becoming predominant. Man is pushed out of material production; it is replaced by automata. Scientific and technological progress is accelerating, the structure of employment of the population is changing. The staff of information enterprises requires a new management style: creative, intellectual, moral. The motives of work are improving: workers prefer lower wages, but work according to their interests, which makes it possible to make decisions for themselves. More and more people combine family, work, self-education and sports in their lives.

The institutional structure of the information society so far includes six types of enterprises: economic (banks, stock exchanges, savings banks, etc.), social (pension, medical, sports, etc.), scientific, production (industry, construction, agriculture , transport), voluntary (Orana environment, assistance to the elderly, etc.), households. Universities, research centers, academic institutes become the main institutions (institutions) of post-industrial societies.

The information society is based on TNCs. The development of the world under the influence of TNC "corresponds to the natural tendencies of universal evolutionism - the mechanisms of self-organization that determined the development of all living things."

The previously backward countries of Asia followed the path of liberal-capitalist and then bourgeois-socialist societies. For example, from 1950 to 1990, South Korea's GDP grew 120 times. The world socialist system began to lose out in scientific, technical, economic and demosocial confrontation with social democratic societies. New technologies, samples of goods, improving the lives of ordinary people showed the weakness of Soviet society (formation and civilization). In 1991, the world socialist system and the USSR collapsed. The countries of the Soviet bloc were not ready for the post-industrial era.

As a result of the collapse of the socialist system, the world equilibrium of countries with different types of societies was disturbed. There has been a separation of developed ("golden billion"), developing and undeveloped countries. A hierarchical pyramid of countries emerged: post-industrial capitalism (USA), bourgeois socialism ("old" European democracies), bourgeois-socialist orientation (Eastern Europe), Soviet socialism (Cuba, North Korea), state capitalism (Russia and some other CIS countries); colonial capitalism (many African countries).

Expansion intensified American civilization in the field of worldview, institutions, lifestyle. She meets fierce resistance in other civilizations: Islamic, Buddhist, Orthodox. The Islamic civilization included countries with different social formations - from post-industrial (Saudi Arabia) to primitive communal (Afghanistan). Civilizational confrontation sometimes turns out to be more important than formational uniformity.

The present world is a hierarchy of all technological and civilizational types of societies: agrarian, industrial, informational. Information societies play a leading role in relation to industrial ones, and the latter - in relation to agrarian ones. The base of this pyramid is narrowing, and the central - industrial - part is expanding. This corresponds to the stratification pyramid in the developed countries of the world. It is obvious that for the growing humanity, the transition of the majority of agrarian societies to industrial, and the latter to informational ones, is fraught with an ecological catastrophe: the natural environment does not withstand the technogenic load. There is a need to slow down the technological transition and manage globalization.

In the context of globalization, deepening environmental crisis, post-industrialization, it is necessary to abandon profitability and power as defining values, and hence from the economic greed and political ambition of entire classes and peoples of developed countries. To do this, it is necessary to mitigate the demosocial gap, the domination of some countries over others in terms of property, political, national and other characteristics. The problem of creating an ecological society for earthlings has risen to its full height. In this regard, N. Moiseev, like other scientists, do not exclude the emergence of a new international totalitarianism, a kind of post-industrial Middle Ages.

September 11, 2001 became, apparently, evidence that the neoliberal society (formation and civilization) of the United States is causing indignation in the world. The worldview of individualism, the superiority of the strong and the rich, the exploitation of the world, double standards, the movement towards environmental disaster have received opposition from Islamic fundamentalism. It became clear that in order to make the world safe, it must be made more just. This is the only way developed countries can get rid of terrorists who are stealing towards more and more dangerous types of weapons.

The world is faced with the need to radically change international relations in the context of the ongoing scientific and technological revolution, the approaching environmental catastrophe, and flagrant social inequality between countries. To solve these problems, the UN and its institutions need to return to the fight against the aggressive aspirations of the "advanced" countries. Relations between countries from different historical eras should be redefined in the direction of greater equality and justice. The West needs to share more with other countries, not exploit them; it is required to impose stricter restrictions on the sale of weapons from developed countries to other countries and thereby end the arms race; you need to finally start creating world democratic state, civil society, economy and spirituality.

stage in the development of mankind, when physical labor as the basis of an industrial society gives way to information and knowledge [I.I. Philosophy: Textbook. - Simferopol: Business-Inform, 2002. - S. 328].

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INFORMATION SOCIETY

a term used to denote the current state of industrially developed countries associated with the new role of information in all aspects of their life, a qualitatively new level (scope) of production, processing and dissemination of information.

In the last third of the twentieth century, a new technological revolution, universal computerization, informatization of society, intellectualization of the economy create a fundamentally new social situation.

Reconsideration of social changes, approaches to changing the methodological paradigm in the theory of society began to be observed in the late 60s - early 70s. Information society theories are divided into two groups. One group includes theories that are adjacent to the concepts of post-industrialism and directly emerge from them. The names of D. Bell, A. Turen and others are associated with these theories. They represent, as it were, the first stage in the development of the information society theory.

The second group is the conceptual schemes of O. Toffler, R. Darendorf, F. Ferraroti, as well as the corrected theory of D. Bell.

The concept of the information society notes that such a society is a special stage in historical development. There are two approaches that interpret the historical place of the information society in different ways. The first approach, expressed by J. Habermas, E. Giddens, considers the information society as a phase of the industrial society. The second approach, voiced by D.Bell and O. Toffler, fixes the information society as a completely new stage following the industrial society (the second wave, according to Toffler).

In connection with the expansion of the scope of information activities, professional qualifications, the educational structure of society, and the nature of work are changing. The role and functions of the most important element of the productive forces - man, change, intellectual and creative labor displaces the labor of an individual who is directly involved in the production process. In the information society, the production of services comes out on top.

In the service market, the main thing is labor aimed at obtaining, processing, storing, transforming and using information. Creativity is gaining paramount importance in motivating work. This is a huge army of labor: the proportion of those whose activities are related to creative work is approaching half of the entire labor force in industrialized countries. The United States and Japan have advanced even more in these indicators. If in Africa 2/3 of the population is engaged in agricultural production, then in the USA less than 3% of the active population is engaged in this. US industrial production employs 17%, and information technology - 80%.

If Parsons considered society as a network of interchange of four main subsystems - economic, political, legal, moral and ideological (the subsystem of maintaining the model), then in the information society two important and independent subsystems are added to them - telecommunication and educational.

The telecommunications subsystem cannot be regarded only as a technical component of the economy; it goes far beyond role and significance in technology. Telecommunication technology strengthens the breakthrough in democratic social order, since it allows a person to have the status of a "direct member" of society without any kind of intermediaries in the face of any groups, ideologies or symbolic cultural systems.

Also, education is becoming an important, moreover, the dominant subsystem of society. It is a strategic resource in the modern conditions of functioning of state and political structures.

The "information explosion" caused changes in the field of spiritual production and culture. Information becomes a product and one of the main values \u200b\u200bof society. This could not but affect the changes in property relations. American scientists R. Coase and A. Alchyan, the founders of the new theory of property rights, investigated the phenomenon of the complication of property relations. Property relations are interpreted not as a relationship between a person and a thing, but as a relationship between people with their rights to use a certain type of resource. In a classical firm, this resource is capital; in new areas of entrepreneurial activity, the one who has the right to use information enjoys the greatest influence, in the field of innovation and professional services - the right to intellect.

In a modern economy characterized by science intensity, continuous structural changes, high dynamism, the role of intellectual property in social development is increasing.

Excellent definition

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New communication and information technologies are becoming the main force of the “new industrial revolution, which greatly increases the capabilities of human intelligence”. In order to develop new information and communication technologies, the executive body of the European Community - the European Commission - has prepared several basic documents. The first and foremost among them is the Bangemann Report. M. Bangemann, Commissioner of the European Union and a group of other developers prepared the report "Europe and the Global Information Society", published in 1994 at the meeting of the European Council. The members of the Bangemann Group were mainly from the electronics industry, the information and communications business. The Bangemann Report is distinguished by a clear social orientation, on the basis of this document the European Parliament adopted an action plan for Europe's transition to an information society. The report highlights the defining and transformative role of information and communication technologies. The practical purpose of the document is to coordinate still fragmented national approaches in order to create new opportunities for European states that are of an integration nature. The authors of the report proclaim the building blocks of the information society, its technological infrastructure, the Internet, mobile telephony and satellite communications. Today, 99 projects are the practical result of the work of the Bangemann group, which are being implemented jointly by many cities in the countries of the European Community. The plans for the transition to an information society existing today put social issues at the forefront, prevent the polarization of society, and improve mutual understanding between various social groups.

On July 22, 2000, in Okinawa, the presidents of eight leading industrialized countries of the world signed the Charter of the Global Information Society with the aim of developing the world economy and the transition to a new phase of development of society. The document reflects the diverse aspects of the essence and formation of the information society. The fundamental role in the development of the global information society is assigned to the international computer network Internet.

Today, all leading countries that use information technologies in their national interests are developing and operating government programs to enter the global information society. These programs contain answers to three fundamental questions:

1) the purpose of creating an information society in the country;

2) determining the means and ways to achieve this goal, aimed at expanding the scope of information technology, simplifying access to information, creating political, economic, cultural and legal conditions that contribute to strengthening the uniformity of the national information space;

3) the distribution of political, economic, financial and organizational roles and responsibilities between the participants - the state, society, business.

In Russia, there is a rapid development of telecommunication networks, the Internet, and mobile communications. New information technologies are being introduced, the computer press is developing, new sites are opening, numerous companies offer IP-telephony services, sell cell phones, computers, modems, etc., but all the above processes are developing quite spontaneously, with a still incomprehensible sign to society. with unclear and uncertain consequences.

In Russia, today there is no established national strategy for the country's entry into the global information space, priorities have not been developed, goals have not been formulated, alternatives have not been realized. It should be noted that the relevance of this issue is also recognized during 2000-2005. conferences, "round tables", open discussions were actively held, where scientific, political, and economic Russian leaders strove to develop goals, approaches, strategies for Russia's entry into the global information society. The development of new information technologies is evidenced by the federal laws adopted by the State Duma that determine the state policy on the transition to the information society - "On information, informatization and protection of information", "The concept of formation and development of a unified information space of Russia and corresponding state information resources", "The concept of information security of the Russian Federation ". Currently, a number of federal programs have been adopted, primarily in the field of education, improvement of public administration and development of information infrastructure. Examples are the interdepartmental program "Creation of a national network of computer telecommunications for science and higher education" (1995-2001), the Federal target program "Electronic libraries" (project 2000), the Federal target program "Development of a unified educational information environment for 2002-2005." ... Federal target program "Electronic Russia for 2002-2010." is devoted mainly to the problems of improving the interaction of authorities between themselves and economic entities. With all this, it should be noted that the above programs are scattered and not coordinated. It is necessary to develop and implement a national strategy for the development of Russia in the context of the transition of the world economy to a global information society, in which the ratio of the roles of the state, individuals, social groups, and the market will be clearly defined, which will improve the quality of life of members of Russian society.

The beginning of 2002 was marked by the publication of the Concept for the Modernization of Russian Education, a strategically important document defining the main directions, goals and content of Russian education at the present stage. However, as experience shows, the teaching community often evaluates it as another document among those that accompanied not always successful attempts to reform education in Russia. Therefore, it seems very relevant to dwell on the very concept of "modernization", which was developed in the context of the general theory of modernization and which has a variety of aspects, including aspects related to education. Modernization (from English Modern - modern) - a change, improvement that meets modern requirements. Modernization theory was developed for the underdeveloped or developing countries of the post-colonial and post-war period in the middle of the last century. But very soon it was recognized that modernization is not just a temporary way to accelerate overcoming the backlog in any specific conditions, but a constant and universal form of development of any countries at all stages of their history.

From the point of view of the majority of philosophers who study this problem, the essence of modernization as a special form of development is the transition from traditional to modern society. If modernization is the goal of the development of a society at a certain stage, then this goal cannot be realized without a number of inventions and improvements in economic, political and social technologies. That is why, in the most advanced countries of the world, education is seen as a means of renewing society, and any processes of a modernization nature in the economy and politics begin with the reform of education. Before you start transformations, you need to prepare a person who can carry out these transformations. In the process of modernization, not only society, but also a person becomes different, modern in comparison with the traditional one. He is distinguished by an interest in everything new, a willingness to change; diversity of views, orientation to information, serious attitude to time and its measurement; efficiency; planning efficiency and time, personal dignity, particularism, optimism, activity, etc.

The information society as a scientific concept does not have a single, generally accepted definition. The book “Virtual New World”, prepared for the 1997 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, provides the shortest definition of the information society as “an information-based society”. In essence, this position underlies almost all definitions that expand and clarify the concepts of a given form of social structure.

Let us analyze the currently existing definitions of the term "information society". The short dictionary of sociology gives the following definition: “The information society is a social device, the main factor in the development of which is the creation and use of the information industry (computers, microelectronics, communication networks, national and international databases); a kind of theory of post-industrial society ”. In the dictionary of sociology and political science - "Information society is one of the names of post-industrial society, characterized by a sharp change and increase in the role and significance of information technology." The World Philosophical Encyclopedia presents the following interpretation of the term - “Information society is a concept that actually replaced the term post-industrial society at the end of the 20th century. The information society develops as a concept of a new social order, applied to social structure, which, according to Young and Gouldner, means the emergence of a new class. McLuhan's Global Village theory emphasizes that "information production and communication are becoming centralized processes." The Cultural Encyclopedic Dictionary presents the information society as "a society in which information and the level of its use radically affect economic development and sociocultural changes in society: in the economic sphere, information turns into a commodity, in the social sphere, it becomes the main factor in changing the quality of life."

Modern scientists solve the issue of the place of the information society in the historical development of mankind in different ways. Some researchers considered the information society as a synonym for the post-industrial society, while others believe that the information society is just one of the varieties of the post-industrial society. Still others see the information society as one of the stages in the development of a post-industrial society. Fourth, they take the information society beyond the framework of the post-industrial society, presenting it as a new stage of social progress, which is replacing the post-industrial society. We adhere to the point of view that the information society is a new stage in the development of human civilization. This social device is characterized, first of all, by the high speed of communication processes, which is provided by science-intensive, high-tech means (microprocessor technologies and the Internet computer network), in which information and knowledge acquire a new quality, becoming the main products of the life of individuals and social groups.

The idea of \u200b\u200ban information society was formulated in the late 60s - early 70s of the XX century. The term "information society" was introduced by Yuri Hayashi, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Researchers and developers of the information society theory are also: M. Castells, F. Webster, E. Giddens, J. Habermas, D. Martin, G. Molitor, E. Toffler, D. Bell, Z. Brzezinski, A. King, D. .Nesbit, A. Touraine, P. Drucker, M. McLuhan and others.

The outlines of the information society were first presented in the reports of a number of organizations to the Japanese government, which described the computerization of social processes, which contributes to ensuring access of all social groups to information sources, ridding people of routine work, by ensuring a high level of production automation, as the main condition for the transition to an information society.

One of the first researchers who tried to substantiate the concept of the information society was the Japanese professor I. Masuda, the author of the work "Information society as a post-industrial society." He viewed this type of social structure mainly in an economic context, according to which new technologies were to lead to serious positive social transformations. According to I. Masud, in the conditions of the formation of an information society, the essence of production itself will change, the product of which will become more “information-intensive”. "... The production of an information product, not a material product, will be the driving force behind the education and development of society." I. Masuda, pays special attention to the transformation of human values \u200b\u200bin the information society, putting forward the concept of classlessness and conflict-freeness of this type of social structure - "it will be a society of harmony, with a small government and state apparatus."

The development of the Japanese version of the concept of the information society was carried out in order to solve the problems of economic development of Japan, which led to its limited and applied nature.

In the 70s, two ideologies were developed - the information society and post-industrialism. The idea of \u200b\u200ba post-industrial society was put forward by the American sociologist D.Bell, in the book “The advance of post-industrial society. The Experience of Social Forecast ”, published in 1973, D. Bell examines the post-industrial society, starting from the characteristics of the industrial stage, dividing, in turn, the history of human society into three stages - agrarian, industrial and post-industrial. D. Bell writes - “the changes in the social structure taking place in the middle of the XX century indicate that the industrial society is evolving to the post-industrial one, which should become the defining social form of the XXI century in the USA, Japan, Russia and Western Europe”. The term "information society", according to D. Bell, reflects the new name of the post-industrial society, where information is the basis of the social structure. "In the coming century, the formation of a new social order based on telecommunications will acquire a decisive importance for economic and social life, for the methods of production of knowledge, as well as for the nature of human labor activity."

According to M. Castells, in the conditions of the formation of the information society, "the growing integration between thoughts and machines bridges the gap between human beings and machines."

M. Poster argues that for an adequate understanding of social relations in the era of the information society, it is necessary to study changes in the structure of communication experience, proposing the concept of a "way of information". This term, introduced by M. Poster, reveals the linguistic dimensions of new forms of social interactions between various groups and individuals in society, concentrating on changing the language culture associated with e-mail, databases, computer networks. A group of French specialists in the mid-70s, in a complex, multifaceted study conducted and presented in the book by S. Nora and A. Mink “Computerization of society. Report to the President of France "emphasize that the information society will be less clearly socially structured than the industrial society, and one of the factors will be the attitude of various social groups to the trend of language simplification, associated, in particular, with the peculiarities of electronic-mediated communication, and computerization will help to overcome cultural inequality between individual social groups through the unification of the language.

D. Tapscott, a classic of the theory of digital civilization, writes about the formation of the information society: “we observe some of its external manifestations, but we have no idea what it really is. By combining the available fragments of theory and scattered empirical data with the facts of changing social relations, we are trying to compose a picture of the coming digital era. And under this hypothetical picture we are adjusting the legal framework, the education system, and spiritual values. We are striving to adjust the entire system of functioning of society to something speculative, approximately guessed from the experience of past information revolutions ”. D. Tapscott, highlighting the features of the information society, emphasizes that the information society is a knowledge society that produces intellectual products, and moreover, using a digital form of representation of objects. Due to the transformation of information into digital form, objects of virtual nature are replacing physical ones. Analyzing the development of communication networks, it is necessary to emphasize that the processes of generation, transmission, processing of information in a network are based on its representation in digital form, therefore, this type of representation is necessary for the full use of information arrays. In the information society, D. Tapscott notes, the economy has a global scale.

The majority of theorists proclaim the information society as the most progressive form of organizing the life of people. The idea of \u200b\u200bcreating an ideal society, given by T. Campanella, T. More and F. Bacon, had a significant impact on the formation of the concepts of the information society - D. Bell's “theory of post-industrial society”, Z. Brzezinski's “technotronic concept”, D. Gabor, “post-modern society” by J.F. Lyotard, “new industrial society” by J. Galbraith.

The problems of the development of the information society in Russia have become the subject of serious research, which are presented in the works of I. S. Melyukhin, D. V. Ivanov, S. E. Zuev, V. V. Emelin, P. G. Arefiev, I. V. Alekseeva , R.I. Tsvyleva, etc.

One of the theories of the emergence of the information society was proposed by R.F. Abdeev, representing the evolution of the information structure of human civilization in the form of a narrowing spiral with a variable step, built in three-dimensional space, in information coordinates and with the introduction of time and progress parameters. R.F. Abdeev considers the rapid growth of the role of information resources and communications in the life of society to be objective and immediate reasons for the emergence of the information society. This increase is due to the accomplished revolutions in the field of information technology, which led to various consequences: from the emergence of new professions and a serious change in the social structure of society to the emergence of new styles in urban architecture.

The editor-in-chief of the International Encyclopedia of Communication E. Barnów writes: "The central position of communication in human history is becoming evident." Therefore, it is understandable that many academic sciences have turned to the study of aspects of communication at different levels. The ability to communicate in time and space has expanded enormously since the invention and introduction of such means of communication and transmission of information as writing, printing, radio, telephone, electronic, mobile communications. The speed of communication progress largely predetermines the transition to an information society. Mankind gradually approached the discovery of such a means of communication as the Internet, which in the future will become the most widespread. Many scientists, researchers of the information society explained the stages of human development by the progress of communication, and not by the progress of industry or agriculture. Since the 20s - 30s. XX century, a number of scientists predicted the decline of "industrial civilization", the arrival of the "society of information and services", the allocation of "information production" in the most important national product. E. Toffler saw in the means of communication the main engine of human progress in its entire history, D. Bell predicted the introduction of informatization into the development of all aspects of society on the basis of computer technologies and even argued that in the future the market will be replaced by an organized exchange based on computer networks.

Various kinds of systems based on microprocessor technology, computer networks, information technology, telecommunications, the Internet are the material and technological base of the information society, ensuring the movement of information flows. The picture of the information society represents a single computerized and informational community of people, whose activities will be focused mainly on information processing, and material production and energy production will be automated, information technology is becoming global, covering all spheres of human activity.

The infrastructure of the information society is a new "intellectual", not "mechanical" technology, there is a symbiosis of social organization and information technology. The main principle of creating a technical basis for the formation of the information society is the development of a global information infrastructure - “a huge communication network that will forever change the way of life of people around the world, change the way they learn, work and communicate with each other. This global network will allow people in the most remote village to access the most modern library. It will allow doctors on one continent to screen patients on another continent. It will allow a family living in the Northern Hemisphere to keep in touch with relatives in the Southern Hemisphere. And this network will strengthen the consciousness of the shared responsibility of all people on earth for the fate of our small planet. "

In the course of a number of international meetings, developed and developing countries came to a common opinion that such an information network should be based on common global fundamental principles in order to ensure its reliability, social, political and economic security and durability. These principles were adopted in 2001 in Buenos Aires at the meeting of the International Telecommunication Union and reaffirmed in 2003 at the meeting of the G7 communications ministers in Brussels, as well as at numerous regional forums - the Asia-Pacific meeting on economic cooperation and the meeting in the top of the countries of North, Central and South America.

The number of countries in which there is a rapid development of global computer networks are: USA, Japan, England, Germany, Western Europe. In these countries, the leading direction of state policy is investment and support for innovations in the information industry, the development of computer systems and telecommunications, which contributes to the creation of a technical basis for the formation of an information society.

"Computer technologies and information networks are symbols of a new society, replacing factories - symbols of an industrial society." With the development and spread of the World Wide Web, the ability of individuals and social groups to receive information has expanded significantly, a person, working at a computer, sitting in front of a screen, can receive information on almost any issue from any source around the world.

In connection with the penetration, dissemination and development of information and telecommunication technologies, the comprehensive coverage of information technologies in all spheres of society, there are changes in social production, leisure of social groups, education of individuals, as well as the social structure of society, economic and political relations. A person has the opportunity to actively participate in the political, state, economic, educational, social life of society through the Internet. In the information society, the disintegration of society into two classes occurs more intensively than in an industrial society. This is a class of intellectuals, bearers of knowledge and a class of those who are not part of the new information economy. This is a very tough division, because, in principle, the information class has the ability to create finished products virtually without the use of human labor.

Computer technologies are a new means of mediating activity, and the computerized activity itself is a means of mediating the inner world of a person: his worldview and attitude, which is reflected in the formation of a kind of “computer consciousness”. Computer technologies change the psychological characteristics of the subject of computerized activity at the level: subject of activity, subject of cognition, subject of communication, causing various kinds of changes in the cognitive, motivational, emotional spheres of the personality.

In an information society, the way of life, the value system of individuals and social groups will change, the significance of information values \u200b\u200bin relation to material values \u200b\u200bwill increase. T. Stonier noted that transactions over material things lead to competition, and information exchange between individuals and social groups leads to cooperation. Individuals and social groups in the context of the formation of an information society will have to rethink their position in life, the ongoing redistribution of life values. The determining factor in the social differentiation of the information society is the level of knowledge, not the property. E. Toffler notes that in the conditions of the formation of the information society, "radical changes in the sphere of production will take place, which will inevitably entail breathtaking social changes."

When considering the formation of the information society in Russia, the conclusions of V.A. Yadov, who summarized the long-term discussion of sociologists on the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of Russia as a transforming society. He formulates conclusions that reflect the specifics of the development of Russian society. One of them, which concerns information and its role in Russian society, is of particular interest. V.A. Yadov notes that Russia has its own specificity, which consists in the low social significance of information, expressed in the information passivity of citizens. Departmental secrecy was the main feature of the Soviet information environment, for many years there was a secrecy regime that gave rise to a deep-rooted communication barrier, an unwillingness to share information. The formation of the information society requires a change in this mentality, which, in turn, is associated with a long period of time and purposeful efforts to modify the current state.

Summarizing the results and analysis of the approaches of Russian researchers of the process of transition to the information model of the social structure, we will formulate the following conclusions:

• - effective development of the information society lies in the constructive interaction of three subjects of information transformation: the state, business and individuals, social groups;
• - the main tasks in the period of transition to the information society are: striving for social, political, informational economic and structural uniformity of the national information public space; expanding educational opportunities; reorientation of the economy and society from raw materials to innovative, science-intensive development;
• - introduction and development of modern information technologies;
• - elaboration and detailed analysis of the information policy of the state, revealing the way of using the available information flows and resources on the part of various institutions (for example, the state, organizations, individuals and social groups that may have their own ideas and interests when working with information), quantitative control over the flow information flows and control over the distribution of information flow.

The term "information society" reveals objective process gradual awareness by society of the importance of information as some independent fundamental entity (along with energy and matter) and its transformation into a real productive force. Information technology and telecommunications make knowledge and information publicly available, acting as a technological basis for the development of an information model of a social structure.

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