THIS much remains as true today as it was just over a decade ago, when information and communications technology exploded out of boffins' labs and flooded the world: the much-vaunted "empowerment" of ICT has most empowered those who were once denied such power for pretty good reasons. In the beginning, the records show, the prime movers of both the development of Web technology and its expansion to the masses were pornographers, bigots and extremists, flocking to a medium that allowed them freer expression than they had ever had in the mass media. The sundering of the shackles of regulation, control or licensing -- or even the imposition of the ethics and values of publishers and media managers -- allowed a free-for-all that proved a tonic for those least qualified to enjoy such freedom, according to those erstwhile values.

The few cautionary voices of those early times were all but drowned out in the hype of ICT's promise. Malaysians might remember with a cringe the official "Cinta IT" jingle that heralded such initiatives as the Multimedia Super Corridor, the Cyberjaya concept of wired living, and the solemn promise never to censor the Internet -- especially as all this arrived in tandem with the burgeoning of cellular telephony to its present 85 per cent saturation of the population.

Whatever else might be said for this now ubiquitous and assuredly indispensable technology, its utility remains grievously counterbalanced by its capacity for causing harm. The terminology of ICT wickedness -- "phishing", "spamming", "DNS poisoning", etc\. -- is probably most arcane to those most vulnerable to it: all those hapless folk being duped by email scams and diverted by the rumours they receive and pass on by SMS. Like the chain-letter forwarders of yore and the victims of pyramid schemes and scratch-and-win contests, the capacity of so many to be hoodwinked by the most transparently outlandish cons would never cease to amaze those with a modicum of discernment.

But there's no stuffing the genie back in the bottle. Tricksters, troublemakers and rumour-mongers will undoubtedly be appearing in your email inbox, Internet browser or cellphone screen in ever-increasing numbers, encouraged by the difficulties of tracking them down for prosecution or recompense. The onus is entirely on the users of this technology (which is to say, everyone) to exercise discretion and restraint. Know the deal, and with whom you're dealing. Verify identities and data. And never, ever, associate high technology with high principle.