Wednesday, April 11, 2007

If Net Neutrality wins, I won't be able to afford my blog page

The Internet is the latest breakthrough in technology and is the fastest growing media outlet since the radio, its about time it created some controversy. Since Tim Burners Lee came up with the idea of the Internet in the 1980s, the idea has changed the world. The Internet and the world wide web was growing at such a fast pace that there was little time to really sit down and discuss it. But maybe in first world - super power countries like the United States of America, the initial growth of the Internet, people hooking up their computer's to the net, has settled. This settling of the Internet allows for discussion, but what is there really to discuss(Tim Burners Lee, wikipedia)?

Until doing some reading on Network Neutrality, I really did not think there was much of a conflict dealing with the Internet, but it appears I was wrong. This whole Net Neutrality debate has really brought up some interesting issues that I had not thought about before. The first thing I find interesting about the topic is that there is not one clear definition of Net Neutrality, and this is because there are so many people concerned with this, and everybody has differing opinions that one clear-cut definition is impossible. Everybody who knows something about this topic has a different opinion on it, including mine (so excuse me if this comes off as a little opinionated, but I mean common... its a blog) (Jones, K.C.).

So what is Net Neutrality you may ask? Well I would have to say that the definition you are looking for is probably not going to be found in a dictionary or on wikipedia because this will give you a big complex definition, and probably a headache without really telling you what you want to know. My first suggestion would be to look at some websites, maybe search the topic on youtube. Following my own advice, I looked in youtube, and got a lot of great results about it. I found that most of the videos on the cite were "Pro" Net Neutrality. So check out some of these great videos...






There are also a lot more I wish I could post up here, but I don't want to just fill up my blog with youtube videos, so you should also check you cites like savetheinternet.com


OK OK, I promised myself I would not get side tracked with this one, but I did, sorry. Back to me talking about Net Neutrality... Well let me start of with my explanation / definition of Net Neutrality. Similar to how cable TV providers charge their customers for access channels, Internet providers (often the same companies) want to charge their customers for access to websites. So their would be an increasing level of the amount of access and capability you could get on the web, depending on how much you are willing to spend. So for only $5 more a month, you can have unlimited access to facebook! That sounds like a great deal to me, NOT! An other good analogy to this is like a tollbooth or gatekeeper.

It is almost hard to really grasp this concept, because most people in America have cable TV, and pay for certain plans with certain access to certain channels. All of these plans are very restrictive, and now in America this comes as our first nature. So I don't really blame cable providers for trying to impose Net Neutrality, because it has worked pretty well for TV.

So do you get the debate now? Internet providers want more money, and plan on getting this money by charging more, more money for more access. So this probably means that under Net Neutrality, what you are paying now for Internet will not get you as much, and that doesn't really sound fair. I mean, how can somebody just change the rules on us (the debate for pro-net neutrality)! I mean, its not like it happened with radio, satellite radio, and cable TV, right?

So what kind of stereotypical people would be on what side of this debate. Well, the most obvious is that the providers would support this. Increasingly, members of the congress have supported this as well as other politicians like John Edwards (John Edwards: ‘We Need Net Neutrality’). On the other side are the little guys, like small bands that want to get their music out there on the Internet. The website futureofmusic.org really supports pro net neutrality, and like many other cites offers petitions to stop it.

The Big guys, the Internet providing companies like Verizon and AT&T, and politicians are really in it for the money, but they'll probably tell you that "its more fair or something." And the little guys, they just want their Internet and want a chance to make it.

I don't think it is fair for me to tell you who to support, but I will gladly tell you my opinion (if you couldn't tell already). There are two sides to my opinion. I understand why big corporations and media companies want Net-Neutrality ($$) and I understand why they think it is attainable (TV and radio). But at the same time, I think it is obviously unfair, and will only increase the information gap between the haves and have-nots. I personally do not want to have to wait in line at my rich friends house to check my email, because I can't afford to get the Internet service with that website. Also, I can't wait to see what is going to happen to libraries and state universities and other places like those if this kind of thing passes. I vote against this, and think you should too, so here are some petitions to check out...

http://www.futureofmusic.org/rockthenet/petition.cfm
http://action.freepress.net/campaign/savethenet
http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1408869
http://www.netfreedomnow.org/

The list goes on and on, so feel free to only do one.


Citations:
1. Tim Berners-Lee. (2007, April 5). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:03, April 11, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tim_Berners-Lee&oldid=120554581

2. Jones, K.C. Net Neutrality Debate Remains Contentious, Information Week. March 16, 2007. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198001557

3. Net Neutrality : Animated Music Video, roschler. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekJBL8VWXSg

4. Rocketboom explain net neutrality, pablosci. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPap8ijDv5g&eurl=

5. Tkarr, John Edwards: ‘We Need Net Neutrality’. April 11th, 2007, http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2007/04/11/john-edwards-we-need-net-neutrality/

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