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/

The biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet

Approximately 7 days ago my life changed, in a good way. For the first time in my life I contributed to the internet. How did I do this you may ask? Well, I added an article to wikipedia, which is one of the hottest things on the internet. WIkipedia is an online encyclopedia, that allows for anybody to enter or edit articles in the website.

So I got the assignment that I had to write an article about something in wikipedia, but I did not know what to write about. Wikipedia has articles about pretty much anything you can think of, and these articles are pretty thorough. I thought I was stumped, until I looked around my dorm room and saw my acoustic guitar. Luckily, wikipedia was short of information about washburn guitars (the type of guitar I own). I did not want to just write about how great my guitar was or try to promote my guitar or washburn guitars. Instead, I wrote about the history of washburn guitars and the washburn guitar company, as well as the types of guitars they make currently.

Overall, I found this project to be harder then I expected. This is because I did not recognize the vastness that is Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia has literally hundreds of thousands of articles, and this makes it hard to write insightful information. Also, it is very hard to write original and creative information on something when there is already a lot of information on the topic or product on wikipedia, as well as on other places on the internet. Information that is irrelevant or useless gets deleted within minutes to be added.

This was a problem I encountered when writing, writing original content. The problem was address by Derek (my teacher), and I immediately recognized the problem also, and changed the content to something I found more appropriate, accurate, and original. So my article on washburn guitars has been on wikipedia for a week, and has not been changed, which comes as a surprise to me. I know that millions of people use wikipedia for means of acquiring information. I am sure that people have read my article, and I am also sure that there are people who might not understand or agree with my content. So if you have read or will read my article, and want to change it, please go ahead and change what I have written, as this is how the website operates. I understand how wikipedia works, and I actually support it.

I believe that the way wikipedia was designed makes it so that the best information stays on and information that is bogus or non informant will be deleted. It is different from the form of a blog, in that information that is offensive for instance will not be ignored, but rather removed. So as I said before, please take a look at my entry on washburn guitars, and do with it as you please. The link to it can be found here.

Thorn Kappler for President!

As I sit in my chair in my dorm room, I am completely oblivious to the world around me. And why should I be paying attention to real life when I am engulfed in Second Life (or SL as the pros call it). Now I have played a fair share of video games in my day, and I would not call this one. Maybe it was what the game The Sims was trying to accomplish, but Second Life is a world in itself. Second Life is a complex virtual world that cannot be fully understood until it is tried out. Second Life is a revolutionizing game that has potential to have a major impact on the history of the world. The last statement may seem extreme, but I argue that as extreme as it sounds it is true.

So it only takes about five minutes to get onto Orientation Island, and you are in the game. You figure out the basics and change your appearance, and all the good stuff. At this point I was not really sure what this game was all about, what the big deal was. So I got through all the tutorials and was ready to move onto the good stuff, still now knowing what this stuff was.

So I got placed into some island where people were just hanging out, doesn't seem like a big deal. I started asking around what the games all about and other questions to get me orientated better. People immediately started accusing me of being a reporter (I guess I kind of am, being a blogger). The members of Second Life do not like to have Second Life be overexposed in the news because this will attract new members who are not truly interested in the game.

So here I am, Thorn Kappler. I have a birthday, an appearance, friends, etc. This sounds like many other games that I've played before, and those were not that special. The first BIG deal about this world that I found was that the money in SL is real money. When I want something, I have to pay for it in US dollars, coming out of my pocket (or credit card). I want to buy a shirt, I have to buy it with my money. If I were to win the lottery in the game (hypothetically) I would have a check sent to my dorm room at UB. So then what is the incentive to essentially waste money in SL. Well, like other things, if you are really into this game then the money is worth it. First off, the game is free to download and register for, so that makes people more willing to buy things in the game. A new outfit or a guitar will better express who I am to my friends in the game, and will help me make new friends. You can even buy a house in the game, because if you think about it... Thorn Kappler needs a place to sleep too. And there are thousands of shops, all easy to find, selling pretty much everything and anything you can think of.

So I'm exploring the game, I understand the way the money works down ($1 US = $186 Linden). Then I met somebody who really introduced me to why the game is different from other games. The woman's name was Inny Colo, and she had white hair spiked up, with a white outfit with pink wings, not somebody I would normally associate with in the real world. But Inny Colo told me a lot about the game. At this point I didn't really see all the hype, and I'm sure you still don't.

So besides the fact that you make friends from all around the world, people you normally would not meet, and you can exchange your ideas with them, thats all great. You can express yourself easier then in a chat room or instant message because you can change your visual representation and expression. And you can buy and sell goods and services using real world money. But imagine this...

In January 2007 there was a riot in SL. The roit took place between the National Front, a French political extremist party, and its opponents. This may seem like something you would see in a parody of these types of games in Family Guy, but this really happened. French political parties and their candidates campaigned within SL. Between the four political groups that campaigned on SL, about 50,000 people checked out the campaigns a day. All the contenders had headquarters, and one of the candidates Jean-Marie Le Pen was destroyed (you cannot technically die in SL), and ironically he did not win the election. It is also possible that Second Life can also be used for campaigning in the next US election.

Something more was created when politics entered SL. Never before has there been campaigning in video games (that I am aware of) that is so popular. This is not only effective, but futuristic. This opens a whole new type of society. Politicians in the future may be able to win an election without even leaving their desk! Besides the fact that there are people getting rich and some even becoming millionaires without leaving their chair. Because SL is so popular it opens doors for any possibility.

Nobody expected political campaigns in virtual realities, and nobody expected a riot to start because of it. Also, nobody expected there to be a game where real money can be earned and spent. The game Second Life can be used as an educational, social, economic, or political medium, and who knowns what can happen in the future!

Citations:
1. Second Life attracts French politicians. PARIS, 30 March 2007. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/Second_Life_attracts_French_politicians/20070330-100212-6089r/

2. Second Life. (2007, April 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:31, April 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=120268909

3. http://secondlife.com/