The Future of the Internet

(blogs.techrepublic.com)

Imagine an internet where you can only access certain websites, an internet where only companies can afford to publish a website or an internet where certain cable and telephone companies can control the website you access. This is the reality that we will be faced with as cable and internet companies attempt to end net neutrality.

Today, if you have an internet connection you are allowed to freely access any website on the internet. All websites are given the same speed and quality. Net neutrality is the principle that allows people to view the internet without disruption because it prevents internet providers from blocking your access to any websites. Internet service providers are not allowed to mess with what information is traveling through the internet. However, cable and telephone companies, who own the lines that the internet travels through, want to choose the content you see and use on the internet. “The companies want to set up a restricted fast lane on the internet but only for their partners and services. Only sites that pay them a huge fee would be allowed to use it, making them gatekeepers”. (www.youtube.com). Their argument is that because they provide the service, they should be able to regulate the service.

The internet plays a huge part in our daily lives. In a previous post, I explained how our entire culture has changed and grown through the internet. In a keynote address delivered at the Inaugural Media Ecology Association Convention, Neil Postman explained how “a medium is a technology within which a culture grows; that is to say, it gives form to a culture’s politics, social organization, and habitual ways of thinking” (Postman). The internet is an amazing tool. It can be used as a library: finding information, gathering facts, and researching topics. It can be used for leisure: playing games, listening to music, and watching movies. Companies take advantage of the internet for marketing. The internet is a quick and easy way to introduce a company or product. Just recently, social networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, have created a form of interaction within the internet. You can chat with friends, e-mail others, share files. The uses for the internet are endless and new innovations are introduced every day. However, telephone and cable companies, such as Comcast, AT&T, and Version are attempting to radically change our experience on the internet.

The public should have total control over the websites that we surf. Each internet user has the right to have the same degree of service and cable and internet companies should not be allowed to slow down or block access to certain websites.

Here in Canada, there has already been evidence that internet providers have the tools to control the internet and what we view. “On July 25, 2005, Canadian Internet Service Provider, Telus, blocked subscribers' access to a web site set up by an employee labour union intended to publicize the union's views about its dispute with Telus. In addition, the decision to block traffic to the Internet Protocol address of the site caused collateral filtering of at least 766 additional, unrelated Web sites. Telus later restored access to the websites, while appearing to maintain an option to block any sites it chooses” (www.opennet.net). Internet service providers clearly already have the technology to control the internet.

So why have we not heard about this issue? Net neutrality is not gaining media attention because many of the companies that want to eliminate net neutrality are also associated with the media. However, websites like savethenet.ca and neutrality.ca are attempting to raise the issue and bring awareness to the Canadian public.

Net neutrality is a serious issue. Today, the internet is a space where we are allowed to publish information and ideas and in turn, we can search for information or ideas. If cable and telephone companies gain control over the websites we view, then the internet will become another tool for companies to use for marketing and advertising. The public should have total control over the websites that we surf. Each internet user has the right to have the same degree of service and cable and internet companies should not be allowed to slow down or block access to certain websites.

Work Cited
Postman, Neil. Keynote Address. Inaugural Media Ecology Association Convention. Fordham University,New York, NY. 16June 2000.

Save The Internet!. 18 December 2006. Youtube. 25 November 2008.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt0XUocViE]

Telus Blocks Consumer Access to Labour Union Web Site and Filters an Additional 766 Unrelated Sites. 2 August 2005. OpenNet Initiative. 25 November 2008. [http://opennet.net/bulletins/010].