Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Fight for Net Neutrality


According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights :

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Censorship is pretty much a universal problem these days, obviously more prevalent in certain countries versus those in the more forward-thinking, modern and free western world...right? The U.S. media is sure to report instances of censorship and the infringement of human rights, free speech, etc. in countries such as communist Cuba, China, and various countries in the Middle East. The response generated is usually a few minutes of airtime and maybe an expose buried in the International section of the New York Times (see my post below regarding online dissident’s arrests in China).

Americans view these stories with a certain calm, generated by the comforting assumption that issues of censorship simply don’t apply to them; we have an outsider’s perspective of this problem. In reality, we’re fooling ourselves if we go to sleep at night thinking that we’ve had completely free access to all information throughout the day. Censorship is present in the United States just as it is in Cuba or China; we’re simply ignorant of the fact. We don’t have a military police or a dictator in power. Think about it. How would we know what’s being censored?

Censorship is an extremely broad topic, so in order to narrow the focus a bit, the concept up for discussion is “net neutrality,” specifically what it is, who it affects, and why it’s such an issue in the Western world.

According to http://www.savetheinternet.com/, net neutrality is “the principle that protects our ability to go where we want and do what we chose online.” If one compares this definition to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two statements are indeed complimentary. Until recently, I assumed (like most Americans) that the Internet was free domain and provided full access to any information I needed. However, the Internet is now being regarded as a commodity, up for grabs to the highest bidder. Comcast, AOL Time Warner, Verizon and AT&T have already been busy for years playing gatekeepers in order to discriminate against sites and sources they don’t like.

These communications giants want to tax content providers to “guarantee speedy delivery of their data while slowing and/or blocking their competitors,” according to SavetheInternet.com. So what does this mean for unknowing Internet users?

The major implications affect small businesses, bloggers, grassroots organizations and non-profits who will now be stifled by this new “tiered Internet” with faster service for the select few (i.e. corporate giants) willing to pay. Costs will also skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips, putting a muzzle on “citizen journalists” and every-day Internet users like you and me.

This is corporate control of the web. And it’s already becoming a problem. For instance, back in 2006, AOL Time Warner blocked all e-mails that mentioned http://www.dearaol.com/, an advocacy campaign opposing their pay-to-send e-mail scheme.

In August 2007, AT&T censored a live Pearl Jam concert because the lead singer criticized President Bush.

And perhaps the most eyebrow-raising, in September 2007, Verizon screened and censored text messages sent by NARAL Pro-Choice America to its own members. Of course, the phone company later reversed its policy and cried “glitch” after The New York Times published an expose in response to the incident.

So what’s being done? The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 is currently on the table in Congress, but the above-mentioned companies are viciously lobbying Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to “gut” net neutrality and overturn the bill.

Do we really want the Internet to turn into Cable television, screened and monopolized in access and content by corporate America? In this sense we are not like China and Cuba, in that we have the freedom to protest these practices. Speak your mind. We have the right; don’t take it for granted.

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