Assignment 4: Thoughts on Network Neutrality

The idea of net neutrality has been ingrained in our culture (without most of us being aware) for as long as we have had access to the internet. Access to the internet was seen as a right to all of humanity as it is just another means of communication tied in with the opportunity of gaining knowledge. Those that were in favor of keeping it neutral never had expected how much access would have exploded in the coming decades though, which is why net neutrality is now coming into the spotlight with strong opposition.

Net neutrality provides an equal opportunity to all vendors online to rise up from infancy to a larger corporation such as Google or Amazon. Without neutrality on the net these businesses might not have had a fighting chance to become what they are today. Everyone that has access to the web will also not be discriminated against as the entirety of the web is equal. On the other hand this could cause some problems, which is why people are now opposing net neutrality. Some online vendors will always end up using much more bandwidth than others, such as Netflix or YoutTube, but they are all treated the same under the neutrality. This can cause a lot of strain for Internet Service Providers, so in an effort to help everyone out it's believed that by providing tiered services of Internet access the people who need a stronger connection or more bandwidth can pay more to get that. The money used for this can then in turn be used to provide more infrastructure that will eventually benefit everyone.

Media has recently been giving a lot of attention to net neutrality after the recent court hearings with Verizon regarding how the FCC has no right to enforce neutrality rules. The original rules regarding net neutrality were made many years ago before the internet blossomed into what it is today, therefore the restrictions the FCC made no longer seem to be viable.

Freedom of speech can be a huge issue with network neutrality as it can inhibit it depending on what the Internet Service Provider wishes to do with your packets of data. The ISP can peer into what is being transmitted right as it is entering their network, and if it's something they do not want (maybe because they are creating a monopoly or are just simply restricting what you can view) they can prevent it from reaching the destination. This would inevitably restrict what a lot of sites could say or what kind of content they can have in order to remain on the ISP's network.

Currently where I stand in life I would not be in favor of losing net neutrality as I would be greatly affected by it. From time to time I like to partake in extensive Netflix sessions which would make me a prime candidate for one of the higher tiered members. This would probably also result in an increase for the subscription fee which is something that I would not want to pay. It's already bad enough that Netflix separated the DVD's service from the streaming one, it would be the final string if they charged more just to view the same amount that I currently do.

From what I previously stated regarding how I would have been affected by the degradation of net neutrality, and my tirade on Netflix, it would be appropriate to make the assumption that I stand in favor for net neutrality. All of the information available to us on the net should remain that way, AVAILABLE to us. There should be no restrictions on what we can do and what we can access for anyone on the Internet. By monopolizing information you can direct the flow in which people are headed, this should be avoided as we all should be able to direct our own path of knowledge be in learning about thermodynamics or fur-less cats.

Recent informative articles regarding Net Neutrality:

Netflix Wants to Expand Net Neutrality

Comcast and other big ISPs are extracting a toll

After reading through these articles I decided they would be a good source for anyone that wants to know more about some recent news about how net neutrality is fairing. Netflix of course is a major name in this battle as it's one of the many reasons why ISPs want to remove neutrality. These articles show how Netflix is fighting back and trying to strengthen neutrality laws, even as far as getting Obama's attention on the matter and blasting big ISPs like Verizon and Comcast to inform the public of the unfortunate end that will occur with a loss of net neutrality.

Social Media And The Death Of Privacy

As humans we have a seemingly strong desire to broaden our communications and improve it as much as we can. This can occasionally lead to some trade-offs as we try to change how we go about interacting with people on a day to day basis. The more we try to improve our methods of communication the more we seem to distance ourselves from everyone else; it seems the more people we 'get to know' the fewer people we actually know. This can cause a rift in our understanding of certain issues that may not seem harmful at all to talk about in a public setting but in reality can be devastating for another person. It may seem like a good idea to give attention to a problem that you believe is going on that no one is doing anything about, but what are the side effects that can arise from this? Considering the "When Rape Goes Viral" article, it may have seemed like a good idea to shed some light on what was actually going on and getting help for anyone that was afflicted but by doing so the incident is made public causing some unwanted attention for those involved. The privacy that the girl once had had been extinguished as her life had now been publicized in an attempt to 'rescue' her; sure there may be some justice finally involved on the wrongdoers side but perhaps she just wanted to forget about the incident and not have everyone know about what happened to her, she may now have difficulty even having a conversation with someone thinking that perhaps they know what happened to her. This would cause some unwarranted stress in someone's life that they did not need to have, and it's all thanks to the wonders of social media.

I Have Everything To Hide

Most people are unaware of what truly goes on behind the scenes when information is being placed on the internet, or even just on a computer. Once you hit that enter button you allow any data that you may have submitted to be forever placed on the web; this could eventually end up being seen by eyes that have no place looking at your information. Online privacy is a prevalent issue in our current society because millions of users are submitting personal information everyday without understanding what they are actually doing with it. People may claim that this issue is of no importance to them because they have nothing to hide, but once they start to realize exactly how much information someone can get on you just by spending enough time and using the right tools that tune may change. You may claim to have nothing to hide but would you really want almost everything to made publicly available? There may even be a point in time where you will want to hide some of your information but will be unable to because it had already been in the system for far too long. At this point there's no turning back and your personal information can be used in any fashion that someone may desire. I personally am concerned with online privacy, which is why I normally abstain from most social medias, because I cannot predict the future and am unsure as to what may happen one day with this sea of personal information.

The Evolution of our Networked World

Ever since mankind had been capable or rational thought it was important for our survival to attempt to network with others in order to gain advantages in areas of which we were previously lacking. As time progressed the medium used to communicate with one another evolved multiple times, from body language to a more spoken one. Eventually tools were used to increase the efficiency and to help broaden the methods that were currently in place to relay information. All of these advancements in technology had a price on networking, all of which seemed to be worth it in order to communicate with a wider audience and have access to as much information as possible. It seems as if the ultimate trade-off is that the amount of people one tries to network with reduces the strength of bonding one would have with each individual. It's difficult for someone to manage strong connections with numerous people, so in order to communicate with as many people as possible that tie must be severed. This could lead to a possible future where mankind is linked with one another, allowing everyone to know everything but at the cost of not actually understanding each other.