TROUBL

An on going legal battle has been raging for the last few years over an issue which directly affects all of our lives. The issue concerns ‘network neutrality.’ If this concept sounds foreign to you, I recommend that you pay attention because its effects will fundamentally change the way we think of the internet. It is not surprising that most of the American public hasn’t heard of the issue since the very same people fighting to hijack the internet own the biggest media sources in the country.

Network Neutrality is the “First Amendment” of the internet. It means that no service provider (your standard AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner, etc.) can censor, degrade, or impose restrictions on the content which they provide. In other words, Verizon, for example, cannot provide priority access to the highest bidder. All content is created equal. Not only does this provision keep companies from discriminatory practices, it has been one of the leading reasons we have grown up watching the net evolve in sophistication and diversity.

The problem is that the private companies who provide this service are tired of playing by this rule; watching all those billions slip between their greedy little fingertips must be infuriating. So they have chosen to fight back against this terrible injustice with their crack team of lawyers and spin doctors, ready to seize control of one of the last bastions of hope left in our society that gives the people a voice. If I sound a little too over dramatic let me give you a little sample of what we can expect to see next.

Tiered service: how would you like to pay for the quality and content of your connection ala television who boasts 1000s of channels with nothing to watch. Make sure you get the premium package so that you can continue to receive all those websites you will now be purchasing at full speed. Small business owners, web designers, bloggers- you want to start a website, that’s cool, just make sure you follow the new regulation guidelines and pay up as necessary. Sure you may not be able to afford the same quality of service which we provide the established, multi-million dollar companies but that’s the free market place for you. Then there is censorship, government spying, and corporate influence to consider. Once the internet is allowed to be regulated by these companies who provide the service, we can guarantee that content found objectionable, distasteful, or unpatriotic will be the first to go. We have already witnessed private companies distribute our personal information to a government who believes in and practices the art of tapping your phone without a warrant, spying on your medical records, tax records, bank account and yes, even your library card. Seriously, my library card…I mean I know I got a 20 cent overdue book charge but damn…Is nothing sacred these days?!

An update for all you MySpace and Facebook users out there. Rupert Murdoch now owns MySpace. That’s right, the same guy responsible for Fox Network, including that racist, politically corrupt, infotainment source of talking heads who specialize in spin. We may be seeing target marketing on our personal pages sooner than we think. If you want to know who a person is, look at what they buy, or so the saying goes. We may be privy to the age where pop ups become permanent real estate on your page, individual advertising 2.0.

AND, while I fully endorse the use of these sites to connect to people, make your voices heard, be an individual and yada-yada, please stop putting up pictures and stories of your and your friends engaging in extra-legal activities. That’s just not a smart move. Incidentally, I have heard stories of people who thought they had secured a job only to find out that their would-be employers cannot use them because they found all of the pictures of them looking like drunken, stoned or (place trendy inebriation term here) assholes. Tell your people, more than just your best friends see this shit.

Look: The bottom line is that we are talking about our personal freedoms here. Our right to privacy and our right to choose are quickly and silently being eroded. If you are reading this, then this concerns you. The beautiful truth is that you already have the resources you need at your fingertips to learn more. Google or Wikipedia are now verbs in our vernacular. Use them. The verdict on the future of the internet is still pending. This is a time for us to discuss the ramifications, possibilities, and ways to protect ourselves. Spread the word. Let’s cause a little TROUBL.