Skip to main content

Net Neutrality

According to Tedford and Herbeck, Net Neutrality is the "principle that holds that internet service providers (ISP's) should be completely detached from [the] content sent over their networks...ISPs should allow access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and make no attempt to favor or block particular products or services," (464). I happen to come across a petition on Facebook a week ago about Stopping Net Neutrality and was surprised at what a coincidence it was that it was a part of our class lessons. To further explain what net neutrality is basically self-explanatory; ISPs cannot make it harder for one website to be accessed simply because they pay more for "fast lanes" or basically to load faster than smaller websites or those that pay less. This further stop ISPs from pushing websites they agree with and slowing down the traffic to other websites. Your favorite small business can be highly affected by the current appeal of net neutrality. Trump proposed it and it has actually passed the first step to being written into law. Comcast is a big contender in supporting this appeal and even going as far as hinting at fast lanes. ISPs will have more say in pushing their values and morals onto users. Allowing and disallowing some content to be viewed by favoring one website over the other. This can even suppress free speech in more ways than one. What happens to the NewYork Post, The Washington Post, CNN Online. Eventually, it comes down to how these ISPs start navigating the passing of the law to diminish net neutrality. I will link the petition that I came across on FB here.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 30, 2017 at 7:39 AM

    The implications if Comcast and other such entities win and net neutrality is dismantled are pretty concerning. I personally think that it breaks the First Amendment in the fact that from my understanding these companies will have the power to completely block websites that have content they disagree with. For example if a company leaned Republican they could shut down all traffic to a Democrat site which makes access to political messages nearly impossible and unconstitutional in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gamifying Citizenship

The historical context of freedom of speech is an extremely interesting one. Why is it that the concept of free speech has been an undying one and has span the history of human communication. Breaking free speech in to three traditional rationals makes the concept easier to understand and definitely makes sense. These three modes of freedom of speech are philosophical, political and individual. They are easy to distinct from one another and function in completely different ways. From a philosophical level, free speech is a device of truth. That if people are able to speak freely and let their ideas compete, "in the long run the truth will prevail" according to Tedford and Herbeck. I find this interesting, because in my mind, this is the most important facet of free speech. I say this, because I find free speech essential for any kind of societal advancements. If people are not allowed to speak their mind and share their ideas, or discredit others ideas, how is a society supp...
1 comment
Read more

Wedding Cake Court Case (make-up post)

Wedding cake court case involving a gay couple, Charlie Craig & David Mullins, and a cake baker, Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for the couple. Just all around, it's a tricky debate with many different angles due to the baker arguing on the grounds of the First Amendment---its protections for free speech and the free exercise of religion. In the end, I think it comes down to whether we consider baking a cake qualifies an exercise of freedom of expression. I would say that it depends on the situation/context of baking. If Mr. Phillips wants his cake baking to be categorized artistic expression that falls under free expression, he can just go bake a cake on his own. Only then when he's on his own private time does it qualify, but as soon as he offered his skills as a public service via his business, I'd argue he gave that right to expression up. Also, what's stopping other artisans/professional services to deny services? By Mr. Phillip's logic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why is Freedom of Speech Important in a Democracy

While reading Chapter 15, I got the sense that the book was really coming full circle. In the first week of class, we established a meaning for freedom of speech and that shared meaning allowed us to navigate the classroom together as a classroom and a collective group. Creating a space that also involved mutual respect of opinons but encouraging difference in them as well. This brings me to an article I found about the importance of Freedom of Speech in a democracy. It is a basic human right to be able to express opinions and beliefs in our country. Although that is the main component, just like we established in class the first few weeks, in a government and democracy, Freedom of Speech also consists of the ability to listen to people with difference in opinions. In the article , editor Rachael  Jolly says, “ We are going through a time where people don’t want to be on a panel with people they disagree with. But we should feel comfortable being in a room with people who disagree ...
4 comments
Read more