Assignment 4: Thoughts on Network Neutrality

Net neutrality allows people to use the internet without any discrimination.  It allows people to access what they want to access and most importantly does not discriminate.  Neutrality also allows for the internet to grow.  It has allowed the creation of websites like Google, eBay, and YouTube as well as start ups and online stores, and also provides a platform for anyone to express themselves freely.  Also, it allows for a competitive market place.  Without net neutrality internet service providers would be able to regulate who gets access to what content on the internet.  There are also cons to net neutrality.  Without net neutrality cable providers would be able to offer different levels of service, allowing for a more sophisticated infrastructure, that would eventually benefit every level of internet.  With the legislation that accompanies net neutrality, inadequate laws could create loopholes as well as slow down safety practices.  Some people are opposed to net neutrality because they feel that there should be rules to the internet, especially concerning young children who could view harmful information, or images.  On the contrary others are for it because they believe that they should be able to choose which information they can and cannot access and because they should be allowed to express themselves freely.

net neutrality is tied into the topic of freedom of speech because the internet acts as both a forum for expression and a from of communication.  People should be allowed to say what they want by regulating what people say on the internet, would not allow people to express them selves and communicate freely.

ISPs are now free to make deals with Netflix, amazon, or similar companies.  This change allows companies to pay more in order to stream their products faster over the internet.

The recent not news would net necessarily affect me immediately, but it could lead to the public having to pay these higher prices for their internet.

I am for net neutrality because I believe it allows for freedom of expression on the internet.  Although this can be a bad thing at times I think the ability to express one opinions ideas and beliefs in an environment that protects one from ridicule or harassment is good thing.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/open-internet

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/

Social Media and Privacy

Once a person engages in social media, they voluntarily give up a portion of their privacy, with Facebook being the most significant example.  On Facebook, users are constantly updating status, listing their interests and personal info, uploading photos, and sharing other pages, images and videos from the internet.  Depending on each individual users settings, either just their friends can see their information and what they post and share, or anyone can see their information and what they post and share.

An advantage to Facebook is how quickly things circulate.  This is useful to get information to people regarding an issue going on in the world, or to get the word out about an upcoming event or if you need to get in touch with a large group of people.  The rapid circulation of things on Facebook can also be negative.  You can control what you upload to social media sites, but you cannot control what other people upload.  As discussed in the Newsweek article images and videos of rape at parties can go viral extremely quickly ruining the of the victims.  Images and videos that were not even known to have existed to the victim until they were seen by everyone.  Once something is uploaded to social media it is hard to control it.  Even after images videos, or posts have been "deleted" they can still be found if someone digs deep enough.

I Have Nothing To Hide

People are having increasingly less privacy on the internet.  To some people this is a big deal, and to others, it does not pose a threat.  A common response is that they have nothing to hide on the internet.  Personally, I would like to believe that I have nothing to hide, but who am I kidding.  Most everyone out there probably has something that they don't want other people knowing, but that is beside the point.  The internet is constantly learning new things about us, and the different websites we use are storing our information and that information can be accessed more easily than one thinks.  So whether or not you have something to hide no longer matters, because whatever you put on the internet, can be traced back to you whether you think it is important or not.

Technology is Consuming Us

We are constantly connected.  No matter where we go or what we do we are plugged in.  Technology has consumed our lives and it is reaching the point where people can't live without it.  Not just in the way that people are addicted to their phones or their ipads, or their computers, but that in order to communicate, or perform tasks in the work place technology is required.

Until this past summer I had a flip phone my entire life.  I would constantly criticize the people around me who were constantly looking at their phones consumed by facebook, twitter, or whatever app they were using, but I now find myself guilty of the same thing.  It's just too easy.  As nice as these conveniences are, I have found myself most at peace when I unplug.  Whether it's spending an entire day without using my phone and computer, or spending a three or four days outside without any contact, I find myself doing more things, being more active, and in general, having more fun.  Its hard to do that however, when you need to constantly be in contact with people, respond to emails, and stay on top of work.  As technology increasingly consumes our lives, I think its important for people to put down there devices avery now and again.  Take a break, and unplug.