Finally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has declared its stand on the net neutrality issue. The Commission is considering making net neutrality, a long standing internet guideline into a rule. According to the FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, this change is necessary considering how far the internet has come and the need to include consumer protection and rights into various products and services offered by ISPs.
As a background, net neutrality refers to guidelines that simply state that users have the power to control the content they view and use on the internet. This guideline has been in use since the Internet was developed but over the years ISPs using their big marketing position have tried to control what users get. In many cases, these firms have discriminated against competing services so that users only get partial versions of the information they actually need to stay informed.
Net neutrality has generated more talk because ISPs want FCC to give them the authority to decide what information gets to users. They want to control the content, the speed at which it reaches you and even at what time.
The question that arises is, how does the ISP determine what the consumer need? How much he needs and even at what tine he needs it? The arguments against the ISP submissions are that, individuals have peculiar needs that cannot be accurately determined in advance. The opponents to this ISP suggestion believe that FCC is simply enforcing a rule that has exited previously and that the ISPs stand no particular disadvantage with the conversion of the guidelines into rules.
By net neutrality, all players in the internet business including phone manufacturers offering competing services to the ISP stand the equal chance of generating sales from their services and products.
How will the service providers respond if these conventions are turned into rules? Will they have to rebrand their products, charge more fees or simply offer consumers what they can afford? The extent to which the rules go will answer all of these questions.
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I envision a nightmare world in which one can walk by a McDonald’s building, and automatically receive a McDonald’s commercial as a text message or voice mail.
History is important because it’s our collective memory. Imagine going through life without being able to remember anything, what went well, mistakes made, experience gained? A human race with no awareness of history would be the same as someone with no memory. Intelligent maybe, but completely lacking in judgment.
I’m a medical student so i understand how you feel. I’m working at hospital during the day and then i have to study in the evening and wake up every morning at 5am.
There is an old saying that if we don’t study history that we are doomed to repeat it. That means that if we don’t figure out how we got into a confilct that we are going to keep on doing and will never get out of a cycle of wars.
Why are you stopping?? do you have a health problem?? to stop your studying now with out a good reason would be a shame you would more than likely fail what ever classes you are in unless you have very high marks.
About one percent of the Web pages being delivered on the Internet are being changed in transit, sometimes in a harmful way, according to researchers at the University of Washington.