Internet neutrality

[northamericancitizen]

A question: Is the Internet (WWW) American?

If so, do we want to shape it differently?

We still have a choice.

[Hutzpa]

1. Why don't we just leave the Internet alone......

asking question leads to people wanting to control shit. Sounds like a corporate question to me.

[northamericancitizen]

4. I did not ask that question to get people angry.

Sorry if I worded it in a way that ticked some people off. It was not my intention at all.

I am genually asking myself that question cause latetly I read articles about the vulnerability of the WWW for a militarisation of the Web. At least on this continent.

Here's a link://www.sundayherald.com/54975

[niyad]

2. exactly what choice do you think that is, and WHY do you think that the

internet is american? it is, after all, called the WORLD WIDE WEB

[salvorhardin]

3. A couple of points

The world wide web is not the internet. The web is one of many protocols that can be used over the internet.

The internet as a whole does not belong to any one person or organization or country.

The internet is not a thing, but an agreement on how to communicate among networked computers. Actually it's hundreds of different agreements.

Parts of the internet, or at least the computers and communications equipment and fibers and wires on which parts of the internet exist are owned by some people or corporations or governments. A large chunk of that "stuff" could be wiped out tomorrow and the internet would still exist.

If you want a good introduction to what the internet really is, without all the technical mumbo-jumbo, please read this short essay:

World of Ends
What the Internet Is and
How to Stop Mistaking It
for Something Else.
by
Doc Searls and
David Weinberger
http://worldofends.com

[northamericancitizen]

5. Gratefull for the info. A must read. In my book anyway. nt

[salvorhardin]

7. You're welcome

In my opinion, and obviously the authors of that essay, trying to shape the internet would be exactly the wrong thing to do. That's their point about the internet being "stupid" and why that's a good thing. For another example read this essay:
Customer-owned Networks:
ZapMail and the Telecommunications Industry
First published January 7, 2003 on the 'Networks, Economics, and Culture' mailing list.
http://www.shirky.com/writings/zapmail.html

I know that's another business related example and you weren't really asking about that but it makes for a good analogy for why internet neutrality is a big deal. And yeah, the "powers that be (whomever they may be)" hate the internet precisely because it is agnostic to the data it is carrying. They hate that anyone can improve on the internet by adding services at the edges of the network because that means they can't predict it. That's not the conspiracist "they" either but really refers to anyone or group of individuals that have an interest in maintaining control. It doesn't imply collusion.

[RoyGBiv]

6. No ...

The Internet, which is not the WWW btw, is not "American."

[Peter Frank]

8. If You Believe Gonzales Obtained Yahoo & Google Info for "Porn Research...

...then you don't know who is trying to shape the internet differently.