Assignment 4: Thoughts on Network Neutrality

Net Neutrality is the idea that governments and Internet service providers should treat everything on the internet equally. Some people support this concept but others are opposed to it. Why is that? Well there are pros and cons to net neutrality. It is good for the consumers because lets say if At&t for example blocked google because they are with Yahoo, then that would not be fair to the users. If net neutrality was not in place, something like that could happen. However, for the internet service providers it is a bad thing. They want to charge users what they want and are always about making the money. One of the pros are that net neutrality provides non discriminatory access, which is a good thing for users because it basically means that everyone using the internet is treat the same. Another pro of net neutrality is that innovation and creation are the heart of it. This is a big plus for users. It allows people to come up with creations and ideas that can be shared and heard. Lastly, net neutrality provides a competitive marketplace. It allows us to choose between different internet service providers rather than be told which one we have to have. However, there are a few cons of net neutrality. Basically the main point that people do not like is that internet service providers believe that they should be charging more money for more access to the internet. They believe that the heaviest users of the internet should be paying more. ISPs are not a fan of network neutrality. Some people also believe that we do not need more network neutrality legislation, that it will only do more harm. There are good and bad aspects of net neutrality and some people are for it and others are against it. Mainly it is the consumers that are for it and the ISPs that are against it. 

Recently, the FCC tried to enforce new rules against Net Neutrality. However, a federal appeals court ruled that they do not have the right to enforce those rules. What the FCC was trying to do was make it so that we have to pay for sites like youtube in order to get them at a fast pace. If we wanted to stream a youtube video at full speed we would have to pay a fee. Also if we wanted to download music from the internet it would become much more slower than bigger sites like Itunes and Amazon. The FCC appealed the ruling. Internet service providers have been pushing for this because they want to be able to control their usage and who gets what amount. 

Network Neutrality is fundamental to free speech. The internet is an open marketplace. If a person has an idea then he/she can share it with anyone or if you have an idea you can start a blog about it. If you want to sell a product on the internet, then you can. It basically allows us to do and say what we want on the Internet. 

Hearing the recent news about net neutrality was very educational to me. I have never read anything about it before but it is interesting to learn about. The recent news would affect me because if they end up charging you for sites like Youtube, I will not be paying for it and it will limit my use of the internet. I use the internet so much so if these new rules would actually go into place, I would be affected by it negatively. 

I think that net neutrality is a good thing. I believe that everything should be equal on the internet. We should absolutely not have to pay to use sites or use them faster. The internet service providers should not be able to charge customers more depending on how much they use it. It is not fair for the different financial status of the users. It will not be a problem for rich people but for less fortunate and middle class it will be. I do not think it should even be a question to change the rules. The ISPs just want to make more money but it is not fair to us. Also I do not think that sites need to be monitored. If you do not want to look at a site then do not. It is that simple. I think net neutrality is great and that we should able to express ourselves and have equal opportunities. 

I found two sites that talked about recent news on network neutrality. The first one was: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/03/05/net-neutrality-recast/5877835/. And the second was: http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/27/technology/open-internet/. I know that both of these sites are valid because one is USA Today and the other is CNN. These are both news sites. They also both talked about recent news. 

Social Media and Privacy

This article proves that social media is being used in more of a negative way than a positive way. Before any social media was available, nothing like this could happen. There was no way that someones life could be ruined because of one unfortunate even that happened to them. It is horrible to hear that there are bystanders and fellow friends of a victim that laugh and post the photo or video online for the public to see. It seems to me that not many people have morals anymore. The fact that they go so low to ruin someones life is sickening. The people that share these posts should put themselves in the victims shoes and see how they would like to be humiliated like that. I think that no one ever should have to go through this. Although I do think that no one should put their selves in a situation that an event like this would happen, sometimes it does and they should not be at fault.

What bothers me is that when a victim takes their life because an event that ruined their life, the bystanders and "friends" that were originally laughing and sharing stories about it, come and say sorry. It is way too late for them to say sorry. They should not have acted like this in the first place. Why feel bad after the person took their life because of you? People should feel bad in the beginning and never let anything like this happen. If one really feels bad about the situation, then prevent it right when it starts, do not drag it on.

I do not think that it is right to show these videos or photos to the public as a sort of justice. There are other ways to raise awareness of rape and to try and prevent it. For example you could make seminars at schools. I think what everyone should know is that this will never stop unless people become more ethical. It starts with every single individual making better choices. Then eventually we can become better as a community and prevent this from happening.

I Have Nothing To Hide

I find it quite odd that some people know that everything they post on social media can be found yet they still post inappropriate pictures and statuses. I go on Facebook and see people post illegal things all the time and it is mind boggling to me that they think it is "private". Privacy is dead and no one should ever think that what they post, others will not find out. I hear all the time about people going to job interviews and the company will say log on to your Facebook and let me see. We should have nothing to hide if we put it out there for the public to see. I would be happy to show a company my Facebook or any social media because I post about life and happy things, not about inappropriate matters. I am aware that everything I post can be seen by anyone so I am cautious of what I put. Why put something out there if you do not want specific people to see it? I will never understand why people do that. 

When it comes to having every little information about me available to the public I do find that terrifying. It is not that I have anything to hide, it is that I am concerned with my safety. Anyone can search my name in Google and get my address, my phone number, age, where I go to school and pretty much everything they need to find out about me. That is not safe. If someone wanted to do me harm they easily could. I feel that it is ok if government knows everything about us, but the general public should not. This world is not a safe place anymore. There is easy access to any person, which I do not like. It is not right at all. I feel that if someone wants to find out information about a person they should have to ask him or her. If we want to give out our telephone number, email or address to someone then we should be the ones doing it, not the internet. 

Current Technology: The Good and the Bad

Technology has come a long way. In many ways it has been beneficial to the world but in some cases it has not. I believe that people are spending way too much time on cell phones, the internet, gaming and anything else technology related. I rarely see friends hanging out and having a good time just talking to each other. It is just frightening to me that many people cannot hold a conversation anymore. Everything is done over text or email, not much is done in person. I think that it is hindering society more than helping.

There are good things about living in such a technologically advanced world but I think people do not use it correctly. It is so nice that we are able to look up anything online and rely on our smart phones and computer. However, people take advantage of it and then never put their phones down and are always using technology. I think that there needs to be a line drawn between no technology and too much technology.