Will the richest 1% soon control our internet?

[Mr Bloom]

http://www.avaaz.org/en/internet_apocalypse_pa_eu/?bUlNobb&v=34956

 

It makes an interesting read. I didn't know we were already going down this path. I believe the internet should be for all, and there should be equality of access.

 

I'm interested to know what other people think.

[Mecky]

It already exists in some countries and probably to some lesser extent in other countries

[Maz3]

It's sobering to think we may soon look back on the first 15 years of this century as an internet golden age, before it got controlled by big business interests.

[melthebell]

interesting reading? its just a giant advert Oo

[Fogey]

Quick quick, give us your personal info

[DeathAxe]

This following on from the blocking of file sharing sites? I said that was stage 1, it seems that I was correct.

 

Either that or this is scare mongering, any more links to back up this claim?

[Mister M]

I hope not. Though I sometimes wonder reading some of the comments on this forum whether the richest in society have anything to worry about the internet, what with so many tuppence ha'penny millionaires looking down their noses at those who claim benefits or don't live in the more 'desirable' parts of the city

[syne]

not sure how it'd be possible, the internet isn't like a tv channel and would require serious amounts of interference to subdue it.

If I started searching for this

http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/Technical.html

and kept getting redirected to this

http://www.foxnews.com/

 

then it wouldn't be too long before i started going outside more....

[Nagel]

It's called Net Neutrality and is a huge issue, little reported.

 

Companies want to be able to pay for priority over the internet, so that their data is prioritised over non-payers data. It goes against the principle of the internet being open for all - net neutrality.

 

http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality

 

On Jan. 14, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order.

 

In other words, Net Neutrality is dead (for now).

 

The open Internet rules, adopted in 2010, were designed to prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or slowing users’ connections to online content and apps.

 

This ruling means that just a few powerful phone and cable companies could control the Internet. Without Net Neutrality, ISPs will be able to devise new schemes to charge users more for access and services, making it harder for us to communicate online — and easier for companies to censor our speech. The Internet could come to resemble cable TV, where gatekeepers exert control over where you go and what you see.

 

Without Net Neutrality, ISPs like AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon will be able to block content and speech they don’t like, reject apps that compete with their own offerings, and prioritize Web traffic (reserving the fastest loading speeds for the highest bidders and sticking everyone else with the slowest).

 

The tools ISPs use to block and control our communications aren’t different from the ones the NSA uses to watch us. Whether it’s a government or a corporation wielding these tools or the two working together, this behavior breaks the Internet as we know it and makes it less open and secure.

[Guest]

It might be a blessing in disguise; the week when I was without my computer (because it broke down) was the most productive week I'd had in ages, I actually lived in the real world for a week.