Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Net Neutrality: Who Will Win the War of the Web?

The Internet is at risk. Network neutrality, also referred to as Net Neutrality or NN, has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion in Washington during the past months. The idea of NN is that information will not be blocked online…in other words, we as citizens will have the freedom to view uncensored information online. Why would this be an issue? Well, as you might have guessed, companies are trying to take away our freedom of the Internet. That’s right, your Internet world could become a whole lot smaller.

Here is a video that may help you to understand the issue:
http://mobchina.blogspot.com/2008/03/net-neutrality-explained.html

Rights of NN have already been striped from people in China. But we are America, you say. This cannot happen to me. Right? Not so. It is happening!
According to the video posted above, “phone and cable companies want to become traffic controllers”. Such movements are underway; AT&T and Verizon, two of our countries largest Internet Providers, have recently won a large amount of Internet space. According to WWW.SavetheInternet.com, “With news that AT&T and Verizon have just won the most significant chunks of available wireless spectrum, Americans face a future of more of the same: slower Internet speeds for prices that are far higher than what many people pay in Europe and Asia. And without action to restore Net Neutrality protections, the Web we get may be blinkered by phone and cable companies’ ability to restrict the content and applications we may want to use.”


Do you really want to pay for a service which is merely restricting you from equal treatment? If not, the take a stand! It is up to us to put a stop to this. As Americans, we have a voice that we must use. Speak up and express your opinions, because otherwise, sooner or later, we may not be able to communicate freely with one another online. For instance, you may even be censored from reading this blog. Do you want someone else telling you what you can and cannot see? Our ancestors already fought for our freedom, now we must fight to maintain it.

I feel that censorship is wrong. The government of ISP’s should not be allowed to tell us what we capable of doing. We are not a country of dictatorship. NN has become an important topic in this coming election as well, particularly for the young generation of voters. The Internet is really our invention; vote to protect it.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Requirements of Blogging...Do We Need an Upgrade?

I happened to come across this blog, Blog Herald, earlier today and stumbled accross an article that seems fitting for my communications class: http://www.blogherald.com/2008/03/03/banging-the-pots-and-pans-on-your-blog/#more-6585

This article contains great tips for how to improve blog writing. If we are concerned that blogs do not stack up to professional work, perhaps a few of these suggestions could help make a difference. For instance, blogs should contain credible sources, make readers think about new ideas, and earn a credible reputation. With the increasing number of blogs out there, many don't resemble professional work-- perhaps this is why people are complaining. Instead of feeding the problem, let's change the way the system works. By understanding that our work is influential, we owe it to ourselves, and to the world really, to make sure what we publish is factual, well written, and interesting.
I believe that as future communication relies more heavily on the blogoshere, better blogging will be necessary. What do you think? Is it ok to blog casually, or should we raise our standards?