Thursday 29 November 2007

The Commercialization of the Network

The growing commercialization of the internet and the topic of net-neutrality have been much debated and discussed both by the pundits and experts in the public domain. On the other hand the corporations that control the flow the data, by means of their infrastructure – what to control the web by dividing the internet into different categories, where by users are charged according to their ability to pay, in contrast to the flat rate system that they have currently.

The cable and telecommunication companies have been accused of imposing the tiered service model more for the purpose of profiting from their control of the pipeline rather than for any demand for their content or services. People have also compared the neutrality of the web as important as the preservation of the current freedoms. A recent controversy irrupted in the United States were, the issue of net-neutrality and the apparent commercialization of the web was being discusses in the U.S senate. Ted Stevens, a senator from Alaska was criticizing for the misinterpretation of how the net works.

The bill which pertained to the particular issue was also received as it proposed amendment to a committee bill which would have prohibited Internet service providers from charging fees to give some companies higher priority access to their networks or their customers. However, the topic how far the companies are allowed to charge customers the additional fees for their services and the ways to prevent the internet from being controlled and commercialized are still continues.

Blogs and Video links

http://foureyedmonsters.com/neutrality

http://wearetheweb.org/

www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml

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