Assignment # 12 - Fight For Internet Freedom

Up until this weeks assignment I had never heard the phrase network neutrality or have any clue as to what it is, so I was eager to find out what it is and what the debate over it is all about. Wikipedia vaguely refers to network neutrality as a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. What I think this means is that Internet users should be able to view any site they choose without limitations from their service provider. Under the current Telecommunications Act the bill states that certain classes of Internet providers "may not unreasonably" restrict applications or services, but there is no definition as to what "unreasonable" is. This reminds me of the video we watched in class on how the Chinese government patrols and polices the Internet so nothing bad is said about their government or nothing unwanted is leaked outside of the country and if Tiananmen Square of Tank Man is searched nice photos of the scenery are shown, not that massacre that took place there 17 years ago.

The current debate over network neutrality is whether to keep the Internet Service Providers (ISP'S) from discriminating between content. The net neutrality debate pits online computer services against a coalition of telephone utilities, telecommunications, and cable distributors-the companies that provide the content versus those that transmit it. The alliance opposed to the legislation includes AT&T Inc., BellSouth Corp., Verizon Communications, Comcast Corp., and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association; they advocate for a competitive Internet with minimal regulation. The list of active player in favor of network neutrality legislation includes Microsoft, Yahoo!, eBay Inc., Amazon.com, and Google Inc. (Source).

Whose interests are at stake are our own. The cable and phone companies who think they own the lines of communication are looking to pit companies like Google and Yahoo against each other for whose page loads faster and charge you a hefty price for what they consider a "better" Internet and for those of us who can not afford to pay they will have to take the scenic route and have much longer wait times for the pages to load. The ISP's, phone companies and corporate giants become a "gatekeeper" of sorts and are not interested in what is best for the consumer, they are interested in revenue and where their web site ranks. They are only interested in how their company is doing and taking out all of the small businesses that they can to increase their bottom line.

I support network neutrality because the Internet should be a level playing field for every voice out there to be heard no matter what their financial status, every e-mail should be read, every instant message should be answered and ever blog should get a comment. Just like us in our class, we are only college students that people otherwise wouldn't take seriously but in our blog we have a place to express our thought and feelings on the topic at hand each week, and get just as much respect for it as anyone else blogging. Without network neutrality you might not be able to read this because it could be blocked because it is something that a company may not want you to see. We should be able to go where we want on the Internet and see what we want to see by our own choice, not someone else's. Network neutrality is an important issue and after doing this assignment I'm glad I know more about how crucial it is to everyone.

Assignment # 11 - Virtually Not Reality

According to Wikipedia a virtual world (or sometimes a synthetic economy) is a computer based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. However when these avatars start making transaction using "real" money another form of virtual economy is formed. "Open" virtual economies vs. "closed" virtual economies. Second Life is an "open" virtual economy that encourages the flow of "real" money however World of Warcraft, or WoW, is a "closed" virtual economy and does not allow for the exchange of money. Is one of these economies better than another, is one more fun to play then another? That all depends on who is playing the game and how much they are willing to risk and invest in it.

Investing real money in these type of "open" virtual economies can sometimes have its drawbacks. From Dibbell's The Unreal Estate Boom, even though you can plunk down $750 dollars to buy a nine room, three story house over looking the ocean, you can still never actually go there, because it is imaginary. So why bother investing in something you can never touch? People are looking for a quick buck, but getting greatly disappointed. In the virtual worlds there are banks promising extremely huge returns. A lot of the online worlds trap people into what is known as a Ponzi scheme, or pyramid scheme. Wikipedia defines Ponzi Scheme as a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns ("profits") to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from net revenues generated by any real business. The system is doomed to collapse because there are little or no underlying earnings from the money received by the promoter. A recent example of this would be that in August 2007, a bank in Second Life called Ginko Financial claimed that it could give returns of 40% to 60%, collapsed and gone insolvent with debts of $750,000. Some residents have lost amounts of almost 10,000 in the scheme. On their web site they explain that they have exhausted all of their funds and are trying to find ways to pay back their customers.

People get involved in these schemes and find it hard to get out. Perhaps this is why WoW has chose to be a "closed" virtual economy so they do no have to deal with all the problems that arise from having to deal with "real" money. Maybe all that hassle could be avoided by not being frivolous with their had earned money, by trying to buy thing that in all honesty really do not exist. I don't really get the whole concept of playing virtual reality games and stuff, I know my brother is a freak for Halo 3 on his Xbox 360. He sits there for hours with his head set on yelling at little kids around the world, I personally just don't get what all the hype is about. But the main point in all of this is be careful with your money and who you trust it with and dont get into something that you cant get yourself out of.