Politics and the Internet

While technologies, such as the internet, are rapidly developing, our legal system is a little bit behind. According to the article I just read, the Obama admistration and FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, will propose a bill to Congress on Dec. 21 proposing the idea of "net-neutrality". Net-neutrality is based on the idea that high speed internet providers will no longer be able to control the speed at which certain sites load. However, the bill will not propose regulations for mobile internet. The fact that the bill will not include provisions for mobile internet providers is controversial because many feel that it will cause smaller companies and other lesser-known websites to not receive equal representation.

This article presents many interesting dilemmas. Most importantly, the bill described in this article is almost causing the internet, or atleast the mobile internet, to become less democratized. Big websites like facebook, won't have a problem existing but smaller websites or peer-to-peer filesharing websites may be slowed down and slowly be phased out of existence. Before I read this article I was not aware that large internet providers had the ability to slow down or speed up the loading of internet sites. This situation reminds me of the way that commercials are always louder than the television program being watched. It is a good reminder of how much the media can manipulate the information we have access to without us even realizing it. However, I am glad that the government is finally trying to "update" our legal system. As technologies change, the legal system must develop to accomodate these changes. Part of being a Ben Franklin is learning how to foresee the legal and cultural implications of certain technologies.