Assignment 12: Why is the U.S. Falling Behind?

There are many principles and policies that the Internet follows today. Many of these principles lie in the form of internet governance. Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet. It refers to how the internet is run and has been the topic of many debated issues within the internet including whether or not the internet the Internet should facilitate free communication of ideas and information. One topic which I believe falls into this category, but has not yet been made into law and has been highly controversial and debated upon within the world of the internet, is network neutrality.

According to K.C. Jones in his article about network neutrality, there is no one, agreed upon definition for network neutrality, but I believe that Rock the Net describes it best. They stated that network neutrality is the principle that preserves a free and open Internet. They also acknowledged that network neutrality ensures that all users can access the content, or run the applications and devices of their choice. The debate on this topic is between who supports this free and open internet system and who opposes it. The extent to which this issue has been covered is only by the FCC, and they have only laid down some guidelines, not laws. The government has yet to play a big role in network neutrality but should do so in order to ensure that the “ongoing legal and political wrangling in the US regarding net neutrality” will come to an end. In order to ensure that everybody is able to access and use the Internet, network neutrality should be supported by not only people alone and companies, but also by the government in order for network neutrality to officially take a form of internet governance.

So what is at stake here? The U.S. is, theoretically, supposed to be considered and thought about as not only a free country with the people calling the shots, but also one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. However, with countries like Japan who is able to get an internet connection up to sixteen times faster for only a small fraction of what we here in the U.S. pay for DSL services. Because of our lack of a national policy encouraging competition between providers, our country has forced itself to fall behind countries like France, South Korea, Finland, and Canada, broadening the digital divide not because of a lack of resource, but because of a lack of unanimous support for network neutrality (Turner 2005). So in actuality, the interests of the citizens of this country are all at stake concerning this issue in terms of cost and efficiency of our internet connections. We are living in such a technologically advanced world today that you can barely get by without internet access, if at all.

So who is benefiting? Only the big companies who are profiting from this lack of competition among providers allowed by the feeble policies made by the FCC are benefiting from this ongoing debate about network neutrality. The longer the battle goes on, the longer they can get by selling overpriced internet services nation-wide. As quoted from the Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition in September, 2006:

The big phone and cable companies, like AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner and Comcast, argue that there's no need for the government to get involved in regulating their business. They say they have no intention-nor would it be in their business interests-to block anyone's access to the Internet. But given the huge costs involved in building and expanding the broadband Internet pipeline, they don't see why content providers should be protected by the government from paying their share of the cost.

These big companies are correct in the fact that they are not blocking anybody’s access to the Internet, but what they are doing is depriving us of a cheaper, more efficient service of Internet that is offered in other countries all over the world. So, without the support of these major companies, the people themselves have to be more involved in working towards getting increased government support for network neutrality.

Citations:

(2007, November 13). Network Neutrality. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality

(2007, September). A Battle for Control of the Web. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition Web site: http://wsjclassroom.com/archive/06sep/htop_netneutrality.htm

(2007, September 20). Internet Governance. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_governance#Controversy

Jones, K.C. (2007, March 16). Net Neutrality Debate Remains Contentious. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Information Week Web site: http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=198001557

Musicians Support Network Neutrality. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Rock The Net Web site: http://www.futureofmusic.org/rockthenet/

Turner, Derek (2005, October 18). Free American broadband!. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Salon.com Web site: http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2005/10/18/broadband/index_np.html