What Is the internet?
What is the Internet? As Ted Stevens put it, “the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes.”.
If we imagine data as water, and your personal computer as a jug, the Internet is a vast network of pipes that allow water to flow from one jug to another, all over the world.
Continuing this metaphor, we must ask ourselves: who owns the jugs, who owns the water, and who owns the pipes? Who is siphoning water off from the pipes as it travels? What kind of oversight exists in these regards?
In many cases, these questions don't have easy answers. While you own your computer, and you might arguably own your data, do you still own it once it reaches another computer? And regardless of your legal ownership of the data, can you remove the data from the Internet once you posted it there? The answer is increasingly no.
Facebook claims ownership of its user's information. Many other sites do, as well. And once you share a picture (of any kind) with another person, can you really stop them from sharing it or saving it or squirreling it away?
Increasingly, Internet providers are vying to control not just their user's information, but their user's access to the internet, as well. They hide these desires behind the argument of "ending Internet piracy". But should protecting the business interests of large companies overrule the basic rights citizens have to privacy?
Complete the following work individually:
Read this piece by Al Franken on Net Neutrality.
Does a company’s economic interest outweigh the social benefit of every citizen having equal access to the Internet? Write a half-page explaining your opinion.
Read this article explaining the UN’s new stance that access to the Internet is a basic human right.
Has your opinion changed? Should companies be able to determine who accesses which sites and at which cost? Write a half-page explaining how this article has changed or evolved your opinion.
Explore this Reddit thread and the related video exploring the extent to which your “the water in your pipes” is being recorded and stored.
Did this article concern you? Does the government have a right to track and record your personal information and communications? Does the pursuit of safety outweigh the right to privacy? Is this truly a pursuit of safety? Write at least one page.
For a more in-depth explanation of the structure of the Internet, read this article.
Mail your work to [email protected]
Continuing this metaphor, we must ask ourselves: who owns the jugs, who owns the water, and who owns the pipes? Who is siphoning water off from the pipes as it travels? What kind of oversight exists in these regards?
In many cases, these questions don't have easy answers. While you own your computer, and you might arguably own your data, do you still own it once it reaches another computer? And regardless of your legal ownership of the data, can you remove the data from the Internet once you posted it there? The answer is increasingly no.
Facebook claims ownership of its user's information. Many other sites do, as well. And once you share a picture (of any kind) with another person, can you really stop them from sharing it or saving it or squirreling it away?
Increasingly, Internet providers are vying to control not just their user's information, but their user's access to the internet, as well. They hide these desires behind the argument of "ending Internet piracy". But should protecting the business interests of large companies overrule the basic rights citizens have to privacy?
Complete the following work individually:
Read this piece by Al Franken on Net Neutrality.
Does a company’s economic interest outweigh the social benefit of every citizen having equal access to the Internet? Write a half-page explaining your opinion.
Read this article explaining the UN’s new stance that access to the Internet is a basic human right.
Has your opinion changed? Should companies be able to determine who accesses which sites and at which cost? Write a half-page explaining how this article has changed or evolved your opinion.
Explore this Reddit thread and the related video exploring the extent to which your “the water in your pipes” is being recorded and stored.
Did this article concern you? Does the government have a right to track and record your personal information and communications? Does the pursuit of safety outweigh the right to privacy? Is this truly a pursuit of safety? Write at least one page.
For a more in-depth explanation of the structure of the Internet, read this article.
Mail your work to [email protected]