Georgia Tech to Test the Net

Just last week, on March 22nd, 2011, Google announced its decision to grant Georgia Tech $1 Million in funding to establish a method of monitoring Internet transparency.  Google's decision comes as a bit of a relief following their recent and questionable partnership with Verizon when they, together, combated an FCC proposal regarding Net Neutrality.

Georgia Tech stated in a press release their intention to "create a 'transparency ecosystem,' where more and more users will take advantage of the measurement tools, which in turn will improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of our analysis."  Effectively, Georgia Tech hopes to offer a set of tools for download which will test and report Internet traffic to their network, creating an active network of monitors.

Following their agreement with Verizon, many supporters of Google began questioning the search giant's motives, suspecting they may have cast their lot in the battle for Internet control.  Google, however, insisted their decision was purely a correction of an unfair FCC proposal, suggesting that the FCC's plan would prohibit their ability to prioritize more demanding modes of communication over another, such as video over voice.  Perhaps Google is, in fact, in favor of a free and open Internet despite their competitors motives, but it is also quite possible that this decision to assign Georgia Tech as Internet watchdogs is merely a stunt to regain favor.

This Machine Kills Fascists

 

                                                    This land was made for you and me.        

The more research I do on Net Neutrality, the more I come to realize how little people really know about it.  As someone often knee-deep in Internet culture, the issue of Net Neutrality seemed pervasive to me.  I've come to realize, at the risk of sounding excessively paranoid, that the lack of attention Net Neutrality has received is probably due to the telecommunications industries having such control over public discourse.  Granted, as it stands, service providers are not permitted to stifle, limit, or block any net traffic over another, but news organizations are another monster entirely.  NBC, now merged with Comcast, has a very new and very large stake in the failure of Net Neutrality, so as a result, it wouldn't be surprising to see much less coverage, if any at all.

As communication services like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger literally revolutionize the way we spread news and information, power over the media is slowly being taken away from television networks and newspapers and handed back to the general public.  Telecoms realize that their only option for future survival is to grab the Internet by the tubes.  Social networking and blog sites are the best tools we have to defend the Internet, and freedom itself.

Right now, more than ever, it is imperative the word about Net Neutrality be spread.  The Internet, which has changed the world so dramatically in its short life so far, is not broken, and does not need fixed.  Don't let complacency and insatiable corporate greed dismantle the financial and political future of the United States in front of our very eyes.

Wired vs Wireless

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski

Right now, you're likely using a hardwired Internet connection to read this.  You may be on your laptop in your living room, but the WiFi broadcast from your home router is coming from a cable connected to it.  The majority of Internet connections in the US are provided this way, by physical wires on a very large and extensive grid.  Recently, however, the "Internet market" has been evolving rapidly into a more unbound, wireless market.  The exponential growth in popularity and availability of smart phones is largely responsible for this.

In their efforts to combat Net Neutrality and extend their control over the Internet, telecoms have taken into deep consideration the difference between "wired" and "wireless" in order to best exploit the distinction when dealing with the FCC.

As recently as December of 2010, the FCC made a pretty serious mistake for not paying better attention to this distinction.  Their most recently passed Net Neutrality proposal, which applies primarily to wired Internet traffic, only vaguely imposes rules on wireless services.  This proposal is still currently being debated and the FCC is scrambling to recover their bargaining chips while they face a torrent of descent from politicians and a very large lawsuit from Verizon.

As it stands now, the state of this proposal, if enacted, is a very serious threat to the future of the Internet.  As I've stressed before, the future of the Internet is wireless.  Telecoms are deviously taking advantage of the shortsightedness of the FCC and exploiting every dubious legal loophole they can find to secure their futures.  They know the future is wireless and could care less for wired priorities.  They convinced the FCC they had made compromising progress by accepting limitations on wired connections knowing full well they were safe from regulation.