Future of Internet in Question

The Internet as we know it may soon be History

Not long ago we saw an unparalleled attack on the freedom of our Internet by the U.S. government, partially in retaliation to the Wikileaks fiasko. It began with the seizure of 82 domains and ended with a whole variety of moves to bring down WikiLeaks and/or block access to it. Clearly the government of the United States has launched a new campaign to control the Internet.

The U.S. government has been able to seize, not only block domains, taking unjust advantage of the fact that root domain servers, although run by an international NGO, are located in the United States and can be served by a standard American court order. These are the same tactics communist China has been using to censor their country for years.

To make matters worse, the planned release of new network neutrality rules in the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has launched a new battle in the wireless world. The wireless providers include the argument of needing bandwidth priority due to 911 emergency service.

Approximately fourteen major companies have formed a platform and a memorandum was signed to promote the execution of network neutrality. Amongst the companies conspiring are Google, Facebook and Twitter, Amazon, eBay, Mozilla, Sony Electronics and TiVo. All have signed the documents. All are companies who tell us they have our best interests in mind, while behind our backs connive to stack the Internet deck against us.

Network neutrality means that data, of the same type, is not discriminated against because of its source or destination. It is a hot subject because there are no separate regulations for different rates regarding broadband and dial-up Internet customers based on services. Net neutrality offers a neutral network, regardless of content, sites, hosts or forms of communication.

But again, the U.S. government seeks to take control, hoping to take the lead with FCCA.

Do they not realize that with censorship, like with prohibition, will come alternative (underground/criminal) means of doing business on the Web?

Hackers can find their way around practically any regulations. Already groups like Anonymous have shown the world that they have considerable means.

Methods that may already be familiar to some of you, considering they are currently sometimes used for anonymous surfing, work rather well for circumventing the GSP and gaining access to banned sites.These “hacks” will become common knowledge should the Internet Monopoly get its way. But this is just the very beginning of what will be the Internet’s version of drug smuggling and gun running, but in an even much larger scale. It would end up making our current War on Drugs look like peanuts.

Anonymous proxy servers will become more common than joints, allowing anyone to hide their IP (Internet address) so that anyone snooping the connection will see a person from, say Oz, surfing the Internet. As added bonus a good proxy server will also encrypt the data being transmitted so that anyone spying on you can not view the information being sent over the connection.

If we cannot manage to hold on to a neutral and censorship free Internet, Virtual Private Networks and onion routing networks will become a much larger scale, virtual version of the smuggling routs of today’s Drug Cartels.

To put things in prospective, think of how many more people use the Internet than use drugs and you will begin to realize how many millions of people will become potential members of the underground Internet subculture.

Hackers will multiply, rising in status and prominence, they will become the white collar dope dealers of the future. The Internet Revolution, or Internet War, depending on who you ask, will eventually dwarf the current War on Drugs in every aspect.

 

In order to safegurad the Internet as we know it, we must preserve net neutrality and prevent Internet censorship.

The first steps towards maintaining a censorship free (almost) Internet with acceptable net neutrality would be to spread awareness of how dire the situation has become. Mainstream media has reported on the Net Neutrality issue, but they have dropped the ball when it comes to the urgency and magnitude of the situation.

To help you get organized, I suggest you check out my Action Activist blog, which provides a wealth of tips and resources for promoting the cause.

Next, sign the SavetheInternet.com's Petition to Congress (more than 1.9 million people have already signed), then get involved with some of the many available activist groups listed on the Resources Page of this blog, particularly the Internet Society. Depending on your technical knowledge, you may also want to get involved with the Internet Engineering Task Force, as well as as some of the other organizations as your schedule will allow.

I also recommend you educate yourself in at least the basic workings of the Internet, so if nothing else, you know what is being talked about once the subject makes daily headlines.

Finally, you may want to learn some of the basic hacks to allow you anonymous surfing and the accessing of blocked or banned websites, so you at least have the knowledge, should, God forbid, this skill ever be needed.

This is a crucial time in the fight for Net Neutrality. There is a whole army of multi billion dollar corporations lobbying for preferential Internet access, the FCC is pursuing new Net Neutrality rules, Congress is weighing legislation and President Obama wants Net Neutrality to become the law of the land.

If we don't all work together and do something, and do something fast, the Internet as we know it will soon be history.

Don't let that happen.

Written By: Tom Retterbush, Censorship Watch