Net Neutrality

I was looking for a way to do a response to someone on blogger in a youtube stylie, but couldn't find anything, so this will have to do. This is a blog response to Tall Guy Pete's posts about net neutrality.

This basically involves ISPs blocking their users from accessing certain information on the internet. This has happened to users of a Swedish ISP very recently, who blocked anyone from accessing allofmp3.com (a site of dubious legality). This has now backfired (Progmatic, 2006), and has resulted in other web sites (such as the Pirate Bay) blocking users of that ISP from accessing their content. This has caused anyone using that ISP to get pretty frustrated about not having the freedom they want, and will inevitably result in people finding an ISP with their users freedom in mind.

It seems that the ISP in question has now realised the fact that restricting their users from parts of the internet will be bad for business, so they have lifted their ban (Piratbyrån, 2006) on allofmp3.com after receiving a lot of criticism and confused customers about it. Whether they were morally right to ban them in the first place due to the legality of the site is another matter. What I'm concerned about here is the freedom (or lack of) to which people are able to use the internet, and what happens when that freedom is taken away. So far it looks like normal internet users are very much in control of the situation, and will take matters into their own hands if restrictions are placed upon them.

Although large companies can (and probably will) block us from using what they don't want us to see on the internet, we must remember that it is actually us (the users) who have the power. These companies work for us, therefore, if we don't like their policies, there's always another solution to simply accepting what is forced on us.


(boh3m3, 2006)

boh3m3 (2006) Save the Internet! [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhBzPV9FOgA [Accessed 29 December 2006].
Progmatic (2006) Piratebay blocks Swedish ISP [internet], Available from: http://www.infocider.com/blogs/index.php/programatic/?title=piratebay_blocks_swedish_isp&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 [Accessed 29 December 2006].
Piratbyrån (2006) Blockade removed! [internet], Available from: http://propiracy.org/article/15 [Accessed 29 December 2006].

Online Privacy

Reading an article on HEXUS (Kerrison, 2006) the other day got me thinking more about online privacy and how it affects us. It reminded me of a youtube video I'd seen a few weeks back now. It was about a popular youtube figure (Renetto) discussing why he thought that putting his children in his videos was suitable. I've put this video below, and as you can see, he made sure the default image on the video was one to cause a reaction (his aim on youtube is to get as many subscribers as possible). This video (Renetto, 2006) and the follow-up video that was made obviously provoked a lot of responses, which had surprisingly very mixed thoughts on the subject.



Renetto knew that posting images of his children online could cause increased potential risk to them. However, in a similar way, it was his argument that taking his children swimming could cause an increased risk of them drowning, therefore he decided it shouldn't be a problem, since most things in life cause risk. My view is that where possible risks in life should be minimised as much as possible. Therefore, you don't post videos of your children online, in the same way you don't go swimming on your own.

Anyway, back to the HEXUS article. This pointed the finger at social networking sites, such as myspace for people's lack of concern for their privacy online. However, as some of the community posts that followed said, it is the users of those sites that need to be educated and changed, not the sites themselves. It's my view that people should be free to post what they want online (within the law of course), but should be told more about what is safe to upload for the world to see. The slashdot community were quick to point out that this attitude isn't restricted to social networking sites only, as too much information can be given via a simple email or a personal web site.

Kerrison, S (2006) Social network users have ruined their privacy, forever [internet], HEXUS. Available from: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=7499 [Accessed 27 December 2006].
Renetto (2006) Pedophile Alert... What are the DANGERS? [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ICJCx0BaV0 [Accessed 27 December 2006].

A New Start!

After reading other peoples blogs, and hearing what was said by Janet a few weeks ago, I've decided to make a new start. So far, my blog posts seem to have been simply stating facts, where in fact I've noticed that the most interesting blogs are ones that are opinionated and well written (obviously). I hope that by looking at the way other people write, I can improve my own writing style too. I also intend to write posts in response to other's blog posts, and also comment in posts.

Finally, I think I need a bit more colour on this page, so here's a picture to start me off :D.

http://www.newcybertech.com (2006)

Nitrozac & Snaggy (2006) The Joy of Tech [internet], Available from: http://www.newcybertech.com/blog/wp-includes/images/posts/blogging_joke.gif [Accessed 21 December 2006].