No-Nonsense guide to ...The Great Internet Grab
WACC spotlights Internet obstacles and challenges
The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)’s latest No-nonsense guide asks what restrictions, if any, should be placed on the Internet. As a church-related organisation working for
communication rights, WACC seeks ethical guidelines for digital media platforms.
The Internet is a vital part of today’s communications scene. But it is under threat from governments intent on stifling freedom of expression and from global corporations intent on levying high charges for access.
WACC’s six-page
explores the issues surrounding Internet censorship, Net neutrality, and affordable access. In part it is a response to WACC’s Strategic Plan 2012-2016, which stresses the need for greater access to information and communication for poor, marginalized, excluded and
dispossessed people.
WACC General Secretary, Rev. Dr Karin Achtelstetter says, “We need to explore the obstacles and challenges surrounding digital frontiers and to examine the potential of social media to strengthen the public voice of marginalized communities.”
Neutrality is a founding principle of the Internet, ensuring that
network owners, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), do not
favour some content over other content. With a few exceptions, Net
neutrality is the de facto standard of non-discriminatory treatment
that has regulated the traffic of digital information – until
recently.
Unfortunately, many ISPs such as big telephone and cable companies are
successfully quashing the network neutrality principle. Large
telecommunications companies have said that, in an age of growing
bandwidth use, network neutrality is neither feasible nor desirable.
These companies are in a position to play gatekeeper: deciding which
web sites load fast or slow, and which will not load at all.
Today, many countries engage in Internet censorship. Those with the
most pervasive ltering policies have been found routinely to block
access to human rights organizations, news, blogs, and web services
that are deemed threatening or undesirable. Others block access to
single categories of Internet content, or intermittently to specific
websites or network services to coincide with strategic events, such
as elections or public demonstrations.
Fortunately, thousands of individuals are combating censorship through
blogs and many organizations dedicate time and effort to raising
awareness about Internet censorship. Some are formal organizations
with prestigious memberships, while others are informal groups that
are not above advocating guerrilla tactics to subverting strict
policies.
The No-Nonsense guide to...The Great Internet Grab also outlines the
recent controversy in the USA around the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). Proponents of the legislation state it
will protect the intellectual-property market and corresponding
industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of
copyright laws, especially against foreign websites.
Opponents of SOPA and PIPA say the proposed legislation threatens free
speech and innovation, and enables law enforcement to block access to
entire internet domains due to infringing content posted on a single
blog or webpage.
WACC Deputy-Director of Programs, Philip Lee, commented, “The
Internet is part of the common good of today’s information and
communication societies. As such it should be run honestly,
transparently, and democratically.”
WACC’s No-nonsense guide to... The Great Internet Grab is freely
available for electronic download here:
http://www.waccglobal.org/images/stories/Resources/nng-internet.pdf
