JoelBlodgett.com

I read a very interesting testimony that was given by Caroline Frederickson, the director of the ACLU’s Washington legislative office, yesterday at the hearing on “Net Neutrality and Free Speech on the Internet”.

You can read the speech at http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/Fredrickson080311.pdf

Up until now I was pretty neutral about “Net Neutrality”. I viewed the issue as a primarly financial one. On one hand the open source tech in me supported keeping the net free and equal. On the other hand the business owner in me felt that if sites had to pay for quicker access to consumers, it would give me a new way to market my hosting company above the others. It added exclusivity to the net and exclusivity is a commodity I can sell.

However it turns out “Net Neutrality” really isn’t about money after all, or at the very least isn’t just about money. There is an actual issue of Freedom of Speech involved here. If ISP have the right to limit or ban specific content providers or web sites then they have the ability to limit what messages and opinions are broadcasted to their customers.

The internet has thrived as an information source. A place where you can search for information on any subject and any point of view. the internet is a place where anyone despite their view can get a podium to say what they need to say to anyone who is willing to listen.

Actually when you think about it the Internet has moved more in this direction with the new Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is of course just a catch phrase. There was no new version of the internet recently launched. Instead it refers to the new technology that has made it much easier to publish on the Internet and as such content has become more fluid and can easily and quickly be updated to reflect the world we or least the author lives in.

It would seem that the Internet is actually moving further and further away from censorship then ever before. But based on reading this story it seems to be less likely.

Technology has always presented new challenges to our freedoms, and Freedom of Speech is the most contraversal of freedoms. Most everyone says they support Freedom of Speech, but in order to be truly supportive you must be willing to be offended. Because there is no freedom if everyone is only allowed to say that which you agree with. The true freedom comes when you applaud someones ability to speak their mind especially when you don’t necessarily applaud the message they are preaching.

It seems logical to me that as we continue to approach this brave new world, there will be apprehension by some. That will be especially true of companies that have bottom lines to worry about and don’t wish to offend the masses. So I guess there is some room for understanding, however it is important that we remember that the internet started and become what it is today because everyone had the freedom to contribute whatever they so desired. Any attempts weither done commercially or through goverment regulation to restrict Freedom of Speech no matter what the medium should be fought against.

Tags: ACLU, Caroline Frederickson, Freedom of Speech, Internet Censorship, Net Neutrality //