Assignment 4: Thoughts on Network Neutrality 

Network neutrality has become a major issue in our society today.  It is a topic that requires difficult consideration and does not have an obvious correct answer.  The pros of net neutrality are thought to be, first, that is provides nondiscriminatory access.  This means that all access to anything on the web is equal, certain websites don't load faster than others, for example. Second, net neutrality sparks innovation and creativity.  Websites like Google, eBay, and YouTube were able to be created because of net neutrality, and it also encourages creative expression.  For example, if net neutrality did not exist, aspects such as online schooling would be much more restricted.  Lastly, net neutrality provides a competitive marketplace.  In the United States there is access to only one, maybe two, ISPs, or Internet Service Providers without authority to regulate the web.  Along with these positive aspects of net neutrality there are, of course, cons as well.  The cons are that additional legislation is required, which would most likely cause more harm than good due to the fact that internet technology is constantly changing, making it difficult to keep up with.  With deficient laws, this would cripple commonplace safety practices throughout the web.  Along with requiring more legislation, cable providers believe that tiered access is a better approach to the internet.  This would mean that people pay for different levels of internet service, supposedly benefiting all users of the network.   This issue has both positive and negative factors making it very difficult to come to a conclusion on the issue.

In recent news, net neutrality was the topic in a case of the federal appeals court on Tuesday, involving the FCC not having the rights to enforce paying to stream videos at full speed and making certain websites have slower access than others.  The court ruled that only the government has the authority to oversee crucial utilities, such as telephone service and electricity, however the Internet is not considered to be a crucial utility.  This effects almost every user of the internet because if this situation occurred cable companies would pick and choose which websites will get better access than others.  They would play favorites, making certain websites have an unfair advantage.  The topic of net neutrality is incredibly difficult to tackle.  As much as I believe that not everyone should be able to access all the information the internet has to offer, such as kids accessing content that is beyond their understanding, it is incredible difficult to limit the internet for a certain division of society.  It's virtually impossible to restrict certain information from specific people, especially without violating the First Amendment.  With society's freedom to speech, religion, press, and so forth, it makes it much to difficult for the government to get around this standard and limit certain people.  Because of these aspects I do support net neutrality, unfortunately, because of the standards our country was created on and because of the vast information on the world wide web, the government is unable to decide which should be accessible to all or not.

More recent net neutrality news:
http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/issues/net-neutrality.htm
ABC, a legitimate news cooperation, has an entire section dedicated to net neutrality and all the recent issues that come up with it.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/02/survey-net-neutrality/
Wired, a website we have used for sources in class, covers and article in the past month stating that 10% of users would quit the internet if net neutrality "dies."  This is also pro to net neutrality, without it the usage of the internet would definitely decrease.

Rape going viral is one of the scariest, most daunting aspects of social media.  What some kids would find to be funny, are actually serious violent assault cases.  Many of these cases have no punishment for them.  To think that a rapist could walk amongst people who have no idea what he's done because he was never caught for his actions, when he probably could have been, that is a terrifying thought to mostly everyone.  Reporting rape and sexual assault needs to happen more, in order to prevent it any further.  With no consequences other than their own self guilt, if any, it just makes it not as severe for guys to execute, never learning their lesson.  Just as easily as social media can get the information out there, it can also have an incredible impact in justifying the crime.  Taking this to authorities gives them a much stronger incentive to do something, having the evidence on hand and being able to actually see who is committing the crime in most cases.  In unfortunate cases, like the one with Kelsey, she was not able to access the video although it was not of her, it would have led authorities to the man that did it to her too.  It blows my mind that anyone would ever find coming across rape on their social networking feed funny, I find it terribly horrific and such an unfortunate outcome to young girls' lives.  As a female, young adult, I find this to be an incredibly pressing issue that it is time more serious action was taken about. 

Our realization of our privacy online is becoming a widely alarming concern that people should take very seriously.  The more information you give out, the more random strangers from all around the world can access that information about you too.  Now-a-days it is becoming increasingly easy for people to hack websites and steal peoples' valuable information.  9 million Americans each year are victims to identity theft, which the internet has played a big part in making it much easier to accomplish.  Just as easily, someone can also do things like find the general area in which you live by tracking the location of posts, pictures, and even where your signal is coming from.  The internet, as much as it benefits our lives making tasks much easier and simpler to do, also has dangerous effects for us.  It is very important to limit what you put out on the internet, and in cases when you can, make all your information private so only people who you allow to see the information are the only ones who do.  No one wants to be stalked through the internet, this is an incredibly scary thought to think can happen, however, you are only making it easier for someone to the more information you put on the internet.  As a young adult, I am mostly concern with people being able to see what I post on social networking sites, as some of it may be able to get me in trouble.  Especially in the future, now-a-days it is incredibly common for jobs to check these sites to make sure you appear to be the responsible adult you seem to be.  Without making these private, it is very easy for them to be able to find any information they needed to about you, which can be very serious if it keeps your from getting a job, into grad school, or any next big step in your life.  Also, I have a very bad online shopping problem, I love to order online, and giving out information like the credit card can be very scary!  As much as I do it, I am waiting for the day to be told someone has used my credit card on a massive purchase I did not make.  It seems as if it happens to almost everyone.  That's why it is very important to protect your private information that strangers do not need to be able to find.  I do believe it is crucial to be aware of online privacy,making sure your valuable information is only assessable to you! (or only those you want to)

My name is Ceili Stolecki, I just started at the University of New Hampshire this semester as a freshman, and am in sections 3 of a computer science class here called Living in a Networked World: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  This class stood out to me because I am interested in the effects our constantly advancing world is having on my generation, how living in a networked world is changing us.  From the way we think, to the way we communicate, technology and the internet are changing us.  Its is hard to decipher whether these changes are positively or negatively effecting us, and I don't think there is a correct answer, but I'm interested in both sides to the story.  In what ways are these technologies advancing us into the future and in what ways are they setting us back?