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Open Internet under threat in North America |
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011 17:31 |
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By Ali Symons, WACC -North America Regional Executive Member
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An open, unrestricted Internet is worth protecting said speakers at “Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know,” a Dec. 6 webinar co-sponsored by the World Association for Christian Communication North America (WACCNA) and OC Inc., the United Church of Christ’s media justice advocacy arm.
Thirty people tuned in to the one-hour, online seminar about net neutrality issues in the United States and Canada. WACCNA and OC Inc. hosted two guest speakers: Cheryl Leanza, Policy Advisor at OC Inc. (USA) and Reilly Yeo, Managing Director of OpenMedia.ca, a Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for an open and affordable Internet.
Citing Canadian academic Michael Geist, Yeo defined net neutrality as the principle that citizens should decide which online practices should flourish.
This principle is currently under threat in North America. Both Leanza and Yeo explained how within the past ten years Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have started to make their own decisions about the content users can access online.
These decisions could include showing favouritism in loading certain websites, slowing the transfer of large files, or limiting the amounts donors can give through mobile fundraising programs.
The reasons for such discrimination are not clear. Often ISPs claim they are managing high Internet demand, but some media analysts claim ISPs are protecting corporate partners or creating the illusion of limited Internet capacity.
Part of the problem is that users usually do not know how, why—or even if—their access is being limited by ISPs. A blocked website or slow upload may seem like a technical glitch.
Leanza said that this discrimination causes particular problems for non-profit organizations and churches, which have benefitted from a recent flourishing of affordable online communication. If the Internet starts to be managed by “gatekeeper” ISPs, then certain organizations and individuals will be excluded from digital participation.
“High speed Internet is not a luxury good anymore,” said Leanza. “It’s about health care, education, social services, voting, and more.”
Yeo noted that in North America there is not adequate legislation to hold ISPs fully accountable. She said there needed to be greater transparency in how ISPs provide content and stronger mechanisms to penalize offending ISPs.
This is one of several educational webinars WACCNA is offering for free to the public. The next webinar in February 2012 will be about the Global Media Monitoring Project. More information will be provided on the WACCNA website.
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