Ownership and Customization

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Net Neutrality

Experts discuss Net neutrality and privatization of the Internet.

Discussion: Do you support net neutrality? Why or why not?

Some people have argued that the biggest threat to democracy on the Internet is its increasing commercialization. (See “Media Literacy Case Study: Net Neutrality.”) Similar to what happened with radio and television, the growth of commercial “channels” on the Internet has far outpaced the emergence of viable nonprofit channels, as a few corporations have gained more control over this medium. Although there was much buzz about lucrative Internet start-ups in the 1990s, it was the largest corporations (Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google) that weathered the crash of the “dot-coms” in the early 2000s and maintained their dominance.

As we’ve seen, the Net’s booming popularity has tempted commercial interests to gain even more control over the medium. It has also sparked debate between defenders of the Digital Age and those who want to regulate the Net. Defenders argue that newer media forms—digital music files, online streaming of films and TV shows, blogs—have made life more satisfying and enjoyable for Americans than any other medium. Further, they maintain that mass customization, whereby individual consumers can tailor a Web page or other media form, has enabled us to express our creativity more easily and conveniently than ever. For example, if we use a service like Facebook, we get the benefits of creating our own personal Web space without having to write the underlying Web code. On the other hand (dissenters point out), we’re limited to the options, templates, and automated RSS feeds provided by the media company. So (the dissenters ask), how free are we, really, to express our true creative selves? And how much are we being controlled by the big Internet firms?