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The internet is the largest functional anarchic organisation ever devised. No single entity owns the Net nor can dictate what content can be passed through it. Few (if any) laws in any country dictate the variety of uses of the Net.<\/p>\nThe internet is the largest functional anarchic organisation ever devised. No single entity owns the Net nor can dictate what content can be passed through it. Few (if any) laws in any country dictate the variety of uses of the Net.<\/p>\n
The ‘First Amendment’ of the Net is the concept of ‘network neutrality<\/a>.’ Network neutrality is the voluntary, but core guiding principle of the Net, meaning that the operators of network segments must not discriminate against the type or use of data packets<\/a> which pass through the network. So far, the voluntary system of neutrality has been honored by the majority of network providers around the world. The net functions because all carriers agree to pass all packets from all other carriers.<\/p>\n American internet service and hosting providers- mainly large telephone companies- are now attempting to assert legal control over traffic<\/a> on the Net to their advantage. The fatcats’ idea is to slow or completely block data which does not benefit their business models.<\/p>\n Without network neutrality, VOIP<\/a> (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services (i.e. Skype<\/a>) will be blocked by those telcos which want to sell their own VOIP services or which which wish to protect their own wireline voice services from competition. Carriers can also block content with which they don’t agree. In example, Telus<\/a>, a Canadian service provider, recently blocked traffic to the Canadian Telecommunications Workers’ Union<\/a>‘s website while a labor dispute was in progress. A North Carolina ISP, Madison River Communications<\/a>, blocked VOIP packets<\/a> from Vonage.<\/p>\n Bloggers would be among the most adversely affected by revokation of neutrality in network services, particularly if the carrier disagrees with the content a blogger has published. Innovation in new kinds of applications which employ the net would be crushed if neutrality is not enforced.<\/p>\n