Archive - Apr 2007

The students in next year’s freshman class were born in 1989. They don’t know a world without the Internet. Students have become dependent on the Web for their research, studies, and interpersonal communication.

But now access to the Internet may change, and the debate over network neutrality is about to boil over.

It is another case of the little guy against the Man, the innovators against the establishment, the many against the few. In this round, we have the Internet service providers (ISPs) facing off against Internet users in the battle for net neutrality.

Essentially, the ISPs believe they should be able to strike deals to give certain websites priority in reaching consumers. Consequently, smaller websites would be more difficult to access, and creating an Internet giant like Google from scratch would border on impossible.

The days of dial-up are practically over. Take a listen: the atmosphere is relieved to be empty of the digital twittering from modems connecting at a paltry 56kbps. Today’s Internet is built for speed, and the stuttering page-loading is gone. Sites like YouTube and Pandora demand to pump packets through ISPs’ tubes at the speed of a click.

The following is Imprint Blogger Chris Winn's take on what this crazy concept known as "net neutrality" really is.

Net neutrality is a topic close to the minds and hearts of many Internet users, and it shows. The Web is filled with sites dedicated to net neutrality. Most sites include a pro-net neutrality stance, with a smaller number of notable sites in opposition. iMPrint has collected a few of the most interesting links about net neutrality on the Web and put them here for your convenience.