Freedom: Digital and Literal Essay -- The Internet

The internet has become an integral part of our lives, linking people overseas, transmitting ideas, and propelling innovation. In order to continue the innovations and links, governments and service providers should not regulate, restrict, or censor the internet. The internet, as it stands today, serves as a medium for our entertainment, communication, and commercial needs. It is something many of us have come to take for granted. The original intended purpose of the first â€Å"internet,† however, goes back to the days of the Cold War where the ever looming threat of a nuclear missile attack prompted the U.S., as well as many other countries, to build a robust, fault-tolerant, and widely distributed computer network. By 1970, ARPANET had been created from research funded by the Department of Defense. ARPANET linked research facilities in the East and West coasts in a way that was unprecedented in terms of speed and cost. The internet was not commercialized until the last decade of the 20th century, after which it gained widespread popularity and was subsequently incorporated into many aspects of our lives. How different groups approach these problems are sometimes as different as night and day. All of these approaches, however, center around regulation, which is itself composed of issues such as anti-piracy laws, net neutrality, and freedom of speech. The most recent of these issues concerns many pieces of â€Å"anti-piracy† legislation that have appeared before the United States’ Congress and before the European Union’s Parliament. In 2010, Congress attempted to quietly pass the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act, which would allow the suspension of websites that have been determined to be "dedicated to infringing acti... ...ter Bomb’." Wired. (2012): 1. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Segal, David. "Stop the Internet Blacklist." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Steigman, Daria. "Is Internet Access a Human Right?" Steigman Communications, LLC. 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Suderman, Peter. "Internet Cop." Reason. 01 Mar. 2011: 20. eLibrary. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Tait, Robert. "Censorship Fears Rise as Iran Blocks Access to Top Websites." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Dec. 2006. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Tassi, Paul. "You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You." Forbes. Forbes, 03 Feb 2012. Web. 13 Apr 2012. Wagner, Adam. "Is Internet Access a Human Right?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Wyden, Ron. "Press Releases." Wyden Places Hold on Protect IP Act. 26 May 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Freedom: Digital and Literal Essay -- The Internet The internet has become an integral part of our lives, linking people overseas, transmitting ideas, and propelling innovation. In order to continue the innovations and links, governments and service providers should not regulate, restrict, or censor the internet. The internet, as it stands today, serves as a medium for our entertainment, communication, and commercial needs. It is something many of us have come to take for granted. The original intended purpose of the first â€Å"internet,† however, goes back to the days of the Cold War where the ever looming threat of a nuclear missile attack prompted the U.S., as well as many other countries, to build a robust, fault-tolerant, and widely distributed computer network. By 1970, ARPANET had been created from research funded by the Department of Defense. ARPANET linked research facilities in the East and West coasts in a way that was unprecedented in terms of speed and cost. The internet was not commercialized until the last decade of the 20th century, after which it gained widespread popularity and was subsequently incorporated into many aspects of our lives. How different groups approach these problems are sometimes as different as night and day. All of these approaches, however, center around regulation, which is itself composed of issues such as anti-piracy laws, net neutrality, and freedom of speech. The most recent of these issues concerns many pieces of â€Å"anti-piracy† legislation that have appeared before the United States’ Congress and before the European Union’s Parliament. In 2010, Congress attempted to quietly pass the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act, which would allow the suspension of websites that have been determined to be "dedicated to infringing acti... ...ter Bomb’." Wired. (2012): 1. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Segal, David. "Stop the Internet Blacklist." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Steigman, Daria. "Is Internet Access a Human Right?" Steigman Communications, LLC. 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Suderman, Peter. "Internet Cop." Reason. 01 Mar. 2011: 20. eLibrary. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Tait, Robert. "Censorship Fears Rise as Iran Blocks Access to Top Websites." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Dec. 2006. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Tassi, Paul. "You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You." Forbes. Forbes, 03 Feb 2012. Web. 13 Apr 2012. Wagner, Adam. "Is Internet Access a Human Right?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Wyden, Ron. "Press Releases." Wyden Places Hold on Protect IP Act. 26 May 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.