It really is a constant battle trying to save free speech against corporate America these days. Companies like AT&T, NBC, Verizon and a whole slew of them seem to have a never-ending thirst to see their customers be stripped of their rights from the First Amendment while using the Internet. The latest salvo concerns network-level filtering, a tool the corporations want to use in order to stop any possible "copyright infringement." What that really does is stop free speech like parody and the people's right to discuss specific pieces of content while online.
From The NY Times:
Network-level filtering means your Internet service provider – Comcast, AT&T, EarthLink, or whoever you send that monthly check to – could soon start sniffing your digital packets, looking for material that infringes on someone’s copyright.[...]
“We are very interested in a technology based solution and we think a network-based solution is the optimal way to approach this,” he said. “We recognize we are not there yet but there are a lot of promising technologies. But we are having an open discussion with a number of content companies, including NBC Universal, to try to explore various technologies that are out there.”
Internet civil rights organizations oppose network-level filtering, arguing that it amounts to Big Brother monitoring of free speech, and that such filtering could block the use of material that may fall under fair-use legal provisions — uses like parody, which enrich our culture.
Now why would media giants be so concerned about what goes on the Internet if they aren't going to make a dime anyways? Of course the writers of said content say otherwise, and helpfully explain the producers' excuses and the reality of new media, all in one wiki!
Perhaps they might want to add this net neutrality piece, showing that the networks really do care about every dime they make off the net, and the millions they are willing to spend to protect those shiny pieces of money.
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