By Monique & Mati

My partner and I want to find out who owns and who controls the Internet. We will look at, what the internet is made of, (hardware, software, content) and who controls those aspects. Organisations such as Nation states, IBM, Google, and W3C exercise control over how content is shown on the internet. Corporate content providers (BBC, Sky) are now joined by user-generated content (Youtube, Blogs). Is there a democratic question to be answered? We will investigate this.

 To know who to report misuse to  To find out who set the laws  To find out who influences what we have access to

These are the components needed to access and use the internet to its full potential: HARDWARE  Routers – wireless;  Modems- Etherfast cable modems  Optic Fibre Cables  Microwaves  Telephone- Dial up; ADSL SOFTWARE  Google Chrome  Microsoft internet Explorer  Firefox

In the space of 10 years the use of internet increased by 80%. There has been an even larger increase also in the last 10 years.

The Government? Service Providers? Domain Name Providers? Electricity companies? Schools/Colleges/Universities? Parents? US?!

Humorously described as the Great Firewall of China, Internet restriction policies were highlighted during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when international journalist were not able to access websites blocked by Chinese authorities. Censorship is strongly implemented in China through state run Internet service providers with directives from local government units. SURLEY THIS IS UNETHICAL!?

“China’s ‘digital leap forward’ could actually exacerbate the digital divide, rather than alleviate it.” (Christopher R. Hughes, 2003)

 In 2006, President George W. Bush signed an executive order centralizing in the National Security Agency (NSA) the power to monitor the computer networks of all federal agencies. As a result of this non-legislative initiative, federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies were empowered to monitor even private, domestic networks if they suspected unauthorized intrusions.  In 2009, President Barrack Obama sought and obtained significantly increased funding for federal cybersecurity activities. a new National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC), would gain power to issue enforceable commands to any private company that “relies” on the internet. Any internet traffic or private internet system could be shut down under emergency powers granted in the legislation. These powers could be exercised if the government determines there is a vaguely- defined “incident” that even “potentially jeopardizes” any internet or communications network.

WE INTEND TO SOLVE THIS DEMORATIC ARGUMENT!

 Alverno College. (2003, 7 23). When/how did the Internet get started? Retrieved 11 29, 2010, from Introduction to the Web:  Thomson, J. (2009, April 29). Internet Restrictions In China. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Articles Base: htmlhttp:// html  Christopher R. Hughes, G. W. (2003). China and the Internet: politics of the digital leap forward. London: Routledgecurzon  CORTÉS, M. V. (2010, January 1). Internet Censorship Around the World. Retrieved Novemeber 23, 2010, from Internet Censorship Around the World:  Barr, B. (2010, June 21). Government pushing to control Internet. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from Government pushing to control Internet: blog/2010/06/21/government-pushing-to-control-internet/