Net Neutrality- Catie Oliverio

As Americans, our freedom is extremely paramount in every aspect of our lives, including on the internet. We have the ability to search, watch, look up and do whatever we we want, lawfully, on the internet as a free and open medium. This is because of Net Neutrality. By definition, Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites. We have the freedom to watch what we please and enjoy the content we desire. The term Net Neutrality was first used by Tim Wu in 2003 and since then, the Open Internet Order went into effect in November of 2011.

NEt Neutrality

The open internet is essential, especially today. As the internet advances, we find ourselves spending majority of our lives online wether it be for work, school or socially. It gives us the freedom to create, connect and run businesses. Countless careers depend on the internet to function at all and without the open internet, they would be unable to sustain themselves without paying. The people’s entertainment is also an important factor that would be at risk with the FCC repeal. We would no longer be able to stream what we want at an appropriate speed or at all. Fast is everything today and it shouldn’t be up to others to decide what should and shouldn’t be streamed.

Now let’s focus in on a certain industry that would suffer drastically from the repeal of Net Neutrality: The gaming industry. Online gaming relies heavily on the speed by which they run. With the end to Net Neutrality, the end to the online gaming industry may not be far behind. With low connections and a slowed stream, games will begin lagging which for some games, makes them unplayable. This will obviously upset players and customers of these gaming websites and could result in a significant loss of business for the sites.

Freedom of the internet is important for all. Here is what some people have to say:

If the FCC gets it’s way, we will be loosing the freedom to the internet and the freedom to access the lawful content we want and deserve. Net Neutrality is arguably one of the most important freedoms we have and we can’t just give it away.

Helicopter Parents

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On my 12th birthday, I was given my very first phone. Being the last of my friends to have one, this was a HUGE deal. My mother believed that I should be at a certain level of maturity before having my own cellphone. Looking back, she was right.

When I was younger, I had two friends with very different households. In one, my friend was given little to no restrictions to the T.V. or internet. She could watch what she pleased and when she chose to. In the other, my friend was allotted a certain amount of hours for watching T.V and using the computer, monitored by her mother. Both parenting styles were polar opposite and the results were quite different, as well. It was the child who was overly monitored who felt the need to rebel and break the rules when her parents weren’t watching. In playdates to my house, she couldn’t wait to use my computer to look up things she couldn’t at home and watch T.V. without guidance or control. It was like finally letting a dog of their leash. It is easy to assume that once she was given a cell-phone, she acted the same way.

Today, there are internet filtering websites like NetNanny and SafeEyes that allows parents to block their children from accessing certain cites. This is similar to the hovering technique my friend’s mother would do to her. So the question is, do you use internet filtering or teach your children internet safety?

This is a hard question to answer and is largely debated between parents all over. Each situation is different and each child will behave in different ways. My mother chose to give me access to a cellphone when she believed I was mature enough to handle one. I never had internet blocks as far as I know, but I knew right from wrong and was able to know when I shouldn’t be watching something. However, I believe internet filters are okay to an extent. If you are giving a child an iPhone or a tablet at very young ages, like children I see today, then It is a good idea to put filters on them. I mean, a 7 year old with handheld access to the open internet…what could go wrong?

Product Review: The Internet of Things.

I found “The internet of things” to be much like buying the newest model of the Iphone as soon as it comes out. Is it cool? Yes! But is it worth as much as it costs?

To give you some background, the internet of things isn’t so much one specific product, but rather how a multitude of products are adapting to growing technology and connectivity. It’s the idea that all of the digital devices in your life can be connected and respond to one another to meet your preference. In an ideal world, the internet of things begins its work as soon as you wake up. Your alarm clock goes off, which opens the blinds and turns on the light. Downstairs, the coffee machine begins brewing, and the garage door opens up. The home security system deactivates, now that you’re awake enough to protect your home, and the downstairs heater kicks in. So while your neighbors are dragging themselves groggily towards the shower in the morning, the internet of things prepares your home for you.

Obviously, the convenience of the internet of things is resounding. It’s less work around the house, and makes ordinary routines so much easier. But, this gift does not come without cost. Yes, we have to talk about privacy, or rather, the illusion of it.

It’s inherent to our world now that where there is technology capable of connecting and interfacing with other technology, privacy seems to fade away. Much like Amazon, Facebook, or Google, devices have the ability to collect data on us. Data collected on us is then sold and shared between companies, and opening your home to more devices means opening your lives up to more companies. In Germany, a doll was banned by the government for supposedly collecting data of children and their parents. So prior to making your home “smart”, consider if a smart home is worth the endless stream of data you will be handing over in exchange.

Endless connectivity also poses an endless threat of being hacked. In 2014, a family woke up terrified in the middle of night to discover somebody had hacked their baby monitor, and was screaming profanities at their daughter. What possibly shocked them more is that the hacker addressed her by name. Opening your home to smart technology leaves the door unlocked for hackers with malicious intent. But it’s not up to me to make that decision for everybody. Whether or not the risk and data collection is worth it is a consideration everyone must process for themselves. We’d love to know your thoughts on it, so check out the poll below. Thank you!

 

 

Participatory Surveillance -Alex MacNeil

As social media users, we see a lot of different things on our feeds. With so many things going on at once, it can be easy to miss posts on our feed. While we’re not looking out for suspicious posts at all times on social media, they are out there and we may just miss it.

This has been a disturbing trend with recent shootings and other attacks: the perpetrators posting disturbing or suspicious things on their social media before the attacks. While we always say, “if someone would have reported them” this wouldn’t have happened.

But is it that easy to spot? Hindsight is 20/20, and we can easily mistake a suggestive post for a joke or just dark humor. A kid posting pictures of guns on Instagram before taking them into school could easily be mistaken for just a hobby.

This has brought up an interesting topic for us: participatory surveillance. This is people taking the responsibility to report a suspicious post to the government. But should this be our responsibility? After all, we’re not on social media to act as watch dogs. And isn’t it the governments job to protect us?

This begs the question: is it our responsibility to watch out for every suspicious media post? Take the poll below to see what others say:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organizational Filtering and Cyber Slacking – Caitlin Klarich

Filtering at work or school through the company or school owned computers happens more often than you may think. The different companies or schools filter social media sites, shopping, or even certain networks. The debate that we see today is whether or not people should be allowed to access social media sites during work or school hours.

I believe that they should be able to access this during work or school. I know that getting work done is the main priority, however, I believe that everyone deserves a break at one point or another. There shouldn’t be this many restrictions on something such as social media. Through social media on the internet, we have the ability to find out what is happening in the world or it could even assist you with your job. What if for a school project or a project at your job you needed to access sites such as social media ones? You would not be allowed to due to the restrictions placed. I think the only time restrictions should be placed is if someone is clearly not doing their job because of social media distractions. But, if it has no effect then why not make it available? A website that had 10 reasons why it should NOT be blocked also brings some great points that people should also take into consideration.


 

Net Neutrality- Robert Herrick

By Robert Herrick

“Net Neutrality” is a term coined by Lawyer Tim Wu to describe the current state of affairs on the internet. In short, its an ongoing debate about how ISP providers should be regulated, and how they are allowed to process the internet they deliver to consumers. It may sound boring, but this is arguably one of the most important issues in government currently.

ISP companies are responsible for delivering the internet to people’s homes, like Comcast or Verizon. “Edge companies” are groups like Google or Netflix that deliver a service via the internet. Netflix lets you stream movies, so long as you have the internet. These two come to a head when they compete in business. In addition to providing homes with the internet, Comcast also provides home with cable television. Now, cable television is falling out of popularity due to the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. The cable/ISP companies see this, and they realize that they could leverage their control over people’s internet to slow things like Netflix down to the point of being unusable. This is where the argument currently lands. People arguing for Net Neutrality believe that ISPs cannot slow down or discriminate against certain content, making the internet totally neutral. People arguing against Net Neutrality believe that ISPs do have the right to discriminate and slow down content.

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An open and neutral internet is becoming increasingly necessary for American society. As time marches on, the internet becomes less and less of a luxury, and more and more of a necessity. I’ve worked almost exclusively for small businesses, who’s web presence would suffer if Net Neutrality were permanently repealed. They don’t have the kind of money to ensure that their website stays fast, and it would certainly hurt business. An open internet also ensures that corporations can’t extort people for more money. The internet is needed in today’s day and age for almost all communications and entertainment, and many people have careers that depend on the internet.

 

Net Neutrality and Video Games:

One of the industries suffering the most at the repeal of Net Neutrality is video games. Video games today have a large following of people playing online against each other. This is fun for all, but only if everyone can connect to the internet at a high speed. Otherwise, people’s games start to lag behind and buffer as the result of slow internet. Since online games are happening real time, buffering and lagging make the game almost unplayable. So if Net Neutrality is repealed, and ISPs are allowed to slow people’s internet down at will, online multiplayer games could be rendered unplayable.

The Entertainment Software Association, better known as the ESA, is a lobbying group representing several different companies. They are strongly advocating for a reinstatement of Net Neutrality, arguing that games cannot be buffered to compensate for a slow speed. Public outcry also favors Net Neutrality, judging from reactions on Twitter and Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhg3amHHYjx/?hl=en&tagged=netneutrality

 

In conclusion, Net Neutrality is an issue that grows in importance by the day. It’s vital to the protection of our freedom and well being that we fight to keep the internet open and secure. Action must be taken, congressmen must be called, and the public outcry must continue to grow louder. People really do have the power to affect change, so long as it stays persistent and passionate.

Net Neutrality -Alex MacNeil

Net Neutrality is the freedom of an open internet. This freedom is very unique to the U.S and deserves to not be taken for granted. Net Neutrality allows us to search and do whatever we want without the discretion of internet service providers. Without the open internet, what we can see and what we can do will no longer be our choice. Here’s a brief history or Net Neutrality:

Volleyball was played at international level in America for the first time

For the first 10 to 15 years, there was nothing wrong with how Broadband worked in people’s homes. When it became reclassified and therefore not subject to the typical regulations, this allows internet service providers, like Comcast, to control the speeds of websites and where we can go based on who pays more. This gives full power to big corporations. Here’s a short video discussing the consequences of the repeal of Net Neutrality:

 

 

 

If we focus on the gaming industry, this will also be affected by internet service providers control of the internet. Because ISP’s like Comcast will get to decide what sites and networks move fast into our homes, the latency of on-line video games will be affected. To describe latency simply: low latency is the smooth, no lag, gaming that people enjoy. High latency means there is a lot of traffic and not enough room for all the connections meaning there will be a lot of buffering in the connection. Without net neutrality, the risk of continuous high latency of the gaming networks will be a constant concern for players.

It’s hard to argue against freedom of the internet. Here’s what people are saying across social media sites:

 

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcssj3CHMVq/?hl=en&taken-by=netneutralityrepeal

As we can see, net neutrality protects are basic freedom to do what we want on the internet. If we let this power go for granted, we dangerously allow big business to control what we can see and do. Let’s keep our internet open.

Net Neutrality – Caitlin Klarich

Net Neutrality is something that we need in our lives. For those who do not know, Net Neutrality is defined by Merriam Webster as, “the idea, principle, or requirement that Internet service providers should or must treat all Internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination.” Having Net Neutrality is beneficial because it allows us the freedom to decide what we watch and how we watch it, whether on the internet or cable.

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We need the open internet so that we have the creative freedom online. We also should have access to the open internet in order to have the freedom to watch what we want to watch without being limited. Without the open internet and net neutrality, broadband providers could hinder what we are able to watch and how fast or slow it may stream. They also may up-charge the cost of it. This is wrong because we should have the freedom to choose without anyone telling us otherwise.

 

Something that I found interesting is that the gaming community, reps for companies such as EA and Nintendo, have decided to act in the fight to save net neutrality. According to techdirt.com, “Numerous consumer advocacy firms, several companies including Vimeo and Mozilla, and 23 State attorneys general have filed suit against the FCC, arguing it ignored the public interest, experts, and objective data when it rushed to kill popular net neutrality rules at the telecom industry’s behest.” The Video Game industry is concerned about the destruction of net neutrality because it could possibly slow down connection speed to games that the consumers would like to play. They are worried that the ISPs will slow down their streams. With low connections, the game could not be used to its full extent and for some, may not work at all. Buffering is not good for the games either because with a low connection it could buffer resulting in an unwanted pause in the game. These reasons could make the consumer angry and make them want to stop buying the games. This could ultimately jeopardize their business because they could potentially lose customers.

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!! #WeNeedNetNeutrality #NetNeutrality

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The thought about net neutrality is pretty simple, it MUST be saved. Without these net neutrality rules, broadband providers will have the ability to take advantage of us and our freedom. WE should have the ability to choose what we watch. WE should have the ability to choose how we watch it. WE should have net neutrality.

TradeDress: Facts You Need To Know

Trade Dress is arguably the least known and talked about intellectual property.  However, it’s properties are just as important in protecting work as any other. From Louis Vuitton’s red soles to T-Mobile’s distinct purple color, trade dress protects companies most distinct and unique features of products and logos. Here are five facts to help you understand what trade dress is really all about.

1.) In order to have protection through a trade dress, “The trade dress must be inherently distinctive, unless it has acquired secondary meaning.”

2.) For a trade dress to acquire secondary meaning, consumers must widely associate the subject of the trade dress with the company, like the purple color of T-Mobile.

3.) “For trade dress to be considered inherently distinctive, one court has required that it ‘must be unusual and memorable, conceptually separable from the product, and likely to serve primarily as a designator of origin of the product.'”

4.) The Trade Dress also protects an items packaging in the sense that nobody else can use it.

5.)  The shape of the Coca-Cola bottle is actually considered distinct and holds secondary meaning and is therefore protected under trade dress.

Source: Nolo.com

Copyright in the Music Industry

According to Merriam-Webster, Copyright is the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or artistic work). Recently, Taylor Swift has been in the media for copyrighting her pieces of work such as song lyrics. Here are ten facts on why people such as her do it and why she did.

1.) By having a copyright, the owner has different rights.

  • They can reproduce whatever work they copyrighted

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    Swift copyrighted these lyrics from one of her songs. She used them on t-shirts and other merchandise on her website
  • Sell different copies of their work
  • They can license other people to do these things
  • If they are an artist, they can perform the work they copyrighted

2.) If you are a musician, the copyright of a composition must be separate from the recording, therefore you must copyright both.

3.) Musicians can copyright works that are unpublished along with their published works.

4.) Taylor Swift is a musician that has been in the spotlight for copyrighting her works.

5.) She did this because she wanted to protect the lyrics that she wrote and produced.

6.) Many artists do this because people such as clothing designers may use their lyrics as slogans.

7.) In 2014 Taylor attempted to trademark different phrases from her album “1989”.

8.) She was successful in trademarking the lyrics “this sick beat”.

9.) Taylor does things like this because Jesse Graham sued Taylor for ripping off one of his songs through her single “Shake It Off”.

10.) According to Jeremy Morton the artist must have a “genuine intention” in order to gain a license on their work and merchandise.

Other Sources: LegalZoom