Museums and Net Neutrality. Please join me in telling FCC Chairman Wheeler that it is imperative that the internet remain “Net Neutral”, write an email to Chairman Wheeler using the Freepress Take Action Link
Join me in signing the Popular Resistance Petition
Join me in donating to the $50,000 in 15 Days to Save the Internet
The future of informal education, shared authority and the democratization of content is at risk. If the new FCC rules are approved, internet service providers would be able to receive fees to distribute selected content faster to audiences. As an example, a large corporation that can afford the additional fees can have their content “pass ahead” of other content and be delivered to the internet user.
1. As an example, a for-profit corporation’s content on King Tutankhamun could be placed ahead of a museum’s content
2. A for-profit corporations science fiction toy could be placed ahead of the content delivered from a small local science center
3. A larger museum’s content could pay to have their content pass smaller museum’s content
4. A chain restaurant’s information could be placed ahead in a search for “Educational Actives Nashville”
5. An artist represented by a large gallery could have information on their Art delivered ahead of an unrepresented artist
The power of the current internet is we each vote with our “clicks” and the time we spend reading a website page. Currently internet content is delivered according to an algorithm based on time spent on a website, number of pages visited and how many times we return to the same website (amongst other factors). If the new FCC regulations are allowed to pass, corporations can pass each of our “click votes” and the corporation’s content will go to the “front of the line”. The power of the internet comes from shared authority with examples such as citizen scientists, online education, crowdfunding and wikipedia.
Please join me in telling FCC Chairman Wheeler that the internet needs to remain Net Neutral.
Resources:
New York Times: FCC New Net Neutrality Rules
Museums and the Web: Net Neutrality and the Future of Museums Online
The Atlantic: The Best Writing on Net Neutrality
Wired: So the Internet’s About to Lose it’s Net Neutrality
The Association for Computers and the Humanities: Open Letter on Net Neutrality
Bill Moyers: Don’t Let Net Neutrality Become Another Broken Promise
Tim Wu: Network Neutrality
Comments 2
Last night I was talking to a friend about the possible changes to the internet. We came up with a couple of other thoughts.
1. Innovation – As the current internet is a “level playing field” all players have the same advantages (or disadvantages). A single person or a couple of people can launch a company with minimal investment and compete with companies many times their size. If some companies can place their content ahead of others, innovation will diminish.
2. The Little Guy – Part of the power of the current internet is it’s ability to empower anyone. President Obama’s 2009 win, was in large part due to the the online social media strategy. With the current internet anyone, anywhere with the knowledge, determination and skills can compete.
How do you think the possible changes to the internet will change your museum or your museum life?
-Mark
Started a discussion “How could the FCC changes affect your museum?” on the LinkedIn Museum Planning Group, #museums, #netneutrality, http://lnkd.in/dNikKd4