| Class 1: Internet History and HTML |
January 7, 2008 |
| Class 2: Net Neutrality |
January 9, 2008 |
| Class 3: Internet Governance and Control |
January 10, 2008 |
| Class 4: Copyright and Patent Law |
January 14, 2008 |
| Class 5: Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Legality |
January 16, 2008 |
Class 1
The Internet's origins began in 1962. J.C.R. Licklider that August discussed a 'globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site. Licklider worked a DARPA, which was where the plan called the ARPANET began. This ARPANET later became what we know as the internet. The internet was based on the idea that there would be many different networks, including packing sattelite networks, ground based networks, etc. Because of this, network providers could freely choose the type of network architecture it wanted. This idea of open-architecture networking was inroduced by Kahn. Kahn worked on this concept on the ARPANET NCP, but realized that the NCP (Network Contol Program), didn't have all the tools necessary to complete this project which led to Kahn's development of the TCP/IP. By 1985, the internet was used by a large group of people and companies. Email was used by many as well.
Quality of Service seems to be a real issue involving the internet. Essentially, it states that the internet will require new 'Quality of Service' features in order to work. While this obviously seems advantageous to many internet consumers, but because the capacity of the internet is constantly growing, the QOS algorithms will become over congested and ineffective. This article which discusses QOS's states that it would be necessary to have a very complicated QOS algorithm in order for the QOS to be beneficial to the consumer, but this could come at the cost or slowing the creation of newer, higher capacity transports.
Class 2
These 3 articles discussed the pros and cons of Network Neutrality. Network neutrality is the idea that Newtork provides not only leave the inernet free of charge, but also allow websites to compete for users without interference. This is the way the internet has been working for years. The article entitled 'The Coming Tug og War Over the Internet', discusses many reasons why ridding the idea of network neutrality would be detrimental to the internet. One example he gives is the idea that without Newtork Neutrality, internet service providers can pick and chose what websites they want to give speed priorities to, which can hurt others in the process. For Example, Google is the most popular search engine on the internet, but if Yahoo was given more speed, Google will lose its edge which is unfair competition.
People against Network Neutrality are usually members of the big Internet service providing companies. They defend their stance by stating that the internet has changed. This was discussed in the article entitled 'Catching the Web in a Net of Neutrality'. With the rise of YouTube, Daily Motion, and other streaming video sites, more speed is necessary to sustain these websites. Even with the rise of online games, more broadband is necessary. This is costing the Internet service providers more and more money without getting any back in return. Because these companies aren't receiving revenue, many beieve that the internet will get to a point and collapse because higher speeds will be impossible to afford. This article suggests that internet sites and users should pay a certain amount depending on how much overall speed they take up on the internet. For example, a big time bittorrent or itunes downloader would pay more for the internet then one who uses the internet purely to check their email. I do think that this new system may have adverse affects because it will dwarf the full potential that the internet has.
Class 3
Similar to Network Neutrality, Internet Governance is the idea that there should be some sort of government oversight and control over the internet that has run privately since it began in the 1960's and 1970's. The EU attempted some sort of internet governance in the mid 2000's. In a letter, Condoleeza Rice explained the importance of a non government controlled internet and the dangers that the internet might see with this type of control. She states that the 'history of the internet's extraordinary growth should be proof enough on why the internet should continue the way it is.' She also states that new intergovernmental structure would likely become an obstacle to Internet access to all citizens. In another article entitled 'Control the Internet? A Futile Pursut, Some Say' also speaks in opposition to government control. The author looks at the history of the internet and how it began decentralized in nature. One quotation from the article states 'Nobody controls the flow of the ocean but it works completely fine. There are some things that can't be controlled and should be left alone.' This article, similar to the Rice letter, also stresses the complications the internet may have once this intergovernmental structure is implemented. Another article discusses the idea that the UN control of the internet is simply a way to take power from the United States, which seems a bit ridiculous, but does speak of the problems that this control will bring.
Class 4
Class 5
Bit Torrent was created by programmer Bram Cohen. What makes Bit Torrent so popular is that one can download big files such as movies, tv shows, or even computer games at a very fast rate. This is because unlike Kazaa or Limewire, where your downloading and uploading speeds aren't the same and you only download from one other person, with Bit Torrent, you download and upload very small amounts from a large group of people. There are arguments for and against the legality of Bit Torrent. The first article discusses how some of Bit Torrents features are not infrigments. The author discusses reproduction, distribution, making available, and communication to the public. As far as reproduction, the article attempts to state that Bit Torrent does not violate this particular law. Becuase Bit Torrent sends bits and pieces of entire files, the case for one particular uploader could be that only part of the file that he was seeding was used to complete a downloader's file. This would mean that he didn't share his file, just a piece of it. To this day, copyright laws don't really know how to deal with partial copy amounts. The author states that while BitTorrent use is covered by the right of reproduction, he does state that 'it is arguable whether bitTorrent use entails acts of communication to the public.
The second article speaks of Bit Torrent as being completely illegal. He begins by stating how Bit Torrent is a direct infringement. The is because the people who are sharing the files such as music or movies are not the copyright owners of it. If the copyright owner has not authorized the activity, the seeder would have to qualify for an exception. He then discusses how the creation of Peer-2-Peer tools is an infrngement as well. In order to explain this, the author states that 'copyright law can sometimes rach beyond the direct infringer to those who were only indirectly involved in the infringing activity'. He goes on by stateing 'under copyright law, this indirect liability can take three distinct forms: inducement, contributory infringement and vicarious liability'. This is what happened to Napster, Grokster, Aimster, and Kazaa.
