why net neutrality matters for freedom of speech

Why Net Neutrality matters for Freedom of Speech

Thomas Lohninger AKVorrat.at / savetheinternet.eu

2016-09-14 OSCE: Gaining A Digital Edge 2016

“Many people have a pragmatic attitude toward technology: they don't care how it works, they just want to use it. With regard to the Internet, this attitude is dangerous.

-Barbara van Schewick; Internet Architecture and Innovation ; 2010; MIT Press

technical: slower/faster economic: cheaper/expensive

2 Types of Discrimination

Net Neutrality =

Discrimination Prevention

Innovation without permission

–Lawrence Lessig: Code and other Laws of Cyberspace, New York: Basic Books 1999, p. 32

“Like a daydreaming postal worker,the network simply moves the data

and leaves interpretation of the data to the applications at either end.

This minimalism in design is intentional. It reflects both

a political decision about disabling control and a technological decision about

the optimal network design.”

–Lawrence Lessig: Code and other Laws of Cyberspace, New York: Basic Books 1999, p. 32

“Like a daydreaming postal worker,the network simply moves the data

and leaves interpretation of the data to the applications at either end.

This minimalism in design is intentional. It reflects both

a political decision about disabling control and a technological decision about

the optimal network design.”

BUT WHAT ABOUT FREE SPEECH?

disconnected 60%

online 40%

4 billion people don’t have internet

the network is here

20%

network avaible 80%

disconnected 60%

online 40%

–Mark Zuckerberg

“To give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some services

for free. If you can't afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access

and voice than none at all.”

“It all seems to amount to economic racism—exploiting the poor in under-developed parts of the world to become your customers

under the guise of some apparent charitable purpose.”

–Mahesh Murthy, indischer StartUp Investor

Thanks for your attentionthomas@lohninger.org; @socialhack; www.akvorrat.at

Keep Fighting!