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14 April 2015

The Clash of Internet Civilizations: Why Neither Side Should Prevail

April 10, 2015
http://www.rand.org/blog/2015/04/the-clash-of-internet-civilizations-why-neither-side.html

In what is sure to be the first of many cyberbattles, a clash of Internet civilizations is unfolding. The conflict has been hastened by the recent decisionby the Federal Communications Commission to classify Internet service providers as public utilities, which effectively prevents cable and telecommunications companies from controlling Web content by blocking sites or auctioning off faster traffic speeds to the highest bidder.

Although FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler praised the newly approved policy on net neutrality for preserving a “fast, fair and open Internet,” there's more to it than meets the eye. That's because it fails to address the more important evolving Internet debate — how to manage the Internet as it becomes more intertwined with our daily lives.

This debate pits two opposing philosophies against each other — one pushing for the continued evolution of the Internet as an open information superhighway, the other asserting that the Internet's evolution needs to take more account of the many ways it is and will be used.

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