Conspiracy, Hoax, or Some Marketing Thing?

Conspiracy, Hoax, or Some Marketing Thing? June 20, 2008

Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality, Opinion.
trackback

I group calling itself “I Power” has posted a couple of videos puportedly uncovering a conspiracy on the part of ISPs and content producers to turn the Internet into another version of cable TV. On the face of it, the notion is preposterous. Content providers are mostly generating revenue by advertising. Only in rare circumstances are there successful models of the content itself generating income. If one company started charging, another could easily scoop up the ad revenue by offering their content for free. It is also ludicrous to think that in this day and age of citizens journalism, that people would continue contributing content for free if someone else was charging for that content on the other end. A quick check of any facts listed (no article by anyone named Pattyn in Time Magazine sort of makes it hard to claim he is one of their reporters) blows the whole thing up as delusional misinformation that only muddies the water. We need clear and concise information around the issue of Net Neutrality, not vague unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories.

The people in the videos seem sincere, and I support efforts toward securing a reasonable assurance of Net Nuetrality, but I can’t help but wonder if the whole thing isn’t some marketting scheme like lonelygirl15 turned out to be. It also reminds me of claims we hear this time of year where a political candidate will air an attack ad about himself to garner sympathy toward a cause or campaign.

Some might say that this is an example of the failure of the Internet. Others love any conspiracy that can’t be disproved. In any case, it makes for an interesting discussion about verification of information, credibility of sources, and general critical thinking applied to the Internet experience. I’m just not buying it, whatever it is they end up trying to sell.

http://ipower.ning.com/netneutrality2

Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)