In an age of freely flowing information on everyone's
computers, it is timely to look at who controls this
information flow and how; at how corporations and states
can shape access to knowledge and even what knowledge is
shared. THE CLOSING OF THE NET is how Monica Horten
describes the erosion of public freedoms and personal
privacy. She investigates and makes us aware of the current
situation and invites us to control our own futures.
Financial and political influences can be applied to
internet usage and the data stored about the users. When we
talk about citizens' fundamental rights which citizens
are included? Are children different? How much of our
personal information is stored, shared and sold? How much
can government agencies access? Content creation and
provision is huge business, because there is always a
viewer looking for something new. Who decides what gets
created and shared? While we may think free speech
triumphs, in fact the majority of users access a limited
number of sites frequently, raising the stock of
multinational firms and industries. These can control what
users view by simply not making some content available.
Monica Horten invites us to consider the part of the
internet we see as the tip of an iceberg of technology. She
explains how the open network works.
Advertisers love to do behavioral targeting, which is to
target users likely to buy a product or service. We're told
that the details of people clicking a 'like' button for a
brand, are sold to commercial competitors of that brand for
targeting. Personally I have never liked a brand. I
also
clear my browser automatically and run ad-blocking software
which saves me a great deal of harassment from ads
following me around the net. I've accessed news sites from
computers that were not mine and been astounded by the
amount of rubbish that accumulates on the side bars waiting
for an unwary click, say on a photo of a yacht, upon which
the pages are filled with ads for dubious get rich quick
schemes. What kind of reputable site takes money from these
advertisers? I understand that ads help keep services
running for free, so a quandary exists. Giving up data to a
site host is another way of paying, but then you lose
control over it. And when your data may be processed or
stored in any other country, who makes the rules?
Monica Horten describes how large, powerful tech
corporations lobbied against European privacy laws that did
not suit them. This included personal moves against the
Commissioner appointed to oversee policy making. When he
produced his report, the tech groups snowed Members of the
European Parliament under with 3,000 amendments they wanted
passed, in their favour. This lobby group was led by
American firms but also contained European ones and was
fuelled by the major content platforms. Privacy advocates
produced a dozen amendments.
Copyright enforcement is another issue examined in this
account. As is mass surveillance by the US and other
intelligence services. Edward Snowden's revelations about
global external surveillance and how non-US residents were
not deemed to enjoy the protections afforded to Americans
brought the interests of competing nations, not just
industries, sharply to bear. The telecommunication industry has
control over the physical networks by which the information
is sent. They can provide faster or slower speeds, charge
more for extra bandwidth or make certain content free.
However, most people agree that telecommunication firms
have a duty to co-operate with police over major crimes and
terrorism. As countries depend more and more on broadband,
the leverage of these firms only increases.
And there is the issue of content filtering. In order to
stop unacceptable content from reaching homes, deep content
filtering examines the data packages so the
telecommunication firm
knows what game you are playing or film you are streaming
and what is on the site page you access. One nation's net
nanny service is another's political silencing.
This far-reaching, detailed discussion of how we got to
where we are, will be of great interest to anyone working
in the area of computers or internet provision and to civil
servants and legislators who work in this field. While
there is more detail than the general public may need, the
facts and figures serve to convince that we are not making
as many decisions as we thought we were. Monica Horten is
personally convinced that THE CLOSING OF THE NET will soon
start coming about in a gradual way, with restrictions on
access to content and posting of content; and this is
something which should interest us all. Monica Horten has
worked in telecommunication and has been a Visiting Fellow
at the
Department of Media and Communications in the London School
of Economics.
How are political decisions influencing the future direction
of Internet communication? As the interests of powerful
businesses become more embedded in the online world, so
these corporations seek greater exemption from liability.
They are manipulating governments and policymakers, blocking
and filtering content, and retaining and storing personal
data ? at the cost of individual access and privacy.
In this compelling account, Monica Horten confronts
the deepening cooperation between large companies and the
state. Corrupt political manoeuvrings, she argues, suggest
that the original vision of a free and democratic Internet
is rapidly being eclipsed by a closed, market-led, heavily
monitored online ecosystem. And the results are chilling.
The Closing of the Net boldly tackles the
controversies surrounding individual rights today. It is
essential reading for anyone concerned with present and
future Internet policy and its effects on our freedoms.
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