Net Neutrality: Which Side Are You On?

 

Net Neutrality – the who, the what and the where

Net Neutrality is a modern phenomenon that has been under the public microscope since the term was first coined by Tim Wu, a law professor in Virginia, U.S.A, in 2003, more than a decade ago. He was aware of the growing conflict between the public and the Internet providers, each with their own motivations and intended uses for this growing technology. In a nutshell, Net Neutrality is letting the Internet remain as is---a free field of communication. However, I.S.P.s (Internet service providers) and broadband companies like Internet giants Verizon in the U.S. are trying to reduce this freedom. They want to create an uneven field in which certain, more popular websites and channels could be accessed more quickly than ones in less demand. This means that the broadband providers will fast track these routes whilst slowing down others. The users---the consumers---will have to pay for this quicker access. With this in mind, I.S.P.s could slow down or even block sites and channels according to their whims. Now (excluding money-hungry broadband providers) who on Earth wants that to happen?

What’s all the fuss about?

So what is all the fuss concerning the Net? What is there to debate? It seems most people are somewhat unaware of the conflict. Yet. I think most people just want the Internet to simply remain as it is in its current form. Humans tend to hate stuff that disrupts our lives. If Net Neutrality hadn’t been present from the start, then perhaps we wouldn’t be having this debate at all; it is because of its potential introduction that we are worried. Imagine visiting your favorite park for ten years and then being told one day that you would either have to pay to enter or else you would have to use the back entrance a few miles away. You’d be certainly annoyed, wouldn’t you? But if you knew the situation from the start, it wouldn’t be so bothering, right?

Take another example. In Ireland this year, household water charges were introduced. This means that the Irish public will have to relinquish their right to free water use at home and will now have to pay an annual cost, depending on usage. Most countries have water charges already in place, but it is the introduction that has led the people of Ireland into protest and disgust at the government.

If alcohol was invented today, would it be legal and sold in stores worldwide? Cigarettes? Of course not, but because they have been around for so long, they are enjoyed legally by potential addicts and cancer patients the world over. It’s the unwanted, ‘unprecedentedness’ of Net Neutrality that would cause debate among nations, governments and mostly their publics. When we get used to having something so good on tap, we don’t want anything to change too greatly, be it water, beer or in this case, the Internet.

Why is the debate growing?

After more than ten years passed since the topic first arose, we have seen the availability and uses of the Irocket. ‘Convergence’ in technology is a key aspect. This has lead to the consumer being able to use Internet not just on a PC at home, but also on her phone, laptop, in the car, in the bathroom and even on a plane. The suits need to check their email constantly. Young adults are watching Netflix and addicted to Facebook. Teens are watching porn, playing games and following celebrities. We all need the Internet.

The whole debate on Net Neutrality brings the entire role of the Internet in our lives into question. Is the it just another product akin to TV and cable? Most households in the developed world are willing to add an extra fee to their monthly cable bill in order to watch more sports and movies. Premium football games and the latest movie releases. So why are YouTube, Facebook, Skype and other mega Internet pillars any different? These sites have cost millions of dollars to develop and a vast amount of ingenious brain power to engineer. Why should we be allowed to consume these things for free? Look at Skype and Facebook: They have connected us to our families and friends at next to no cost. Should we hate Internet providers for charging us a few dollars extra for such an incredible facility?

On the other hand, is the Internet more than just a service nowadays? Is it something we could choose to live without or has it become so integral, that to disrupt it in some way, would genuinely harm people’s daily welfare? The Internet itself is arguably humankind’s greatest invention.

Although I can understand business minds want more return on such a wonderful product, personally I think it should remain as it is. The Internet has changed the world immensely. Each website should be given a fair chance of being discovered and becoming the next sensation to captures the public’s eye (case in point: idigculture.com).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="429"] Favorite website seem a little slower? Seems we need net Neutrality![/caption]

Advertising Around the World

You may have seen the IDC Video Team’s take on advertising trends in America and Korea. As their... disturbing conclusion showed, American advertisers tend to be more direct and aggressive, where Korean style tends to be softer, with a focus that is more on features rather than force. This raises the question: What about advertisements you may see in other counties? Before we get down to the hard hitting advertising realities of our world’s diverse cultures, let’s start with something lighthearted. This is a cell phone commercial made for Korea’s own Samsung, marketed to India. During a recent 12-day visit to Nepal, this commercial’s jingle managed to become so ingrained in my mind that the tune now makes me think of the streets of Kathmandu. Considering Kathmandu has roving blackouts, and I spent very little time near a TV set, I am startled at how quickly the song became burned into my mind. I still find myself singing it in my head when I am traveling.

http://youtu.be/qwfKxsDxYAI

You have to admit, it is very catchy. And as far as my research has concluded, the song was made specifically for this advertisement. I could not find any other version of this tune anywhere on the internet.

Before we begin to think that advertising is all fun jingles and amusing pictures, we must remember that it is also a hard-science, data-driven medium with mores that are socially driven and often enforced by law. As we know, American advertisements are aggressive, loud, and flashy. In American TV commercials, it is rare for the same image to stay on the screen for more than a second, which can lead to headaches. As a result, a lot of viewers simply choose to DVR their programs and skip the multi-million dollar ads altogether. I guess it is a good thing that in the U.S., no one DVRs the Super Bowl, where a thirty second spot can cost an advertiser over $3 million. Here’s a popular Super Bowl ad that made golden-age actress Betty White a TV super star – again – and launched several variations in an international advertising campaign for Mars, Inc.

http://youtu.be/18ya0-OZ58s

Did anyone spot Abe Vigoda at the end of that ad? He played Tessio in The Godfather. Here’s the Korean version of that same TV spot:

http://youtu.be/xEOy62YZOpM

Although television is still the largest advertising medium in most developed countries, the internet and magazines still carry their bulk of the load. Depending on the culture the ad runs in, the styles can be noticeably different. Western magazine titles are available in convenience stores across the Middle East, but the “sex sells” style is still very much haram (sinful), so it is not uncommon to see certain images blackened out with a permanent marker. Yes, apparently, somewhere in the Middle East, there is a team of men armed with Sharpies sitting in an office, coloring in side-boob shots to protect the local social mores and decency laws.



And yet, somehow images of rude gestures like this one slip through the screening process:

[caption id="attachment_1754" align="alignnone" width="300"] Photo courtesy of www.peninsularityensues.com[/caption]

There isn’t much call for scanty fashion advertisements in the Middle East, but they make up for the lack of content with adverts for jewelry and perfumes, which are a huge part of the market. This is not to say that Middle Eastern fashion shies away from sexy – on the contrary. They just do a more modest version of it. These are issues of Grazia International, the “authoritative voice of style in the Middle East.”



The local mall in the Omani capital of Muscat even has a Victoria’s Secret… but they only sell accessories, fragrances and perfumes. As for magazine adverts, it is a little alarming how many of the ads contain fair-haired, Western-style models. Rather than a preference for the appearance, I am told these models are used for ads that Muslim women would not wish to appear in for stylistic reasons.

On the other side of the globe, the Russians have their own distinctive style as well, but they have decided to not only follow the styles of the decadent U.S., but to surpass them entirely. If sex sells in America, it sells in bulk in Moscow. This was, of course, not always the case. It wasn’t until after the collapse of the Soviet system, when Russia’s market was in dire need of a make-over, that they accepted Western marketing traditions. “Accepted” may be the wrong word, in fact. Russia relied so heavily on trade with Western economies during those hard times that they had very little say in the sort of trade they received in the form of advertising. Right up through the early Perestroika days, Russian advertising was very basic, since most businesses were only concerned with the movement of goods to the vast regions of Russia. Eleven time zones can make this a daunting and expensive task, so very little – in fact, nothing – was given to flash and dazzle advertising. Soon, however, greedy Western markets pushed their way into a Russia that was awakening to a need for mass marketing. Western styles caught on, and Russia ran with it. Now Russian women are seen as sexy and stunning—a very different description than the one Westerners heard during the Cold War. It’s not like the women have changed that much – turns out, they were always sexy and stunning. It’s terrible how a cold war can distort the facts. Check out this classic Cold War commercial for a popular American fast food chain.

http://youtu.be/DWAKtYGJZSM

Russian advertisers quickly set about destroying the myth, and man, have they succeeded. They took the tool of modern Western-style advertising, and used it to kill the Western myth of modern Russia.



And yes, there is even something for the ladies.



Today's Russia is all about the glitz and glamor in much of their advertising. This is actually kind of sad in this writer’s opinion: Russian women are stunningly beautiful, glitz and glam be damned.

As a final note to what was meant to be a short, shallow commentary on advertising around the world, I would be remiss if I did not add the following comments to the previous ones regarding glitz and glam. The advertising industry everywhere really needs to recognize all women – all people, of all shapes, colors, and sizes – can be beautiful. Kindness is true beauty, and not the digitally-doctored images that are splashed before our eyes on a non-stop daily basis. Did you know that the average person today sees more advertisements in a year than their grandparents saw in their entire lives? It’s true. Sadly, very few of those advertisements are made to make us feel good about ourselves. If we felt good, we wouldn't feel a need to buy their stuff to fill that hole in our self-esteem. Don’t buy into it. You are beautiful. It’s the ads that have gotten ugly.

So feel good. To help, here is that catchy jingle again. Or for a laugh at the whole digitally-altered concept of fake beauty, watch this, and enjoy being who you are.