Internet freedom must never be taken for granted

INTERNET FREEDOM MUST NEVER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED
[SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford, University of Michigan]
[Commentary] The Internet has the power to change human lives and spur economic growth, but that power is threatened around the world. Why? Because the Internet threatens established industries of all kinds -- governments, traditional telecommunications companies and traditional entertainment companies -- and they are fighting back, using every tool they have. That's why I started OneWebDay, which was observed on Saturday. It seemed to me that we needed a global Earth Day for the Internet, to make sure that everyone understands the threats to our shared online future. This is not just about censorship. Access itself is a challenge in many parts of the world. Less than 4% of the population of Africa has Internet access. Prices are cripplingly high in many countries, because incumbent network operators fight competition. We think of India as a place of entrepreneurial energy, but their network providers have caused Internet access to stagnate and prices to stay at bewilderingly high levels. The Internet is threatened in the United States as well. We don't have the ubiquitous high speed Internet access that President George W. Bush promised for 2007. Speeds are slow, prices are high, and competition is nominal. The cable and telephone companies that control access are strongly interested in creating Internet "fast lanes" for their own proprietary material -- and they have the market power to pull this off. We are at risk of encouraging the development of a sclerotic, dumbed-down, cable TV version of the Internet. Economic growth and open access are closely tied, and we should be very wary of mortgaging our online future. Every day brings more evidence that the Internet can shed light on human rights abuses and dramatically lower barriers to political activism. The Internet is unlike anything we've seen before; it's the largest idea-generating, participatory communications medium in history. We must not take for granted all of the empowerment, economic growth, free speech, and other benefits the Internet makes possible.
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