[Air-l] network neutrality and digital divide
Gail Taylor
gdtaylor at uiuc.edu
Sun Apr 30 08:24:16 PDT 2006
Discriminatory practices are implicit to the conversation on
network neutrality. As opposed to only being concerned about
the network providers, current practices of organizations and
individuals should also be taken into consideration. These
practices are also drivers of the current movement to
regulate Internet activities.
As an Internet researcher, I continue to use a dial-up
Internet service to access the Internet to have the same
experience as millions of others around the world who do not
have access to affordable broadband services. I am finding
this experience has changed dramatically in the last several
years as web site developers build and maintain sites that
capitalize on broadband capabilities, including higher
education institutions.
I can usually get a 46K connect speed when using the dial-up
service. I am not able to access web sites that require the
user to use a particular software program to view the site,
even if the software is available for download from the site.
Using the dial-up service, I do not have the necessary data
transfer speeds to download the necessary software. The web
site developers tend to not offer users an option to contact
them to get a copy of the software on a CD-ROM/DVD. Email
requests to webmasters for this courtesy tend to be ignored.
Other web sites are very slow to load to the browser screen
as sites become larger in size data-wise. I also do not have
access to many of the PDF files that are being made available
for download to a file or printer due to the large file size.
Downloading a podcasting is out of the question! Music?
Games? Out of the question! Downloading a 1M PDF file has the
potential to bring a person to tears.
Until such time dial-up service is no longer available, I
will continue to use this service as an Internet researcher
to have the same experience as the millions of others around
the world who do not have the financial resources to purchase
this service, or live in a part of the world that does not
the necessary infrastructure to support this service. How is
it possible to talk advocate for change on behalf of others
without also living the experience??
-- Gail
*****************************
Gail D. Taylor, M.Ed.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Human Resource Education Ph.D. Student
Educational Psychology Teaching Assistant
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one
can take that away from you." -- B.B. King, Blues Musician
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