Internet

Learning Objectives & resources:
 * 2.3.1 The Internet**

Read:
 * A little bit of history**
 * Computer Confluence (CC) p 263 or new version p343
 * Discovering Computers 2002 (DC) 2.4, 2006 p69
 * [|www.isoc.org/internet/history]
 * http://www.open2.net/ictportal/comm/internet/introduction.htm

=Who owns it? Why can’t it be controlled?= · Millions of networks connected (each owned by different organisations) but no central owner, no central server; is growing too quickly and there are no hard boundaries. · Read: DC 2006 p70 and related articles.

Who owns the Net?
The Internet is not centrally controlled by any one Government, Corporation, Individual or Legal system.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the group that oversees research and sets standards and guidelines.

Up until 2005 US ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) controlled the Internet. They managed domain names and the addressing system which links domain names to IP addresses and net traffic routing and created the new top-level domains e.g. .com; .net. The US historically took over this role as it was the US that developed the Internet with the Commerce Dept approving any changes to the internet’s core addressing system. Therefore to a certain degree it is the US that is controlling the Internet.

This control was apparent when the proposed .xxx domain for pornography was rejected because the US Government were unhappy with this.

In October 2005 the European Union officials were wrangling for control of the net to be a more representative United Nations body.

In November 2005 at the UN Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, the UN’s working group on Internet Governance published its proposal of reforms and post this summit in February 2006 a new group was set up – the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and are meeting to discuss control and ownership of the Internet.

In December 2006, The US Govt signed a deal to give Verisign control over the domain until 2012

In September 09 the agreement between ICANN and the US Dept of Commerce runs out. Recommendations are that a G-12 for Internet Governence group is formed.

 The annual UN mandated event has occurred annually since 2006 in Athens, Rio and Hyderabad and will be in Sharm-el Sheikh Egypt in 2009. Each event offers opportunities for international dialogue regarding issues relating to the Internet. Discussion at the IGF is structured around the four principles: openness, access, diversity and security.
 * Internet Governence Forum (IGF) **


 * 1) On a piece of paper – write down what the Internet is to you.
 * 2) Watch the video at:  []

The Internet is difficult to control – factors include:


 * The Internet is going too fast to track
 * The Internet is too decentralized to control
 * The Internet does not have any boundaries.

21 February 2008 - a new domain name suffix .asia has been launched. Set up by the Dotasia organization ( http://www.dotasia.org/ )

**Internet Censorship**
However, some governments have set about to control the Internet access in their own controls with Internet Censorship. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) [] is a human rights pressure group to protect the freedom of the press.   Read the article: BBC News, //Enemies of the Internet named//, 07/11/06  There is strong evidence that net censorship is growing with many countries filtering content for the following reasons: -  politics and power -  security concerns -  social norms  <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Amnesty is concerned that censorship is on the increase. Read the article BBC News, //Censorship ‘changes face of the net’// 06/06/07 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They accuse companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of being complicit in the problem. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Visit the site [] and read about Net censorship in China. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Also read the following articles on BBC….Google move ‘black day’ for China and Why Google in China makes sense. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">February 2008 – A coalition has been formed to develop the Internet Bill of Rights. Read the following link to find out their progress. [] <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">4. June 2009, Chinese Government tried to make compulsory that all PC vendors must sell PCs with Green Dam – Youth Escort Utility – a web filtering software. Research the news to find out if this mandate was followed through? What obstacles did the Chinese Government face? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Internet censorship is not just in China, but also Australia – watch this video clip: [|www.abc.net.au/quanda/txt/s2521164.htm] or []
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Visit the website and identify the number of deaths and imprisonment of journalists around the world
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Identify the names of the countries who are suppressing freedom of expression on the internet.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2007 Shi Tao, Chinese journalist was jailed for 10 years for sending a foreign website text from a communist party message. Yahoo (China) provided the Chinese authority information to help in this arrest. Discussion: Should American Internet companies operating in China abide by US rules of ethics or Chinese ones?

** Is the Internet Accessible to Everyone? **
Not everyone has equal access to the information on websites due to the way that websites have been developed. The UK now is setting guidelines for website owners to ensure that websites are more user friendly for disabled people.

Many UK Govt sites have been closed down and sites are now being revamped to comply with the new regulations.

1. Your website must be able to function with different web browsers. Don’t assume that everyone has the latest web browser and plug in. You must provide alternatives to: 2. Forms need to be accessible to all web users. 3. It should be easy for users to read the content of your website 4. Structure and presentation should be separate so that your site is viewable on different devices. The **structure** of a document is how it is organised, usually with navigational menu items, headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. The **presentation** of a document is how these words and images are presented to the end user. The main principle behind this accessibility guideline is to **use** CSS ** and not tables to lay out your web pages ** 5. End user should have control over the website to be able to view it as they wish. http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/basics.shtml
 * Summary of Guidelines. **
 * ** Images ** - in the form of ALT text
 * ** JavaScript ** - through the tag
 * ** Flash ** - with HTML equivalents
 * ** Audio & video ** - by using subtitles or written transcripts

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