Internet 2 Corporate Governance

With the FCC policy to allow a two-speed internet, the die is cast that corporate favoritism is the focus of government, as Internet 2 accelerates to replace the network that has served the public so well for decades. Internet 2 turns 15, asks. Has it delivered on its promise?

“Internet 2 was created by 34 university research institutions in 1996, when the commercial and non-commercial branches of the Internet’s evolutionary tree split off and went their separate ways. The mission of Internet 2 was to provide reliable, dedicated bandwidth to support the ever-growing demands of the research and educational communities, and in doing so, to develop technologies that would advance the state of the ‘commodity’ Internet.”                       

As major ventures like the 16 Major Technology Companies Announce Cloud Service Partnerships to Benefit the Nation’s Universities, collaborate to control and store the data stream certainly benefits the corporatist economy, but significantly reduces if not eliminates the independence of personal choices on the web. Make no mistake about it, the big tech giants are so deep in bed with government dominance freaks, that advancing opportunities for constructive commerce would  be a mere byproduct to the new system.
Can two different internet platform steams coexist?  Do not confuse the rise of the “Social Internet” with the higher speed gateway IN2 interconnect. Intra academic connect-ability is poised to include the next generation of corporate affiliations. With this association, the quaint notion of academic freedom will never pass the algorithm test.
The recent EU Court Decision in Google Search Info Removal Case Appalls Analysts article is a warning of restrictions to come.

“A court decision in the European Union that could force Google to remove offensive information in searches at the request of individuals is receiving harsh criticism from IT analysts who say that such a policy could ultimately diffuse the credibility of the Internet itself.”

In an Internet 2 environment, the influence of government lawmakers, agencies and courts will be far more prevalent then the experience that seldom blocked “Politically Incorrect” results. Any surfer of the search engines knows that restricting, and even eliminating, content once freely accessed, has become routine. Today a Google search (both text and images) provides sites that restrict outcomes that were once available. Imagine the greater degree of limitations under a supervised bureaucratic culture that relegates critical conclusions of the governance society under Internet 2.
Whenever the corporatists see the prospects to carve out, more efficient monopolies, they seize the opportunity. The deist’s that idolize the synergism partnership of the corporate-state, play into the hands of the non-compete economy.       
Townhall the NeoCon publication maintains a political partisan position in the article, Neutrality Nuts Won’t Be Happy Until Government Controls the Internet. Author Phil Kerpen criticizes the Free Press opposition to the FCC endorsement of a paid priority internet.
“Together we’ll dance, drum and shout that the agency must throw out its destructive plan and reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. This is the only way to restore real Net Neutrality.”

“Restore” is an odd word choice, because the reclassification of broadband Internet as a Title II telecommunications service, also known, ironically, as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), would bring about total government economic control on the Internet that has never previously existed.”

Now where do you suppose the corporatist will come down on greater regulation? Yep, you guessed it! When you write the legislation and dominate the lobbying of regulators, squeezing out the upstarts or free market entrepreneurs, is right up your alley.
Assigning utility status to the Internet, especially when the U.S. is on the path to turn over administration of the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), to international control, is another step to total global Corporatocracy.
The introduction of an Internet 2 connection will foster requirements for playing in the sandbox of the tech titans. Opine all you want, the need for speed comes at a great price, far more than just financial changes. A mobile world of ads and trivia breeds functional illiterates. Texting is not a skill, but a curse.
Burying an uncensored internet is the goal that corporate governance wants. Their draconian design for an OpenID Connect may usher in a new era of federated online identity, is part of the Internet 2 wish list.

“Here’s the nut of this issue: governments need ways to authenticate the growing numbers of citizens going online to access digital services. Around the globe, hundreds of millions of people want digital services, increasingly provided through connected mobile devices. For instance, just think about renewing a driver’s license or passport, reserving space in public parks, or accessing records.
Driven by policy needs and political realities, the Obama administration put forward a National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) in 2011 that adopted a federated approach to online identity, enabling people to use a validated identity from a private entity to identify themselves to government. Governments verify and validate identity providers under trust frameworks. After years of development, NSTIC pilots for federated identity are now being tested in Michigan and Pennsylvania, along with other locales and agencies.”

After inducing the public into accepting the promises of anytime video steaming, the Internet 2 future will suck in the instant gratification set, while relegating the cost conscience consumer into a second-class existence. Once critical mass is established, and the package of greater government regulation is in place, the plug is ready for pulling free expressive content at will. When DAPRA funded the research that developed the crucial internet protocols, and CERN contributed to making information exchange more efficient, the world was not able to demand a digital identity for every inhabitant.
So much of world commerce, now conducted on the internet, necessitates that the corporate elites want their government agents to safeguard their financial interests, often at the sacrifice of personal liberty. Hence, the overwhelming need for balance at every stage of transition in the Internet, so that individual rights are as protected for the public as for business.  
James Hall – May 21, 2014     
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