How Steemit inspired "free internet" can resolve net neutrality @BlockRush

in #steemit7 years ago (edited)

Meet  Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee - the founder of the Web, he is an advocate for #netneutrality!


According to the BBC, a digital storming is brewing and will soon hit land! It is not about crypto-currencies this time, it is about the Internet, the very medium on which crypto-currencies live and operate.

The US Federal Communications Commission is the body which regulated IPS and telecoms. This year President Trump appointed a new boss to it, and this boss wants to capitalize the internet industry.


Net neutrality



Net neutrality requires that Internet Service Providers(ISPs) do not give any preferred treatment to any particular websites.

The net neutrality law is simple:

All websites should be equal before an ISP

This means all websites should be treated equally and given the same priority, speed and security regardless of their source. Opponents of net neutrality of the scheme are mostly cut throat capitalist who want to capitalize the telecom industry.

A free market for the telecom industry might be a disaster as it would would allow websites owned by richer companies to be faster while even letting ISPs block user's access to rival websites simply because they were paid to.

Imagine a law which allowed either Facebook, Reddit, Yahoo, Youtube and Twitter to pay ISPs to block Steemit.com!

Facebook's Free Basic(Internet.org) initiative also faced similar challenges from the net neutrality activists in India due to the fact that it allowed users to access only a few predefined websites, eventually it was blocked in the country. The irony is that Mark Zukerbug still believes in the program, despite claiming to be supporter of net neutrality himself.

While these developments are in the US, they sure do concern the rest of the world as the world's industry do learn from the US. Whatever new developments occur in the US would surely find their ways into industries around the world.


The real problem



To begin with, telecom regulators would never make any fair decisions for the internet as they are motivated by the interest of sponsors, partners and businesses. The interest of end users will never get a fair representation; for this reason we should probably not even let them decide or make these rules.

This is the real dilemma:

  1. The internet should have no "regulator" of Internet
  2. IPSs should also not be not be "forced" to provide services they do not want to provide

Centralized telecom operators are outdated just as much as centralized financial regulators are outdated. Instead of allowing  these people to represent the interest of people they barely know, we could leave that decision to Blockchain technology!

Blockchain technology is more suited to run systems which demand transparency, autonomy and decentralization. Don't get excited yet, as this is where this get even more weird. 


Blockchain resolution



Access to the internet is deemed as a basic human right, yet we still have to pay for it. This proves that the current internet access model is flawed. How could you ask people to pay to access what is their basic human right?

However, if no one paid for the internet, how then would ISPs be able to fund their operations? This challenge might have been a problem for the past generations, but not this generation.

Catch: government sponsored free internet is out of bounds

In the age of  Bitcoin's awesome Blockchain technology which has brought us technological marvels such as Ethereum and EOS, anything is possible.

The same Blockchain technology which brought us "free", transparent and autonomous digital money could also bring us "free" transparent, internet!


Steemit inspired "free internet"



Steemit has proven to be the ultimate model for rewarding user generated content. As we all know, the internet is a user generated content place, and it could learn from the Steemit financing model!

Yes, we mean transforming the entire internet into a Steeemit powered platform which paid for itself. The consequences would be that the internet would be free from data charges as it would pay ISPs whenever users used it!

This would even serve as an incentive to ISP to expand internet access all over the world and improve their speeds and services! ISPs could derive their charges from the interactions of users on the internet such as a charging a small flat rate fee for all revenues generated by content creators and curators.

The result would be that everyone would be happy and well served. ISPs would automatically earn more from content which is in high demand on the network. At the same time, the internet would become free for every to use! No one would ever again pay even a cent for internet data!

Remember that users would not have to actually pay any of these fees/levies - just as people do not have to pay to post or comment on Steemit. The network generates the money and shares it to everyone, while withholding a small amount to pay the ISPs.


The way forward



There is no need for an internet storm or demonstrations; as we have already explained in this post how Blockchain could be used to resolve the net neutrality challenge while providing the world with absolutely free internet access.

The US Federal Communications Commission together with the ISPs should consult @Dan and @Ned on how to implement Steemit into the internet and web. Google, Mozilla, World Wide Web Foundation and all those who claim to support net neutrality should consider this possibility more seriously. 

The honorable Linux Foundation should get over its hyper-ledger Blockchain and instead give Steem some more attention. If they still do not know how to get things done, they could consult @BlockRush, we would be more than willing to guide them with the implementation of such a revolutionary scheme!?


Steemian discussions:

  • What do you think of net neutrality?
  • Which side do you stand with in the net neutrality saga?
  • Above all, what do you think of our preposition?


Let us know of your opinions by commenting below! Follow @BlockRush for more reports on #Blockchain!

Image credits: Wikipedia.com


Recommended post: 8 compelling reasons why Russia MUST legalize Bitcoin and ICOs


Do not forget to upvote, resteem and comment so others can find this post.


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OK, this is interesting but I'm a bit confused. In this model, the ISPs are the miners and the act of mining is providing internt service? I assume some token would be the ISPs reward. Now since the public is not paying for the service, what is the value of the token? If it is an existing token then mining cannot create it. If its a new token, then unstable exchange rates could shut down ISPs due to a token value drop.

Also, ISPs could give priorty to the big providers in exchange for money whether fiat or the token. So how does this ensure net neutrality?

Is there anything with more detail that I could read?

good reasoning @voice-of-reason, however:

note that ISPs would not have to serve as miners. we are using the Steem blockchain model where ISPs would simply act as "service provider" similar to how Amazon hosts Steemit without being a "miner".

also, if Steem has value based on the content created on Steemit, the value of a token which powers all the content on the internet would be priceless!

then again do not forget, Blockchain is open, transparent, autonomous and decentralized. ISP cannot play unfair with a Blockchain powered system

finally, this is simply a concept, I am sure should the engineers sit down, they would be able to figure out a master plan to make it wrk!

we wrote a post exclusively to address your questions! read it here > https://steemit.com/savethenet/@blockrush/addressing-the-potential-challenges-of-a-blockchain-powered-internet-blockrush

GOOD POST! RESTEEMED!!!

Thanks for the post. Your content is always long and well written - makes me glad I took speed reading courses to be able to get through it in one night. Anyways.

  • no one with good intentions is against net neutrality (IMO)
  • you know what side I stand on :)
  • Not sure about your last question. Steemit is still new and - a lot of people here are just here for a quick buck but they will see how tough it can be to build a strong following. I think the internet could be free but with anything free you pay in other ways (ads, data mining etc). The way the internet is now works fine I think. People create good content and are rewarded in some way for the content - be it the old style of add revenue or the new and improved way of steemit :)

I am not sure what you mean with "no one with good intentions is for net neutrality". In my opinion, no-one against net neutrality has good intentions: they are always big services trying to evolve from major actor to monopolistic supplier

Whoops! you are completely right! I meant against. Edited my post, liked your comment. good catch.

Happy to share this thoughts :)
I also understand people against regulation that says you cannot force a company to provide a service in a way, e.g. if an ISP wants to prioritize its services ¿should it be forced by government not to do it?
The big problem there is that we live in a system dominated by a bunch of actors that can easily get rid of the competition an avoid innovation

The problem is ISP's have a monopoly. In a lot of countries there are only 1-2 options on what you can get. Also a lot of the fibre, cable and telephone lines they put in were payed by government taxes etc so I don't feel bad when the government regulates how the ISPs can charge for their network.

A lot of these companies want to double dip on services like Netflix because they directly compete with their cable offerings. Netflix already pays for their bandwidth just like any other company. If the ISP's want to charge more for data - sure.. go ahead.. but treat everyone the same.

nice review :) You have a new follower by the way :) both of ya! great content.

Your proposal is noble and your intentions are pure - it deserved an upvote and I gave you one.

The main challenge that I see with your proposal is that the powers that be do not want us to have free internet. They want to control every aspect of our lives.

thank you @steemtruth for making time to read!

Right on! This is what I'm talking about. Great article! This is the direction we must head. Resteemed!

thank you lovejoy, I am glad you enjoyed our post. we wrote another detailed on explaining Bitcoin's SegWit and all the possibilities of August 1 > https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@blockrush/bitcoin-segwit2x-and-everything-you-need-to-know-about-1st-august-blockrush

This is a good post friend!
just steem on!
#netneutrality

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