Should the internet be controlled? Is the internet bad or good? The answer is it all depends. As every other thing in the world, the internet has its advantages and its disadvantages. At a click of your fingertips you could be anywhere you want to be, buy things available only at the other side of the globe or sell things which can only be found on your side of the globe, you can search old friends and make new friends. The internet creates for you a borderless world where anything can be possible and is possible. You can even be your favorite actor. However, such freedom is not without its downsides.
Issues regarding privacy are one of the major concerns of a borderless world. And since anybody can be anybody they wish to be, security is put at risk. There is also the issue of the “technologically rich” and the “technologically poor” countries. It is easy if you are connecting to a country with connection as fast as yours, but how about connecting to a country with a connection that takes two minutes to load a webpage. All these advantages and disadvantages of the internet, however, do not make the internet “evil” nor does it make the internet “good”.
It will all depend on how one uses the internet, whether to use it to do good or to use it to do bad. With all the free flowing ideas available in the internet there is bound to be someone who have written something about any topic you could think of. There is information for almost everything. Since the internet has no rules, there is virtually absolute freedom to do anything you could want. The free flow of ideas facilitate the ease of information gathering and unfortunately, hacking of privileged information. As Air Force Lt. Col Buzz Walsh said, “you don’t need a Ph. D. to do this [hack information]” (Stone, Paul).
The internet provides all of these things and more. The internet is also a site of freedom. The freedom to say anything you want about any topic you please. Here you can say that you don’t like something without the fear of being reprimanded or scolded. There will be no one to tell you that you can’t say this or that, or that you have to say this but not that. For all the problems in security and security in the internet, some people have considered that there is just too much information available in the internet that there should be a governing body to guide all its actions.
The European Union (EU) has proposed that the internet be under governance of the United Nations Working Group. However, the United States rejected the EU proposal. David Mussington, a RAND Corporation Analyst said, “The U. S. has taken a position that U. N. administration (of the Internet) is not necessary”. Sean Carton of Interactive Research and Development for Carton Donofrio Partners has the same opinion saying that he does not “trust the U. N. to be efficient” (U. S Against U. N ). The internet is much too broad a spectrum to be put in the hands of only one governing body.
Furthermore, the idea of the internet is that it is free for all to use. To regulate and to monitor it contradicts what we call the freedom of speech. It may hinder the information from going across boundaries (Williams, Frances). We may not be able to control what other people would post on the net, but we can control what we post on the net, and that should be a start. If we want to change something, we have to start with ourselves. Since data available in the internet cannot be regulated at all due to the insistence of free info flow, the best way to regulate internet use is to start at home.
We cannot limit what other people may want to do with the internet but parents can limit their children’s access to the internet. The parents should be the first ones to teach their kids how to use the internet wisely. They can monitor their children’s internet use by placing the computer at a visible location. If the parent believes that his/her child/ren uses the internet too frequently, then they should also limit the time of their kids spent at using the internet. They can do this by making a schedule of their kid’s internet use.
Some programs have been developed to measure and limit the time your children’s internet use. The best way to regulate your children’s internet use is to practice what you preach; the parents should serve as guide/models to their children and should also limit their internet use. The internet could be put to good use, if only we decide to. Everybody should be aware of this wonderful technology where you can quickly access information, talk with old time friends, have forums with similar people, get updated with the news, learn new things, and just have fun.
It should not only be full of Internet scams, unsolicited mails, hate mails, and things like that. The internet should not only be a haven for gamers, hackers and porn watchers, they should also see its good side. The internet should also be seen as a tool for learning and a faster way of sharing information. With internet around it would also be easier to run faraway businesses (Alboher, Marci). The internet is a very powerful tool which can provide you with what you need not only for survival (such as part-time jobs and the like) but also for fun and leisure.
Though issues regarding internet security are still not very stable, we should always remember that the internet is only a tool and could not be harmful unless we make it to be that way. There are undeniably many easily accessed privileged information around in the web but if we are careful, we need not worry about our safety. We should always regulate our internet use, too much of anything is never a good thing. It is not that the internet is evil, or it brings about laziness and stagnation, it all depends on how one uses it.
Works Cited
Alboher, Marci. “Shifting Careers: Making Long-Distance Partnerships Work”.24 April 2008 <http://www. nytimes. com/2008/04/24/business/smallbusiness/24sbiz. html? _r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin>. 24 April 2008. Stone, Paul. “Internet Presents Web of Security Issues”. American Forces Information Service. <http://www. defenselink. mil/specials/websecurity/. > 24 April 2008. Williams, Frances. “Plan for UN to Run Internet ‘Will Be Shelved’”. 10 November 2003. <http://www. un-freezone. org/un-inet. html>. 24 April 2008. “U. S. Against U. N. Internet Control”. <http://pda. physorg. com/lofi-news-internet-icann-control_6901. html>. 24 April 2008.