Liberty, Equality, Fraternity on the Net

When you read "All Web sites are alike" at Fortune and you're not one of the media juggernauts quoted like ABC, Google or Time Magazine, you may finish the article in good spirit. It's a fierce world out there, be it real or virtual; bringing your site into the spotlight is hard, harder still when you are not well known. As the article points out, the quality of the content you publish is a key factor in the number of people visiting your site. Even sites like flickr, that could be considered successful solely due to the great service they offer, also provide some excellent photos and content.


The Internet is taking baby steps at the moment and generally “All Web sites are alike. Regardless of their owners, they can all do the same set of things.” This element of equality is likely to change as a result of the increasing complexity of services and functions on offer. We are at an early stage of a 'networked planet' where ideas that are swiftly and professionally executed can be cost-effective. With 'free' and 'open' technologies like XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and AJAX there are undeniable and cheap opportunities that do not require investing in expensive software for 'neat' effects. As previously indicated interesting or federating content is still the main factor of success. Photo and text based content on par with the traditional media is not on the way out either, so there is still hope !

A story that is currently unfolding in the US at the moment is the Net Neutrality saga. In simple terms Net Neutrality bills aim to stop the enormous telecom companies from deciding what you can access. These bills intend to defend the underlying principles of the Web, principles which are key factors in the success of the Internet itself.

The Save the Internet web site is up against a continuous multimillion dollar lobbying campaign from the large telecom companies.
Fortunately the voices of people like Moby are contributing to get the message out about the proposed Net Neutrality bills and fighting for the equality and liberty of the Internet. This also puts a spotlight on the fraternity between rich companies and an alarmingly large proportion of the senate.

Hopefully more and more people in the US will stand up against the telecom companies and prevent them from holding access on the Internet to ransom. Seeing the US move towards a system like this of censorship is baffling. The Web needs to remain “one big level playing field” where people decide what they want to see, read and hear.