Argument Essay: The Digital Divide In Canada

The internet is valuable, and it has a real cost, and most people take it for granted. If you want it, you have to pay for it. It’s not just a free substace to give away. People do not even need the internet at all. First of all, yes, the internet is valuable. But, not everyone has it, or even has a possibility to have it at all. If the Internet is valuable, we should want to show it to others who don’t have internet or can not afford it, because after all it WOULD help our economy grow, as in paragraph 2. Also, it is not fair to everyone to say that we all “take it for granted”, because if you do not even have it, you can’t take it for granted. People who have less things are more grateful, and would be extremely grateful to have internet access, and would not take it for granted whatsoever. According to the website www.internet.org, it states, “Through our connectivity efforts we’ve brought more than 25 million people online who otherwise would not be and introduced them to the incredible value of the internet. They’re doing better in school, building new businesses, and learning how to stay healthy.” Also, from the website www.forbes.com states, “Right now, 72% of public schools do not have fast enough connections to take full advantage of digital learning, according to EducationSuperHighway, a nonprofit that tests school broadband speeds and works to upgrade Internet access. The Obama

Income inequality is the unspoken truth of American life. Millions of Americans live in poverty while the minority holds the majority of the wealth. This problem has become more severe in recent years, with the wealth gap increasing exponentially. While innovation drives economics in the free market, recent innovations have caused the wealth gap to become skewed. Broadband Internet is one particular innovation that has spurred economic growth but has hurt the lower class. Broadband Internet can be defined as “768 Kbps download and 200 Kbps upload” (Dunbar). Although there are many varying classification of broadband Internet, this definition will be utilized for the purposes of this paper. The non-adoption of broadband Internet by those living

Miller, Claire Cain. "Why the U.S. Has Fallen Behind in Internet Speed and Affordability." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Oct. 2014. Web.

The internet is a resource with ever expanding content and applications for everyone to use however, net neutrality rules on the free use of internet remains a debated topic. The “Point/Counterpoint: Network Neutrality Nuances” presents Barbara van Schewick’s supportive argument on the applications of net neutrality rules, and the consequences of failing to do so. Schewick’s engaging justifications are well researched with arguments containing significant amounts of examples, strong and simplistic diction to reach her audience, and clean and smooth transitions to move between ideas.

As described previously, zero-rate offers are profit centers for companies yet are a restrictive form of “network discrimination” — it deliberately sets up a system where users receive usage speed based on location or unfixed caps. (Estelle Masse, 2016) Zero rating is about controlling the user’s experience over the provider’s network. It is still of our position to support net neutrality, as it pertains to the Internet and Mobile usage. At the local level MEPs have to educate constituents about the policy changes with “Roam Like at Home” and holding the NRA chapters responsible for intervening on issues that occur within its

According to Blease C.R (2015) “ in 2013, 70% of American households had a home computer and internet access” (Blease, 2015). This number has surely grown rapidly within in the last couple years. As of 2014, 81% of households in the United States are connected to the Internet. That is over 250 million American Internet users. (CIRA, 2014). In comparison, in Canada about 87% of Canadian households have access to Internet, which is about 30 million internet users (CIRA, 2014). Two provinces that have the highest number of Internet users are British Columbia and Alberta. While the lowest ranking provinces include Quebec, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick (CIRA, 2014).

Some Millennials believe that net neutrality is needed because net neutrality allows equal access to all content for everyone. Accordingly, “John Stanoch, president of Qwest Minnesota, said he’s surprised that net neutrality has become such a hot topic, but he said those who warn about diminished Web access are advancing ‘a bogus issue.’ ‘We’re not going to limit anybody’s access to the Internet,’ Stanoch said” (Reinan). The President, John Stanoch, isn’t going to limit people’s access to the internet and believes that the debate on net neutrality is a waste of time, and an infringement of rights. Stanoch believes other companies should take after Qwest and refuse to limit people’s access to free internet services. Limiting people’s Internet

The biggest concern is that the internet will become pay-to-play technology with two tiers: one that has speedy service and one that doesn’t. The high-speed lane would be occupied by big internet and media companies, and affluent households. For everyone else there would be the slow lane.

Although many people say that “net neutrality has had no effect on the expansion of the internet”. In 2017 The Federal Communications Commission announced "For instance, several companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Frontier, and Alaska Communications either commenced or announced new deployments in 2017," the report concludes. "These new deployments are initial indicators that deployment is likely to accelerate again in part due to our recent efforts”. This tells us that companies are starting to accelerate the growth of their broadband networks to rural places in the United States. This is necessary due to people who have access to the internet have a higher achievement rate than people who did not. The Pew Research Center reported, “Roughly one-in-three adults with less than a high school education did not have access to the internet as a kid”. This is an astonishing statistic and net neutrality is stopping these companies from expanding so it is leaving some people in the dust with their education. Secondly, net neutrality slows investment by giving the companies no reason to invest in internet expansion because they cannot bring back the money that they put into the expansion. In 2017 wired.com did a report on internet expansion in rural areas and the report said: “investment in internet infrastructure declined 3 percent in 2015 and another 2 percent in

"Growing up, the internet wasn't much of an influence on me as it is now. Homework was done all in paper, every video assignment was done in class, and to call or play with friends, well that was done during recess face to face. Today the internet is the safe haven for millions as a way to find new people, spend free time, complete assignments, or just shop. But thanks to the vote done by the FCC chairman Ajit Pai, everybody will be expected to pay for what were already used to do.

As someone who has had some sort of web presence for over ten years , I am completely and unequivocally in favor of net neutrality. Google defines net neutrality as "the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. " What net neutrality means to me, is that the content I have to share (however mundane it may be) has an equal opportunity of reaching any Internet user as any

Technology is growing faster than ever before right now. And along the way technology invented items we now take for granted such as the telephone, the television, and the internet. Since the advent of the internet our world has become more connected by allowing users from the comfort of their own home to interact with people anywhere in the world. The internet has become a staple in the everyday life of the American. We use it to learn, reconnect with long lost friends, and so much more. But what happens when big service internet providers push to control what websites you can visit? Groups such as Save the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union, and even the president Barack Obama have advocated for a free and open internet, which is also known as net neutrality. I believe net neutrality is vital to our modern day life in America. This is why I want to propose an amendment to keep the internet free. The amendment shall read: “The internet shall remain free and open and not be subjected to restrictions determined by internet service providers.”

The concept of network neutrality (more commonly referred to as net neutrality) has been a fixture of debates over United States telecommunications policy throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century. Based upon the principle that internet access should not be altered or restricted by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) one chooses to use, it has come to represent the hopes of those who believe that the internet still has the potential to radically transform the way in which we interact with both people and information, in the face of the commercial interests of ISPs, who argue that in order to sustain a competitive marketplace for internet provision, they must be allowed to differentiate their services. Whilst this debate has

Throughout the last decade, the idea of Net Neutrality has been the topic of many debates. Net Neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers should not be allowed to block their users from any content regardless of its source. The Debate is still continuing in 2017 with the F.C.C planning to repeal Net Neutrality and allow internet providers to completely regulate what their users can see and charge the users extra for “luxuries” such as social media, messaging, email, and music. There are two sides of this argument, one side believes that Net Neutrality should be taken away, while others believe that it is unfair for the Internet providers to have the right to take away the access to any content. Internet providers should not be allowed to control what content one can view when surfing the internet.

Americans have become very dependent on the use of the Internet and this dependence has begun to negatively affect current generations