The American Government 's Involvements And Influences On The Internet

The beginning of the Internet is well known. It was a United States Defense research program named ARPANET. The internal structure of ARPA that reared the network development during its first years is not as well known. Inventing the Internet explains how the little agency was created in 1958 to respond to the Soviets' successful launch of the world's first artificial satellite. ARPA did not own a laboratory.

Censorship in China has gained much attention recently because of the conflict between Google and the Chinese government’s self-censorship policies. In fact, censorship has been practiced since ancient China and the intensity only increases by the years. Nowadays, the most notable measure of censorship is being done on the Internet. More and more restrictions have been put into actions by the Chinese government, which make the life of Chinese Internet users, the Chinese netizens, very inconvenient. With the intensity of censorship increasing and the censoring technology improving, Internet censorship has mainly negative effects on Chinese society.

Internet censorship is the control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. This can include blocking entire websites, blocking parts of certain websites, prohibiting certain search engine keywords, monitoring individual internet use, and punishing individuals for this use. On a smaller scale, companies censor access to certain websites to increase productivity in workers or decrease chances of a sexual harassment lawsuit. Parents may block certain website on their family computers in an attempt to maintain their child’s innocence. On a much larger scale, entire governments can censor or track the Internet use of its constituents.

The internet was developed 40 years ago during the Cold War to protect communication in the event of a nuclear strike. The Department of Defense founded an Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) to help decentralize data and gain system control during the war. Communication was crucial during the war because

The Internet influenced the United States more than anything else in the 20th century. The Internet first technically started in 1969, when the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA connected networks at the University of California and the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). From there, just three years later the creation of the Email was born by Ray Tomlinson of BBN. With many other novelties of the Internet coming soon after, such as the Domain Name System (DNS) establishing .edu and .com, and the first web browser, World Wide Web by CERN. As the Internet flourished in the late 1990s it became more usable to the public and soon became routine to use, making great changes in society. The Internet was integrated

Over the course of the next twenty years it was mainly utilized by the United States military and government to communicate with each other during the “cold war” with the Soviet Union, and the allies of the United States. By 1982 the concept and use of the Internet had been reshaped by the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS). (CNN.org) The idea eventually evolved and was adapted by the United States in 1986, when the Internet Protocol Suite expanded and began to provide access to supercomputer sites for research and educational organizations. The internet further evolved by the mid-1990’s into the mass commercial use we see today, with many early use restrictions lifted. Since then the Internet has continued to expand and continues to advance. (Wikipedia.org)

" The United States government has a responsibility to ensure that every American has access to an internet that has a freedom of information. The internet has become a necessity in our everyday lives. School age Americans use the internet for research projects and even to submit homework. A vast majority of working-age Americans use the internet for the jobs or are involved in producing the inputs necessary to advance technology and keeping the current technology infrastructure working. The U.S. government has a limited duty in monitoring internet content. The government should have the ability to protect Americans from cyber acts and personal information theft. Currently the Federal Trade Commission has the power to regulate the internet

To what extent in the U.S. does the government- Federal, state and local- have the duty to monitor internet content? “Government should protect people and regulate corporations, not protect corporations and regulate people.” This quote written by Grace Slick, impacts my thoughts about government control. What role should the government play in monitoring internet content?

I believe that the extend of the U.S. government monitoring the internet content is very high and they they monitor an immense amount of the internet if not all. If their were to be something that that government didn't want our society to see then they would shut it don't. For example if the government did not want this essay that I am typing right not to be shown to the internet web, than it will not be show for sure. So in conclusion I believe that our government secretly regulates what we do and do not see making our society to believe what they want us to believe and that they are monitoring what is being done, said, or shown to the public. They are right under our noses but our society may not always see that because we are blinded by our own

On the other hand, the US does not actively regulate the internet, relying on the public to regulate content on the internet, with little government intervention. The internet in the US is relatively open, whereas in China, information on the internet is suppressed based on what the Chinese government deems appropriate or inappropriate. Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, has stated, “Countries that heavily censor the ‘Net are creating a new ‘Information Curtain’ to rival the old Iron Curtain of the Cold War era.”(Anderson)

China is well known for their Great Firewall that blocks numerous of sites from the outside world. However, not many people may know the true extent of China’s censorship on the internet. Most people know China’s block on almost all American social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. China not only censors materials from the outside, but also censors what their citizens post or what they see from Chinese websites. China’s internet is strictly censored and this has resulted in many rebellions from the Chinese citizens; on the other hand, China has become an influential figure for their creations on the internet such as their mobile applications.

Base on the function of the GFW, and the possibility of creating a partnership with other countries, internet censorship is necessary. The Chinese government’s sovereignty over the internet stands on a concrete ground for it is important to maintain stability in the society.

China joined the global Internet age in 1994, and has been commercially available since 1995. Since then, Chinese Internet usage has seen explosive growth, doubling every six months, and the number of online users is only second to the US. The Internet age ushered in the information age with a new world of freedom and expression for the Chinese. However, soon after its inception, the Chinese government has reined in the free wheeling Internet users and has imposed new laws and restrictions to access and content on the Internet.

The United States government places high importance on the openness of the Internet and media in general. It is a way of modernization and healthy competition for those who seek to enhance their personal globalization. Unlike the United States, China does not place significance on globalization for fear of revolt against their

China has continued to open up itself to the world and trying to develop an information industry in the last two decades. However, her attempts to maintain strict control over flow of information are reflected in its Internet censorship. The Cyberspace Administration of China manages the censorship and it is the highest authority to Internet companies. The degree of censorship differs greatly by websites or content; small general-interest online communities with less traffic suffer less censorship and enjoy more freedom of speech while those with large number of users and active interactions are more likely to be censored – Weibo. Weibo has 222 million subscribers and 100 million daily users