ABSTRACT
Telecommunications and the Internet
Crystal N. Carter
This paper describes the competition between online corporations, Google and Apple, Inc. It attempts to define the complicated matters of the Internet Age as well as their similarities and differences within each company’s monopolistic and intrusive characteristics. In the online world strategy is a key element to success. This paper will attempt to explore why online, our 1st Amendment right may be obscured due to us trading in our information for a service.
Telecommunications and the Internet
Google vs. Apple
Freedom of speech is a right that Americans think they have. But as different conglomerates and dynamics influence the marketplace the volatile issue of media ownership will begin to be more of an issue and we will soon realize that some of the rights we thought were ours, aren’t actually ours at all.
The US is a nation that prides itself on freedom of speech and being able to have free access to a broad range of information, but as we witness Internet technology companies compete for the top spot there is an underlying war going on with these software giants.
“The internet is a connection of multiple networks. The networks communicate with each other over a suite of standardized protocols, TCP/IP, which send data over the Internet broken up into “envelopes,” of date called packets. Internet traffic is sent at gigabit speed over lines connected by routers and switches. The high-speed lines are the backbone of the Internet. They carry the highest amount of Internet traffic. The Internet backbone transmits requests for information, entertainment, audio and video broadcasts, e-mail and business-to-business transactions.”
Who owns the Internet?
No one organization owns the Internet. Rather the Internet is a worldwide arrangement of interconnected networks. Network service providers, including AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Sprint and Netcom. They transfer data between each other at locations called “peering” sites. At the peering sites, network devices called routers transfer messages between the backbone, high-capacity telephone lines owned by dozens of network service providers.
The federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed and empowered by Congressional statute, and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the president. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the media, public safety and homeland security, and modernizing the FCC.
After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 the concentration of media ownership was spread between a small amount of corporations.
There was a conflict of interest here because the Internet and the news decide how people’s beliefs are formed and how people’s actions are then based on those beliefs. If people are getting their news from one source and that one source is bias then there can begin to be a lot of problems. We are beginning to see that with Google’s competition with Apple, Inc.
There have been studies that have identified media consolidation to be sociologically detrimental, dangerous and problematic and it is to be avoidable wherever possible.
According to Dan Withers of the FCC, determinants of media pluralism are: size and wealth of the market, diversity of suppliers, consolidation of resources and diversity of output.
Google: “Don’t be Evil”
In the early 2000s an emphasis was put on operating systems. Google specialized in a core user interface. Google began to create services that sale services for free. The services and the applications that used to cost something started to be offered for free by Google. This caused a lot of service companies to merge, be sold and wiped out of the market all together. These services were core revenue streams of other smaller revenues companies. This created cloud computing. The Google browser then replaces the Microsoft Window’s operating system by creating Chrome. Some products and actions by Google have been accused of contradicting the company’s “Don’t be evil” ethic; Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch strongly condemned Google’s compliance with China’s Golden Shield Project, calling it a form of self-censorship. According to Amnesty,
“These forms of censorships seem to contradict the very principles that Google – whose unofficial motto is “don’t be evil – was founded upon. Until January 2006, Google’s Support Center claimed that it “does not censor results for any search term,” but removed its claim after reaching its deal with China.”
“Don’t be evil” is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google, originally suggested by Google employees Paul Buchheit and Amit Patel at a meeting. The statement that can be considered nearest to the supposedly “Don’t be evil” motto (so widely circulated by the media) is the 6th point of the 1 point corporate philosophy of Google which says, “You can make money without doing evil.” Google’s revenue is based on the journalistic articles that are written.
This graphic displays that at one time Google and Apple, Inc. got along well together. They shared their services respectfully. But then their services started to overlap because of their main revenue streams. Conflicts of interests arose and they came into steep competition with each other. Judging from this chart, eventually one of these companies will come out on top while the other will be left in the dust.
Apple, Inc: Violating Freedom of Speech
Apple, Inc made them known with Mac OSX, Macbooks, iPhone, iPod and the iPad. They were at the top of the world. They were showing signs of a monopoly when Apple decided to make Google its de facto search engine. When a company is making as much money as Apple you have to realize that you are starting to show signs of a monopolistic company. They believed that if you built you own hardware then you should own your own software and vice versa. The iTunes store, for example, is very enclosed. There is a lot of restriction and in that a lot of freedom of the press is taken away. At this point Apple, one of the highest visibility companies out there, a company that is some people’s preferred source of news are hiding certain forms of news from people.
When you buy a product you are bound by the license agreements of the product. You can’t own much of anything anymore. It used to be with products once you bought them you owned it and could share it with anyone. It’s almost as is they are becoming the “Big Brother” of media conglomerates.
A great example is porn. Even thought porn is the highest selling video over the Internet it is not sold over iTunes because they are afraid of what porn will tarnish its brand. It is almost as if Apple is anti-porn. They refused to allow any applications. But isn’t a store supply what the customer wants? It’s almost the equivalent of a little China. Where media is censored.
Analysis: Virtual Reality vs. Reality
I am worried about the way the Internet is going because I am constantly grappling with the changing regulations and corporate laws that are starting to blend with our basic speech rights. I am beginning to realize that money is the main focus and rights come second.
The free market process is being fast-forwarded through constant competition in a closed environment. Apple and Google have found a loophole in this competition game. When a smaller company is showing signs of growth and popularity Google will buy the company and shut it down. The law of the land in the online world is quite cut throatish.
The future of the online world offers a more simplistic user experience and telecommunications along with online computing services are probably all going to be one and the same. I see less competition and more monopoly. How is anyone going to build a search engine if Apple and Google own the patent?
Privacy is going to be a thing of the past. Our ideas are not just going to be ours. We are basically saying that it’s okay to profit off of ideas because we are willing to trade that for the service. They are going to know our location, taste in music and basically they are going to be able to peak into our brain because they are tracking all of the websites that we visit and the products that we buy.
Privacy is going to be a thing of the past. Our ideas are not just going to be ours. We are basically saying that it’s okay to profit off of ideas because we are willing to trade that for the service. They are going to know our location, taste in music and basically they are going to be able to peak into our brain because they are tracking all of the websites that we visit and the products that we buy.
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Epps, Sarah. “Curated Computing.” Web.
Kline, Eric. Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America’s Media. New York: Metropolitan Books. 2007.
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