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SOURCE: CartoonStock.com |
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supports an alternative view adhering to network neutrality principles that act as “an important safeguard for free speech on the Internet.” The principles are basically designed to prohibit networks from tampering with information from the source, as it is en route to the receiver, by either halting or slowing the process of data. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggested a rule that protects the openness of the Internet but only for wired connections, whereas the wireless service can be dominated by companies through their varied rates and charges for their services. The ACLU argue that the Internet should be granted the same exact rights as free speech to protect the customers because without it, the consumers and users are subjected to “large telecommunications companies [from] manipulating or interfering with the public’s access to information online.” There is a valid argument in that the ACLU wants to prevent the infiltration of big companies regarding the passage of original content, but the free speech and press protection is too broad. The way to uphold the individual integrity of online text is to create a law specifically stating and addressing the issue. If we continue to honor the broad spectrum of the First Amendment, which really only details speech as in oral and press as in print, then there will be numerous cases causing continuous debate.
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