A global community that isn't global enough

Over the last two year net neutrality has been a growing concern across the world, especially in North America. Currently oligopolies are taking advantage of any consumer who can afford to move somewhere with greater internet freedoms. These massive companies are flexing every bit of their muscle to ensure that they are able to keep practicing their shady business techniques and prevent anyone from getting in their way (while making as much money as they can in the process). Currently there are plans to install internet ‘fast lanes’ which will drastically reduce the speed at which people can use the internet unless the content providers pay up, and as a result this will go straight to the users. However what concerns me the most is that even though I do not live in America this still directly impacts me, and I get no say in the matter. As I run my own website I will not be able to put it in the fast lane and as a result fewer people will be able to see it. I guess the point of this post is saying that I am tired of America being the decision maker for smaller westernised nations, living in a democracy means that everybody has a say, and the internet should be no exception. Sadly I believe the ship has sailed for net neutrality and in the future the internet in its current state will be seen as a digital Wild West, with rampant piracy and largely unmoderated content, but who knows what it will be like when the only content we can view is dictated by the internet service providers. This global level playing field is about to become a tiered system.

Modernisation of charity

Yesterday I received a call to sponsor a charity, and while this isn't abnormal as usually the only calls to still come on the home line are charities and scammers, I began to think of what a strange practice it is. Now I think with most of these charities what they are doing is for a noble cause however the charities that I support are the ones that have affected me or people I know. So it baffles me that this shotgun approach to fundraising occurs as much as it does, and while I'm sure it is a very effective method, personally it may turn me off from donating to that charity in the future. Charities should be effective because people are inspired to genuinely want to support a cause, and not because they would feel guilty for turning down someone over the phone. In the last post I talked about the ice bucket challenge and how it became so successful for the charity, to this day raising over 80 million dollars for ALS, I see this as an example of fundraising done right. It was an innovative way to raise money that benefitted from the avid use of social media in the demographic that was prepared to support it. Every industry in this modern world needs to adapt to survive, charities are no different, and what happens when there are no phone lines left.