It’s amazing to consider that a government could have the power to shut off an entire country’s internet service. But that’s what happened recently in Egypt and Tunisia, and proves that because knowledge is power, when leaders fear their people they also fear the internet. But how far are we from having not our government, but private interests control what we’re able to see? Corporate monopolies continue to grow, and as The Atlantic stated in its recent article “Tunisia, Egypt, Miami: The Importance of Internet Choke Points” :
Earlier this month, Google bought its New York office building, 111 8th Avenue, for a reported $1.9 billion
and
Terremark (soon to be acquired by Verizon) owns one of the single most important buildings on the global Internet, a giant fortress on the edge of Miami’s downtown known as the NAP of the Americas.
It’s a literal land grab to try and have greater control of the internet. While it’s our sincere hope that the buildings that house these networking infrastructures remain “neutral”, we will watch closely to see who’s really in control.
[via The Atlantic ]