IP: Gardens Behind Walls

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Gregory Soo" <grsoo () hotmail com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> (Concept orginated with mobile data operators and is also issue with WAP
> phones etc....)
>
> ----------------fyi-------------------------------
> Re/Views: Web Behind Walls
>  http://www.techreview.com/magazine/jun01/reviews.asp
>
> By Jeffrey A. Chester, Technology Review, June 2001
>
> Left unchecked, cable firms will funnel Internet traffic to their own
> content--and the Web won't be worldly or wise.
>
> The recently consummated merger of America Online and Time Warner concluded
> a year-long struggle over the nature of monopoly power and open access in
> the broadband age. This battle, which pitted consumer advocates and
> corporate competitors alike against the twin media giants, ultimately
> yielded several important safeguards. Chief among these: the guarantee of
> open access to the cable network for rival Internet service providers, a
> similar provision barring discriminatory treatment of interactive television
> traffic, and a monitoring system to handle complaints from the new AOL Time
> Warner's competitors.
>
> But despite such safeguards, another even more important battle looms on the
> horizon. At stake is the future and form of the Internet for millions of
> Americans whose access to the online world comes through the set-top portals
> of cable television. Instead of the multivaried pathways of the World Wide
> Web, these users will be provided easy access to a much smaller subset of
> items and options that reflect the network owner's online programming, as
> well as the offerings of its content partners. Dubbed "walled gardens" by
> supporters and skeptics alike, these new "managed-content areas" will
> therefore offer the illusion of online choice, while leading subscribers
> down well-worn paths of proprietary content and affiliated programming-in
> stark contrast to the great diversity of expression the Web seemed to
> promise in its heyday, way back in, say, 1997....
>
> --------------------------------------------------



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