Tethered appliances and censorship

Source: http://www.behance.net/gallery/iBrain/1698462 

 

When you look around it is easy to see that tethered appliances have been embraced by a huge percentage of the population. Nearly every person I know, for example, owns at least one Apple product. A basic definition of what we mean by ‘tethered’ is technological devices and services that are still controlled by the manufacturer long after they are purchased by the individual. The manufacturer alone holds the power to change the device and the software available to it. They are able to provide updates, back up our data and monitor how the device is used, from afar.

The situation this creates has been compared to the old feudal system in which peasants would work on a manor lord’s land in exchange for military protection. The big companies, like Apple, have become our lords. “We give up a certain amount of control, and in exchange we trust that our lords will both treat us well and protect us from harm” (Schenier, 2012).

Tethered appliances offer security and are user friendly. The manufacturers maintaining control means that individuals don’t need to worry about updates or downloading security features. They are hassle free and easily accessible. But we need to be very careful in using such appliances because they give big companies so much power!

Manufacturers are able to control how the device is used and what information can be accessed on it. As Zittrain (p.94) demonstrates this could raise issues to do with censorship – “with products tethered to the network, regulators… finally have a toolkit for exercising meaningful control over the famously anarchic Internet.” If they can control what information we access, what is to stop them manipulating our understanding of different events and indeed opinions on the companies themselves? Co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin adds depth to this issue arguing “to the extent that free flow of information threatens the powerful, those in power will seek to suppress it” (Arthur 2012). As such, I believe there needs to be close regulation on how companies use tethered appliances, and as Schneier (2012) argues, we need these regulations to protect ourselves.

Overall I think that tethered appliances themselves are too ingrained in our lives to try and stop them being used. The security and convenience they provide is great. We just need to ensure we’re not so blinded by the benefits, that we allow our ‘lords’ to abuse their position. 

 

Arthur, C (2012) ‘Google’s Sergey Brin: state filtering of dissent threatens web freedom’ The Guardian.

Schneier, B (2012) ‘When it comes to security, we’re back to feudalism’ Schneier.com, viewed 2 May 2013, < http://www.schneier.com/essay-406.html>.

Zittrain, J. ‘Tethered Appliances, Software as Service, and Perfect Enforcement’ The Future of the Internet and How to Stop it, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp101-126.