Now that I am back from my last business trip (Of the year) to Madrid, where I conducted a rather interesting workshop on the topic of "Social Media for Nonprofits", which I will be talking about shortly as well, it's time to continue further with my regular blogging over here, in this blog, perhaps picking things up once again, right where it matters: Net Neutrality. How important is it for you (for us) as a business, as an organisation, as a society? Apparently, for us Spaniards it is rather important. As it should be!

Over the last few days there has been plenty of discussion on the topic of whether Net Neutrality should really exist, or not, in a country like Spain, amongst several others; the topic is not unique to this country either, since a bunch of others are questioning the very same thing. For us though we are entering that critical stage where a decision by our politicians is about to be made on whether the Internet would remain neutral, or not. And I can probably say that most of us are pretty sure that, eventually, the right decision will prevail, which is stating, very clearly, that the World Wide Web should remain open, free and accessible to everyone, with no restrictions. It's our very own right that we should not allow it to be taken away from us.

To such a extent several thousand Spanish bloggers have been raising their voices, loud and clear, putting together, and sharing across a Net Neutrality Manifesto that I thought I would share over here, since I, too, strongly believe that sometimes you just cannot regulate what cannot be regulated. Instead, you would probably be much better off embracing, facilitating and educating people on how to make the best use of it in a reasonable manner: The Web. Our Social Web.

The text of the manifesto is in Spanish, so you will have to forgive me to keep it in its original state, but I am sure it would be pretty much straightforward to everyone out there who may be reading it. Thus without much further ado, here it is:

Los ciudadanos y las empresas usuarias de Internet adheridas a este texto MANIFESTAMOS:

1. Que Internet es una Red Neutral por diseño, desde su creación hasta su actual implementación, en la que la información fluye de manera libre, sin discriminación alguna en función de origen, destino, protocolo o contenido.

2. Que las empresas, emprendedores y usuarios de Internet han podido crear servicios y productos en esa Red Neutral sin necesidad de autorizaciones ni acuerdos previos, dando lugar a una barrera de entrada prácticamente inexistente que ha permitido la explosión creativa, de innovación y de servicios que define el estado de la red actual.

3. Que todos los usuarios, emprendedores y empresas de Internet han podido definir y ofrecer sus servicios en condiciones de igualdad llevando el concepto de la libre competencia hasta extremos nunca antes conocidos.

4. Que Internet es el vehículo de libre expresión, libre información y desarrollo social más importante con el que cuentan ciudadanos y empresas. Su naturaleza no debe ser puesta en riesgo bajo ningún concepto.

5. Que para posibilitar esa Red Neutral las operadoras deben transportar paquetes de datos de manera neutral sin erigirse en “aduaneros” del tráfico y sin favorecer o perjudicar a unos contenidos por encima de otros.

6. Que la gestión del tráfico en situaciones puntuales y excepcionales de saturación de las redes debe acometerse de forma transparente, de acuerdo a criterios homogéneos de interés público y no discriminatorios ni comerciales.

7. Que dicha restricción excepcional del tráfico por parte de las operadoras no puede convertirse en una alternativa sostenida a la inversión en redes.

8. Que dicha Red Neutral se ve amenazada por operadoras interesadas en llegar a acuerdos comerciales por los que se privilegie o degrade el contenido según su relación comercial con la operadora.

9. Que algunos operadores del mercado quieren “redefinir” la Red Neutral para manejarla de acuerdo con sus intereses, y esa pretensión debe ser evitada; la definición de las reglas fundamentales del funcionamiento de Internet debe basarse en el interés de quienes la usan, no de quienes la proveen.

10. Que la respuesta ante esta amenaza para la red no puede ser la inacción: no hacer nada equivale a permitir que intereses privados puedan de facto llevar a cabo prácticas que afectan a las libertades fundamentales de los ciudadanos y la capacidad de las empresas para competir en igualdad de condiciones.

11. Que es preciso y urgente instar al Gobierno a proteger de manera clara e inequívoca la Red Neutral, con el fin de proteger el valor de Internet de cara al desarrollo de una economía más productiva, moderna, eficiente y libre de injerencias e intromisiones indebidas. Para ello es preciso que cualquier moción que se apruebe vincule de manera indisoluble la definición de Red Neutral en el contenido de la futura ley que se promueve, y no condicione su aplicación a cuestiones que poco tienen que ver con ésta.

La Red Neutral es un concepto claro y definido en el ámbito académico, donde no suscita debate: los ciudadanos y las empresas tienen derecho a que el tráfico de datos recibido o generado no sea manipulado, tergiversado, impedido, desviado, priorizado o retrasado en función del tipo de contenido, del protocolo o aplicación utilizado, del origen o destino de la comunicación ni de cualquier otra consideración ajena a la de su propia voluntad. Ese tráfico se tratará como una comunicación privada y exclusivamente bajo mandato judicial podrá ser espiado, trazado, archivado o analizado en su contenido, como correspondencia privada que es en realidad.

Europa, y España en particular, se encuentran en medio de una crisis económica tan importante que obligará al cambio radical de su modelo productivo, y a un mejor aprovechamiento de la creatividad de sus ciudadanos. La Red Neutral es crucial a la hora de preservar un ecosistema que favorezca la competencia e innovación para la creación de los innumerables productos y servicios que quedan por inventar y descubrir. La capacidad de trabajar en red, de manera colaborativa, y en mercados conectados, afectará a todos los sectores y todas las empresas de nuestro país, lo que convierte a Internet en un factor clave actual y futuro en nuestro desarrollo económico y social, determinando en gran medida el nivel de competitividad del país. De ahí nuestra profunda preocupación por la preservación de la Red Neutral. Por eso instamos con urgencia al Gobierno español a ser proactivo en el contexto europeo y a legislar de manera clara e inequívoca en ese sentido.

There is probably very little left that I can add into this blog post to finish it off, other than perhaps quoting Tim Berners-Lee, stating, perhaps the obvious: "Internet Must Remain Neutral"

Update 01-12-2010: It looks like we have got some really good news! The Spanish Senate has just encouraged the current government to amend the law to guarantee Net Neutrality for us all. I would strongly encourage you all to have a look and read the rather insightful blog post from Enrique Dans on what it actually means, not just for us Spaniards, but perhaps a turning point for other European governments as well...

It's been a long while since the last time I got tagged for a theme, so I guess it'd be a good time to get that going, specially since my good friend, and fellow IBM colleague, Aneel, already did a couple of days back on "The Web in Twenty". This meme basically tries to answer three different questions:

• How has the Web changed your life?
• How has the Web changed business and society?
• What do you think the Web will look like in 20 years?

So over the next few minutes I will go and try to cover each and everyone of them, trying to keep things on the short side, of course, now that there is a new @elsua out there!

How has the Web changed your life?

I know that this may be coming across as a shocker for most folks, but I have always thought the main reason why I have been involved with the Web in the last 13 years is actually due to my employer, IBM. I am pretty sure that if it weren't for who I am employed by at the moment the Web impact upon myself would have been a lot less. In fact, to be honest, seeing what a horrendous bunch of experiences I had back at high school studying computing I bet I would not have been working with computers at all whatsoever. That probably explains why I can, so easily, disconnect for longer periods of time from everything Internet when I am on holidays. I have always preferred to go local, to nurture and cultivate relationships and friendships face to face, because somehow that's how I feel I get the most out of them.

However, I realise that's probably no longer a good representation of today's world; more distributed and virtual than ever, so I guess I could state that the Web has changed my life in such manner that has allowed me to keep up with people and their relationships ever so much easier through various different publishing platforms that have made that experience equally richer; somehow I feel that if the Web would have been 1.0 nowadays I would have given up on it altogether a long time ago. To me, the Web is social, so the focus has always been on connecting with people from all over the place and stay in touch. Because whether I like it or not, to me, that's what really matters: people and their relationships. And Web 2.0 has made that incredibly easy nowadays...

How has the Web changed business and society?

This one is an easy one to answer and go for, more than anything else, because it pretty much relates as well to what I have mentioned for the previous question; The Web, specially the Social Web, has enabled and facilitated the socialisation of both business and society; it's provoked that both of them are humane again, coming from that industrial age where for several decades (knowledge) workers were treated as resources, assets, something you could abuse tremendously without any further consequences.

What it has done is it's allowed everyone to understand that whether you are part of a society, or whether you are working in a specific business, there is always an underlying aspect that should not be forgotten: we are all people, we are all social, and we should always (No excuses!) be treated as such. Only then would we be capable of seeing the huge potential the human race has got to finally call progress ... Progress with a capital P.

So instead of experiencing that constant state of abuse from one person to another, it now becomes a partnership, a collaborative joint effort wanting to create wonderful things without putting down fellow people in the process. That's how the Social Web has changed not only what and how we do things, but who we are, as people.

What do you think the Web will look like in 20 years?

And probably the easiest one to answer from the three questions. Long long time ago I learned, though the hard way, that making plans or predictions into the future is a little bit of a waste of time. More than anything else, because at the state of how the world is progressing nowadays (And I am very serious on this point...) who is to say what the world, or the Web, would look like in 20 years time.

I mean, how do we know we will even be there, in the first place. I think we are much better off living by the day, enjoying every single moment treasuring those little things that really matter realising that we may have plenty of jobs, family and friends, multiple Web(s), different lifestyles, etc. etc. but at the end of the day, we only have got one life, one single life, so we may try as well try to get the most out of it!

And I bet the upcoming iPad is going to help me enjoy life even so much more, and for so many reasons! :-D

Ok, so, who do I tag for this meme, knowing and realising that people are incredibly busy nowadays and as such they probably won't have much time for it... Hummm, let's have a look:

- Oh, my good friend Rick Ladd, because I bet he has got a thing or two to share with us on how the Web has changed and influenced what we are doing out there in the deep space, and, more importantly, what the future may hold for us out there in those new worlds...

- Well, I think I would also tag Paula Thornton, because I sense designing a new Web will have direct implications for every business and for every society we are part of. And I would love to read her thoughts on what that designing of things would be like...

- And, finally, the one person I can think could well do quite an outstanding job in detailing how the Web has changed us, businesses and society and what it would be like in 20 years would be John Tropea. If you have been following his KM blog, you will know exactly why I said what I just said ...

Now, if you would want to consider yourself tagged and dive in as well, by all means; I bet we could build, pretty much, quite a good and extensive account of how we all feel the Web has changed us all, and perhaps hint what may be coming along soon enough ... Who knows ...

- Oh, oh, just came up with something, another couple of people I would love to tag would be my good friends Jay Cross, Harold Jarche and Stephen Downes, because I am sure they would have some fascinating and strong views on how Learning is key to the whole thing; shaping up not just the Web itself, but who we are and the role we play, both in the physical and virtual world!