The Internet is supposed to be the this big, wide, open communication network where information can be shared and distributed freely. In the last few years it’s not quite developing like this, companies who own some of the biggest pieces of Internet real estate are becoming more and more controlling about how their content is viewed and by whom.
Take for instance the big Internet Multinationals like Amazon, it used to be quite easy to nip over to the .com site and order your stuff in the UK at US prices. It’s not so easy now also firms like Napster well aware that their product is pretty much identical in different countries – try to force you to a particular language variant site so they can practice price discrimination.
The media sites are the same, to access BBC Iplayer you need a UK machine or a Hulu proxy for the fantastic ABC, NBC site if you’re outside of the US. Hopefully this will change in the future but at the moment all our Internet experiences are becoming markedly different.