Internet Dreamings

When the Web first came onto my screen in the '90s, it seemed like a place with a future substantially without historical precedence in its apparent immunity from government and corporate interferences. It was frequently referred to as the "new wild West" with cyber-cowboys and thugs. The technology appeared inherently democratic if not fundamentally anarchic. It was clear that commerce would appear, but the hope flourished that participation and access would be open and relatively cheap.

Recent years have brought on government efforts to control the Web. Most prominent is the so-called Great Firewall of China. Though even a quick glance at reporting (see, for example The Open Net Initiative) on government control over the Web reveals a slew at work. No surprise, big corporations have been supporting the reported 40,000 people at work in China keeping the government safe from its citizens. So, we have learned that the technology of the Web is hardly robust enough to withstand the efforts of repressive governments.

And, further, we have the emergence this year of efforts by the big corporations in the telecom field to pass laws that will enable them to control content on their pipelines. This could easily lead to a N-tiered system of speed and access driven by these pipeline companies. Verizon, AT&T, and so on.

Time to get busy fending off these twin challenges to the most important change in human communications since Gutenberg.