Perhaps the only real protection we have against those who are trying to destroy the Internet, is that those businesses that are most strongly in favour of that destruction, are themselves moribund and in desperate straits. This excellent piece from Doc Searls; How to get past the intellectual and political logjams that threaten Linux and the Net. looks at the threats that are growing and the race between the diseased systems that regulate for profit of business models that have been superseded, and those who understand, grasp, and demand more of, the benefits that are provided by the net.
Unless we can react a point where the rest of the business community depends so much for its functionality on the free and open, end to end model of the net before the financial collapse of the businesses who can;t corner it and beat money out of it, we are in serious trouble.
Earl:
I just ran across this blog. I can't agree more with your comments about the Sematic web. However, I disagree with you on Doc's piece -- it's the same old muddle and does NOT indicate how to get past the logjams. I wrote an analysis at:
http://satterlee.com/techpoli/doc.html
I'd be delighted to read your feedback on it.
Posted by: Amos | August 07, 2003 at 05:53 AM
Who owns the internet?
Posted by: episodesusdbz | April 05, 2004 at 11:10 AM
No-one has to own it for someone tries to steal it. Think "enclosure", think the tragedy of the commons. It is possible to steal something that is owned by everyone. It is still theft.
Posted by: Earl Mardle | April 05, 2004 at 01:56 PM
"It is possible to steal something that is owned by everyone. It is still theft."
I agree. My question was little more naive. The Internet was (is?) public. Taxpayers owned it. DoD created it with academic and industry types to communicate in the event of a large attack by
the ultimate corporation/government communism.
At least that is what I read.
Today I do not know. Isps and longhauls like worldcom. I suspect they are still subsidized by DoD.
"It's happened because for years now Congress has allowed it to happen. We now have an exact replica of the medieval Stationers' Company, which controlled the English copyrights, only its names today are Disney, Bertelsmann, and AOL Time Warner."
the Constitution was a great idea. Too bad the the "Left" has destroyed it. There is your thief.
Posted by: episodesusdbz | April 26, 2004 at 12:47 PM