It's been a long held theory of mine that the history of cyberspace will be seen as analogous to the history of colonised continents like the Americas, Africa and Asia. First you have native tribes, independent startups carving out their own little niche.Then come the corporations like the Dutch East India Company or the Hudson Bay Company, Google or Microsoft.
The third step is colonisation. This is either happening really soon or right now, depending on where you are. Real world countries extending control over cyberspace the only way they know how: censorship.
The fourth phase is at the same time optimistic and outlandish: independence. It may take decades, but if the internet and the people who understand what it can do are oppressed long enough, something big will happen.
The disturbing part is that at the moment, the most fervent freedom fighters are Anonymous. I doubt the English language could yet describe that free state.
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1 comment:
Link added to original post, thanks.
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