This was the title of an article in the New York Times published on Valentine’s Day. The link is here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/weekinreview/15markoff.html?_r=1. The gist of the discussion is whether it makes sense to ditch the existing internet in favor of one with more control points and greater security. In effect, to gain entrance, one would need to register and have their identity confirmed before being allowed in. The current ability to remain anonymous online will no longer be possible with this new internet.
The issue is one that has been debated for some time and in fact I refer to it in my earlier blog post on how the Government could takeover the internet. The question really is how acceptable will this be to the current users, and if not, why not? I can’t really see how a responsible person who wants to use the internet for responsible activities and penning his thoughts could possible be against such a move. That said, if the country in which the person resides does not allow certain liberties, then he/she would be similarly restricted online. In effect, the online world becomes a mirror of the offline world. In a more tightly restricted internet, the controls put in place by the law can be enforced easily. It is still currently possible, but at great expense in time and money. The benefit obviously is that it will be harder to perpetrate online scams (I’m not so ignorant that I believe a more tightly controlled internet will eliminate ALL crime) and that people will put in more thought and consideration before posting inanities on blogs, commentary, etc….. It will also be easier to police the darker aspects of the internet such as child pornography, etc…..
In general, I am in favor of an internet that offers better security and would be willing to surrender my anonymity to partake in a more thoughtful network. Having said that, I do realize that most people would not. The internet in its current incarnation offers them a release from the real world and the one being touted is too much a mirror of the real world for them to like it. So, while I see great benefits of such an action, I believe that it won’t happen anytime in the next ten years. I mean, the UN can’t even agree as a body on some simple issues. How do they plan on establishing a global change on the internet? All it takes is for one or two countries not to accept the new conditions and everyone would flee to their servers and set up shop there from which they can go rogue.
As a sub thought, I seriously question how many of the 174 million Facebook users are unique users. I know of many many friends who have more than five IDs on Facebook by registering with five different email accounts for a variety of reasons. Could the growth of Facebook effectively just be the same users registering the new IDs?
Tong Hsien-Hui
Some Meowsings...... 