The Internet Is Turning Into A Tool For Control

from the freedom-vs.-control dept

Andrew Leonard, over at Salon, is looking at a number of the "hot topics" going around these days and finds some similarities - noting that, in many cases, we seem to be facing a battle of freedom of information vs. control - and, despite what some people think of the internet, it's quickly becoming a tool for control, rather than freedom. Specifically, he talks about the recent focus on spam legislation, library filters, and music downloaders. In all three cases, the initial "freedom" of the internet is being constrained (not very well, in most cases) by new laws that use the same internet to try to exert control. It's an interesting comparison, and concludes by toeing the Libertarian line that too much control (no matter what the situation) puts us at risk. In each case, he believes, a technology solution will lead to a much better result than a legislative solution.
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  1. identicon
    Glenn, 24 Jun 2003 @ 6:48am

    No Subject Given

    I think this is less of an Internet phenomenon than a general technology trend. As technology becomes more ubiquitious, and the applications become more robust, you always seem to find privacy issues popping up. You saw that with the RFID article last week - e.g. if you use RFID on clothing and items in the home, you can be tracked. You can see it with GPS type technology; with MS Passport; DVD-RW's... etc. I realize that privacy and freedom of speech are different, but I think they both go back to the freedoms that we enjoy but are at increasing risk of losing in a technology based society.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Jun 2003 @ 7:37pm

    The internet is...

    not a tool for control.

    It is the battlefield upon which the fight can take place.

    Technology is completely neutral and hence can be considered the medium through which other things happen be they control or freedom or chaos.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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