Monday, January 02, 2006

An open network: more important than you know

I read a very powerful statement in a Wired News article covering the Chaos Computer Congress, a European hacker meeting. Joichi Ito, a senior manager for Technorati, said this about a possible take-over of the Internet by powerful political and business institutions:
"An open network is more important for democracy than the right to bear arms and the right to vote," said Ito. "Voice is more important than votes."
It's true. In today's media-saturated world, information is more important than ever in securing democratic freedoms. Imagine an Internet controlled by governments and established interests even moreso than ours is now--a system that is not just dominated by such interests, as it is now, but hijacked completely. It's scary to think about and convinces me all the more of the virtues of openness when it comes to information technology.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think An open network is more important for democracy than the right to bear arms and the right to vote," but I do think it's as important. I still want the right to bear arms, though.

Tyson said...

arms are a weapon and form of defense, right? well, in today's world, i'd say the network is a much more powerful weapon, both offensive and defensive, then any gun. it's not just blogging, but non-proprietary and free open-source software such as anonymous browsing applications and encryption algorithms.