[LINK] "We were all wrong." How today's internet is a far cry from the force for good that the "Internet utopians" of the 90s/00s foretold.

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Thu Jan 4 18:58:27 AEDT 2018


At 17:52 +1100 3/1/18, Kim Holburn wrote:
>My Internet Mea Culpa
>https://shift.newco.co/my-internet-mea-culpa-f3ba77ac3eed
>>  "We were all wrong." How today's internet is a far cry from the 
>>force for good that the "Internet utopians" of the 90s/00s 
>>foretold. ...

My first reaction was 'who's Rick Webb?'.

Someone trying to climb on others' coat-tails?

I guess 'reformed angel investor' means something, but 'e-ad man' 
says more than enough: http://www.rickwebb.net/

In that case, here was my 1999 opinion of him and his mates:
http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/WillPay.html#Comm

Kevin Kelly was a wonderfully gifted writer, and an over-enthusiastic twerp.

But which bits was Stewart Brand supposed to apologise for?  I didn't 
follow the Well in those days.  But on the one occasion that I did 
some research on his work, it transpired that he got the aphorism 
absolutely right.  See 'Information wants to be free ...': 
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/IWtbF.html

I checked the dates of my own 'jeremiah' pieces.  I was earlier than 
most to draw attention to some of these things, but I was far from 
unique.  The period of my general warnings was 1994-2001, with some 
specifics following in 2004-06.  So I don't think 'Internet 
utopianism' lasted very long.


1994: 'The Internet Age as Threat'
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/PaperNSCF.html

1995: `Netethiquette: Mini Case Studies of Dysfunctional Human 
Behaviour on the Net' 
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/Netethiquettecases.html

1996: 'Virtual Chewing Gum on Virtual Library Seats? Human Behaviour 
in Electronic Communities'  http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/VALA.html

1996: 'The Information Infrastructure is a Super Eye-Way'
http://www.rogerclarke.com/DV/Monitor.html

1997: 'The Monster from the Crypt: Impacts and Effects of Digital 
Money' http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/Monster.html

1999: 'Freedom of Information? The Internet as Harbinger of the New 
Dark Ages'   http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_11/clarke/

2001: 'While You Were Sleeping ... Surveillance Technologies Arrived'
http://www.rogerclarke.com/DV/AQ2001.html

2001: 'Paradise Gained, Paradise Re-lost: How the Internet is being 
Changed from a Means of Liberation to a Tool of Authoritarianism' 
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/PGPR01.html


2004:  'Very Black 'Little Black Books'' (Social Networking Services)
http://www.rogerclarke.com/DV/ContactPITs.html

2006: 'Google Challenges Corporations, Consumers and the Law' 
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/Gurgle0604.html


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



More information about the Link mailing list