Published Date 12/12/10 12:41 AM
The battle for the internet is switching from a cold war to a hot war, and the proxy battles over piracy have spilled into the open war over freedom of speech. The government/corporate extra-judicial attacks on the funding and domains of such groups as wikileaks and the counter-attacks of groups like “anonymous” are the visible fire of a wider battle. The open internet is under sustained and systematic attack, and we can’t be sure that there are strong enough forces in the field to keep in place the “stupidly simple and open” standards that the the web/internet is built on. The danger is that a “peace settlement” over net neutrality will replace them with something “better” and it is in this that the danger lies.
As the battle lines are now clearly drawn, it’s time to rally the forces of openness to counter the forces of closure.