The Internet: To Tether or Not to Tether?
It’s not a matter of IF the internet will someday fail us, but when. With hackers, cyberterrorism, generativity, and no filters, barriers, or walls…how can we keep something that is open to the entire universe from getting into the hands of those who only wish to corrupt the system?
As Zittrain explains in The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, “the generative nature of the internet has laid the groundwork for both success and failure.” Perhaps the fabric of the internet is too wound and knotted to be unraveled at this point. Perhaps the internet should have taken a tethered approach similar to iPods and iPads and iPhones from the get go. A mission control center would monitor all activity and transactions.
But it didn’t.
It was created as an open source for everyone who wanted it, and I don’t see closing the gates now to be an option. Would you open the doors to Macy’s on Black Friday and allow the herd in, only to then make everyone get out before they have what they came for? You’re not going to win that battle. Not even close. You’re outnumbered by a bunch of people who you allowed in already. Perhaps had you never opened the doors or let in one at a time, you would have had better luck.
Well Mr. Zittrain, I’d say that I’m going 75% in favor of generativity being a catalyst for internet failure and 25% for its nature fueling success. At least in terms of the future. There are too many hands in the pot now. The code is too readily accessible and while you may be able to stop a worm here and a virus there, I just don’t see creating a clean internet anytime soon.
He goes on to discuss the content later as opposed to the technical layer in the generative solutions debate. Let me refute the latter. Zittrain says, “when the same generative opportunity exists at the technical layer, mainstream users balk—they are eager to have someone else solve the underlying problem, which they perceive as technical rather than social.” That is true.
However, I’d go on to say that it isn’t the majority of the bloggers, eBay sellers, Wikipedia contributors, or Amazon retailers that are the issue. In fact, I’d agree that the bulk of the internet users are not the problem. Just like terrorist cells in the world, it’s not the majority that we fear. It’s not the majority that wreak havoc on the world, or the internet in this case. It’s small groups. Small groups with access. And in this instance, these groups and individuals who seek to compromise the internet have no faces, no names, and don’t carry weapons.
They are armed with the same thing that I have and that you have and that millions and millions of people in the world have:
internet access.
