Information defines the main mood of our epoch, it forms environment and character of the society. The freedom of the word is in the hands of those, who owns the "main switch".
Internet is not the first informational technology, which changed the world. It is only a link in a chain of open media, which then turned into close and managed monopolies like TV and radio.
- First TV-set appeared in the year 1905. And since then started its way, since 1926 it became popular in Europe and America, since 1939 in USSR. Second half of XXth century people couldn't imagine their life without TV.
- The history of Radio started in the beginning of XIXth century.
- The history of Internet in 1969, and we can say, that this was revolutionary important. And probably now we are on the pick of the development of internet!
Typical cycle of any high technological breakthrough [according to Tim Wu]
Now TV and Radio are huge corporations, with their own censorship and other attributes of monopoly. It's hard business.
Let's remember the possible cycles of development of Web (web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0, web 4.0, ...,...) --> http://iamannaskryabina.blogspot.com/2010/12/moving-forward-web-30-web-40.html We can see, that slowly we are moving to Web 3.0 in aspect of virtual clubbing, grouping, building communities, creation of knowledge and information.
But moving to Web 4.0 may be the real utopia:
- I see an opposite trend, when governments are trying to control web. Russian government (and probably governments of other countries) creates/ or hire some group of internet users, which run campaigns in the internet against of some opposite parties or leaders. There is also a work made by this kind of users, who watch different videos or post about popular bloggers and make notes for them to delete some of their works, cause they seem to be extremist, anti-governmental, etc.
- Another thing, I already mentioned in my blog, is International Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement ]. According to it [just to remind you], special services (probably police) may, without any reason, check you, your belongings, your apartments, in case they think you are using some pirate production (music, video, software, channels).
I am not against the war with pirates, but it is the structure and nature of internet! It is consequence of using new technologies and creation/sharing/transmitting of information. It is absolutely connected with idea of thanksgiving consumption - "pay after you consume" [http://iamannaskryabina.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-technologies-are-changing-economy.html]. This international agreement, which soon will become a law, already breaking some constitutional rights. And it is also about control.
Today the difference between Apple and Google is huge: first fully wants to control its channel (I am a Macbook user and I feel that it is expensive for me to buy all needed software), another one (Google) works as a provider of content and provide users with open source. Apple has all chances to become an empire of Informational Technologies (App Store has the united subscription system, which is being fully controlled).
The main business of Google is search, the sustainability of the company is provided by the structure of internet itself (I am an Android user as well). Google transfers content, which is being created by billions of people, and communicates with users through channels, which belong to other companies.
Tim Wu thinks that creators of the content, providers and owners of informational infrastructure should exist separately. And personally I agree, it is like to divide the legislative, executive and judicial authorities. In other situation we are going to live in a world of total control of the global government [I am gonna write a post soon, according to those Antiutopia books I've read some time ago].
I think we should really think about those changes, cause otherwise there will not be any kind of freedom, any possibility for WikiLeaks to appear and exist, any blogger to write articles about governments, any personal opinion.
Here is some more links around these topics:
- Tim Wu "The Master Switch: the rise an fall of information empires"
- http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Телевидение
- http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Радио
- http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Интернет
- Moving from Web 3.0 to Web 4.0 http://iamannaskryabina.blogspot.com/2010/12/moving-forward-web-30-web-40.html
- Thanksgiving consumption http://iamannaskryabina.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-technologies-are-changing-economy.html
- Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
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