book

[Michael Motyka]

Bought a copy of True Names and read it last night. Great story,
especially considering the date. The first net-fi I read was Neuromancer
in '84.

R. Stallman's Right to Read short story is sickeningly close to reality.
I don't care one way or the other if Microsoft patents and creates an OS
that does DRM but I do care about having it forced down my throat at the
hands of congressvermin and corporations which, as I see it, is
practically a certainty.

Tim's essay was mostly the familiar stuff, nicely organized and
presented. The style was almost academic but I notice he did slip one
"spokesvermin" reference in there.

So, Tim, we seem to have raced closer if not past the fork in the road,
especially since September. Recalling Yogi Berra's "when you come to the
fork in the road, take it", have we taken it? And if so which path?

The fork analogy may be too simple. The natural path for a vital culture
is the crypto-anarchist path. The path of increasing state control is
the natural path for the maintenance and accumulation of power. We all
see the forces in operation, it's pretty much the topic 24/7. I think
the forces that bind this mess together increase with distance, the more
free the net becomes the greater the perceived threat and the desire to
reign it in. The tighter the controls the greater the desire to break
free. On each side there are those for whom compromise is unacceptable.
In the middle are the nearly oblivious masses who can with varying
degrees of success be swayed one way or the other from time to time.
Fear seems to be their main motivator.

Rather than making a choice and following any single path we are
following two concurrent and divergent paths and the energy level is
increasing. We are headed for a period of escalation. It's definitely a
new 'War on Drugs' scenario, just as dangerous, just as futile and just
as sustainable.

Mike