Re: Wikileaks Mirror Taken Down: Host Buckles Under Demands from Upstream Provider | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted by Owen Densmore on Jan 05, 2011; 4:24pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Wikileaks-Mirror-Taken-Down-Host-Buckles-Under-Demands-from-Upstream-Provider-Electronic-Frontier-Fon-tp5887442p5892472.html

While I agree that we have responsibilities to understand the net/corporate environment and take our small stands, the more core issue is simply the network itself.

Unfortunately, it is not easily managed by the private sector.  The cellular network is not mobile .. you cannot take your verizon phone to europe, it is CDMA rather than GSM.  Europe decided cellular technology was a core resource and thus regulated it from the start, in particular creating the GSM standards body to insure all carriers were interoperable.

The internet is similar: it is just not well matched to the private sector.  Services ON the internet are, but not the internet itself.  It must be interoperable everywhere, worldwide, and it must have clear rights of way.  Lawrence Lessig got it right in his books about Code is Law.

Its frightening to think of .. but I think the internet should be like water, a public utility.  And likely best managed by smaller governmental units like the county.

Bullies are bullies and are likely to try to control local utilities, but there is evidence that local governments do succeed in managing utilities of various kinds.  I think they could handle internet.

    -- Owen


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