The end of the Internet?

Access denied - this is the golden age of the internet, a time of glorious anarchy where information is free and anyone, rich or poor, can blog about their views to the world. But government and big business are moving in - the clampdown has begun.

A really good article that may have an unrealistic element, but is convincing nevertheless. The idea from what I can gather is that even liberal governments are seriously interested in technology that can allow almost any 'click of the mouse' to be monitored - especially at a time of heightened terrorism. Big Business is also increasingly peeved by a 'DIY army of online publishers and broadcasters'. The main point is that how can capitalism continue to triumph when there is this mischevious 'parallel society' that is strikingly collectivist and based on principles of trust and common ownership? It's almost capitalism versus communism, but within national boundaries and not between super-powers.

I also liked how the article quotes Noam Chomsky, linguist and media commentator, who suggests this about the Internet in general:

Major efforts are being made by the corporate owners and advertisers to shape the internet so that it will be mostly used for commerce, diversion and so on. Then those who wish to use it for information, political organising and other such political activities will have a harder time.

To be honest I'm a bit of an optimist when it comes to claims that Big Business and Big Government are on the verge of creating a society like in George Orwell's 1984. People are incredibly creative in such situations and most of all, Big Business and Big Government may have the potential to do this that and the other, but they rarely achieve this for any number of reasons.