If we do not take this moment to secure our sovereignty over the choices that the information age has allowed us to enjoy, we cannot reasonably blame its loss on those who are free to enrich themselves by taking it from us in a manner history has foretold.
(Wu, 2010, p. 321)
This dissertation has looked at notions of the Internet, a largely unplanned and decentralised global digital network that has shown remarkable organic growth, with almost 40% of the world’s population now online (ITU, 2013). It has used a conceptual model to develop a further understanding based on layers — the Physical Layer of hardware infrastructure, the Logical Layer of code and standards, the Content Layer of knowledge and culture, and the Social Layer, of individuals, groups and states affected by this technology.
The central premise has been that this network is under threat from many fronts. These include the challenges the network poses to nation states that lead to issues like censorship or balkanisation, the copyright wars that arose from challenges to the culture industries, an erosion of privacy where the default setting becomes ‘public’ at the risk of a loss of trust in the network, and security threats that range from minor malware to major cyberwar.
The dissertation looked at the notion of openness, both its positive and negative meanings, and asserted that openness was one of the primary characteristics of the Internet that has made it distinct from other information and communication systems. It was designed to mitigate censorship. Its foundational documents broke down hierarchies and established open standards and protocols. From open-platform PCs at the Physical Layer, open source software at the Logical Layer, open culture at the Content Layer, and the empowerment of individuals as well as the activity of crowdsourcing, this essence of openness penetrates every layer.
Finally, 241 methods of keeping different aspects and features of the Internet open were proposed, knowing that openness at one layer begets it at another. Interestingly, over half of these methods take place at the Social Layer. From starting from problems, this work has ended with solutions.
The research performed for this dissertation naturally leads to other questions and avenues for investigation. The approach to gathering these methods has been largely quantitative. A logical next step would be to subject the catalogue to a more qualitative scrutiny, to answer the question how does method x actually help with goal y (that is, keeping the Internet open)? This would benefit from a greater degree of engagement with affected parties and/or communities, in particular by taking these methods online and inviting further engagement. The project wiki could be a logical starting point, alongside other locations where virtual communities coalesce around similar topics.
It was with interest and surprise that I discovered that the number of methods within each layer was heavily weighted towards the Social Layer, a layer largely missing from other scholars’ models. Perhaps clearer patterns or trends would emerge if the political was separated from the social, given that they were both combined here and that the past few years have witnessed the emergence of the Internet much more as a contested space. The notions of violence and nonviolence in the virtual realm have been given scant attention here, and also would serve as another investigatory path. While I have clearly pitched a tent in the libertarian (even utopian) camp in my approach to the issue, balance requires looking at benefits of enclosure too.
What of the Internet itself? This dissertation has looked mostly at the past and the present of the Internet. What of the future, with wearable and ubiquitous computing joining the Physical Layer, the prospects of 3D printing making the copyright wars look like smaller skirmishes in terms of impacts on business models, and ‘the next billion’ coming online? If the largest state population represented online is the Chinese one, what impacts will that have on the global Internet?
For now, I would just like to conclude by restating that I believe that keeping ‘an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate’ (as stated in the opening quote) is a worthy goal to strive towards, and that this is my contribution towards that.
Go back to the start — 241 Ways To Keep The Internet Open: Introduction
Go to the previous section — 241 Ways To Keep The Internet Open: Part Three — How To Keep The Internet Open
Go to the final section — 241 Ways To Keep The Internet Open: Appendices & Bibliography
Open Glossary of Terms
