[kictanet] The Battle for Power on the Internet

[Ali Hussein]

Grace

Thanks for sharing. Very illuminating article. I particularly like the analogy comparing the current Internet Ecosystem with Feudal Europe and a dash of Robin Hood! Very apt in my opinion.

If the US and the UK had looked into a Chrystal Ball and saw what they had spawned in the span of a decade by 'democratizing' the Internet I doubt they would have been so 'generous'.

How do we strike a balance? From Cybercrime, Steroid induced eCommere, Open Data, Freedom of Speech, anonymity online, Government Surveillance etc? I guess these are questions that will occupy us in the foreseeable future. I suspect that the people/Governments who do that will be the ultimate winners. 

Kenya is ranked among the most free nations online. Will we see this threatened as the new media laws have threatened freedom of the media? I guess it is up to us to keep Government attempts to erode freedoms in check as we balance the needs of 'National Security' and personal freedoms. After all doesn't the Government serve at our pleasure? The old adage that  we deserve the government we get is still largely true.

Ali Hussein

+254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113

"Kujikwaa si kuanguka, bali ni kwenda mbele" (To stumble is not to fall but a sign of going forward) - Swahili Proverb

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 3, 2013, at 1:27 PM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Listers
> This is an interesting article and quite relevant in today's Internet debates. It is long though:). 
> 
> "On the Internet, data is power. To the extent the powerless have access to it, they gain in power. To the extent that the already powerful have access to it, they further consolidate their power. As we look to reducing power imbalances, we have to look at data: data privacy for individuals, mandatory disclosure laws for corporations, and open government laws.
> 
> Today’s Internet is a fortuitous accident: a combination of an initial lack of commercial interests, government benign neglect, military requirements for survivability and resilience, and computer engineers building open systems that worked simply and easily. 
> 
> We’re at the beginning of some critical debates about the future of the Internet: the proper role of law enforcement, the character of ubiquitous surveillance, the collection and retention of our entire life’s history, how automatic algorithms should judge us, government control over the Internet, cyberwar rules of engagement, national sovereignty on the Internet, limitations on the power of corporations over our data, the ramifications of information consumerism, and so on.
> 
> Data is the pollution problem of the information age."
> http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/the-battle-for-power-on-the-internet/280824/
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