Re: The future of network politics.

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Posted-Date: Tue, 27 Dec 1994 09:16:52 -0500
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 1994 09:19:02 -0500
To: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
From: Charles Brownstein <cbrownst () CNRI Reston VA US>
Subject: Re: The future of network politics.


Dave-


I looks to me as though the advertisment was using the list of notables and
the Atlanta conference as a way to associate the Progress and Freedom
Association with actual "notables" so as get some legitimacy-- that is
standard operating procedure for PR oriented ideologiacally based groups,
not a cause for alarm.


Like ideologists on every side of the political spectrum, the Internet is
the perfect Rhorshock image. It is what you put into it, and cannot be not
"controlled" except by (by definition) the bad guys, thus must be protected
by WE THE RIGHT BUNCH (by definition not THEM THE BAD GUYS).


This is a real test for blind government haters of all stripes and a source
of confusion for ideologs. The new breed of netizens serviced by Wired have
only their ignorance to protect them from the fact that  the Internet is a
child of federal R&D activity,  the feds are the only source of its focus
on both continual technological evolution and commercialization of
provisioning.  No substitute has emerged to sustain these qualities. This
is one technology which the private sector can exploit universally to their
individual and collective advantage and at the same time is a critical
component of the world's R&D system. It is very fundamentally different
from other kinds of technology- it is not possible to appropriate it for
individual or group advantage and retain the essential qualities that keep
it capable.


Its existance requires collective action. Thus its progress cannot be aided
by "true believers.




Charles N. Brownstein
Executive Director
Cross-Industry Working Team
Corporation for National Research Initiatives
1895 Preston White Drive
Suite 100
Reston, VA 22091


Tel: (703) 620-8990
Fax: (703) 620-0913


Internet: cbrownst () cnri reston va us


On the Web: http://www.cnri.reston.va.us:3000/XIWT/public.html