The Delicious Anarchy of the Web

I have not been on the web for very long, but I can already appreciate that the success of the World Wide Web project marks the beginning of a new era for human communication. I think it is fair to compare the creation of the web with such landmark developments as the printing press and the telephone. In fact, I predict that the web will, in time, be regarded as the much more significant development.

The reasoning behind my prediction lies in the nature of the web. The essential feature of the web is that it is nonexclusive . With the web, you no longer have to go through a publisher to publish your work. Publication on the web is instantaneous. Furthermore, access to this published work is nonexclusive as well, (although some wait time may be involved due to congestion effects). Most importantly, the content of the information published is also nonexclusive; there are no rules governing what may or may not be written. There is simply no way to impose such rules on web users.

The long term consequences of this technology are only slowly beginning to be understood. It is, however, becoming clear that a number of institutions we now regard as more or less permanent and important to the maintenance of "civilized society" are in fact threatened to some extent by the development of the web. These institutions include, but are not limited to: all levels of government, all levels of educational institutions, publishing houses, libraries and legal institutions. The reaction thus far, from some members of these threatened institutions has taken two forms.

One common reaction has been to attempt to diminish the importance of the web as a form of communication. For example, much has been made of the trivial nature of many web postings. While it is true that the web is at a juvenile (some would say infantile) stage of development, that may be largely due to the relatively young age of most of the present users. And, in any event, who is to say what should pass for interesting communication. The more valid reason at present, for dismissing the importance of the web is that the vast majority of the world lacks access to it. However, like the invention of the printing press and the telephone, it is only a matter of time before the web becomes truly world wide. The changes to our institutions brought about by the web will surely arrive, and it is more than likely that these changes will begin to occur within our own lifetimes.

A second reaction to the web by those who feel threatened by it, has been to seek to regulate the content of information that can travel over the web, or to restrict access to the web, or both. These regulatory proposals have been made mainly by those who are themselves ignorant of how the web works, or who lack the most basic computer literacy. For it is clear that if these regulators knew anything about the workings of the web they would understand the futility of their actions. While it may be possible to restrict access to the web and/or regulate the content of information travelling over the web, such restrictions will merely lead to the development of an underground web society, not unlike what has ocurred as a result of the war on drugs. Moreover, it is unlikely that all nations would agree to the same set of regulations, so that web pages with controversial content could simply be transferred "off-shore." Indeed, Finland has already become the land of anonymous ftp mailers: roughly speaking, the Finns are to the internet what the Swiss are to banking. [See also Havenco's Sealand operations].

Should we be concerned with the advent of the web, and its consequent changes to our institutions? The answer must be no. There is simply no reason for concern about a technology that we ourselves have no ability to control. My point is not in any way novel; it has been made by many others in a number of different contexts -- Dr. Strangelove comes to mind. Yet I think it bears repeating. The sooner we stop worrying, the more time we will have to explore and add to this important new form of communication.