The End Of The Internet

[peter991]

Technology magazine, Wired recently did an interview with Oxford University Professor Jonathan Zittrain.

Spam, spyware, and viruses can already get in the way of good, clean computing fun. But what happens when malicious code becomes apocalyptic? According to Jonathan Zittrain, professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, these software saboteurs will drive smart users to dumber appliances like BlackBerrys, iPods, and Xboxes. In his upcoming book, Zittrain writes that the migration to closed systems will end innovation on the Internet. We asked the veteran info-freedom fighter why he’s wearing such gloom-colored glasses.

WIRED: Your scenario is classic – in a backlash against the baddies, we give up our own freedom.

ZITTRAIN: My worry is that users will drift into gated communities defined by their hardware or their network. They’ll switch to information appliances that are great at what they do [email, music, games] because they’re so tightly controlled by their makers.

Things would have to get pretty d-a-m-n bad to make us abandon our PCs.

It’s plausible they will. It could happen through a watershed moment: A virus infects 50 percent of a corporate network and erases hard drives.

Why hasn’t that happened already?

Great question – analogous to asking why there haven’t been low-level, high-impact acts of terrorism in theaters and shopping malls. The answer is not that security prevents it.

We’re not going to un-network the world.

The problem is, we’re moving to software-as-service, which can be yanked or transformed at any moment. The ability of your PC to run independent code is an important safety valve.

You really think the sky could be falling?

Yes. Though by the time it falls, it may seem perfectly normal. It’s entirely possible that the past 25 years will seem like an extended version of the infatuation we once had with CB radio, when we thought that it was the great new power to the people.

Is he right? Is the sky falling? Is this the end for the Internet?

Your thoughts please.

Peter

[lopburi3]

Sorry but you failed to establish any Thai connection.