Internet 2.0: 6 Degrees of (Hardware) Separation

-- By AndreiVoinigescu - 06 Nov 2008

Table of Contents

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Introduction

The continuing migration of human activity 'online' requires a re-examination of many of the bargains embodied in our social contract--bargains antiquated by the underlying technological change. Debates about intellectual property laws and privacy are, at their core, debates about the right balance between our interests in autonomy, equality, prosperity and security. Consequently, it is hard to overstate the importance of the consensus we reach on these issues. We are balancing fundamental values.

We should not entrust the balancing process to politics as usual. That is to say, we should not allow it to devolve into a bargain between incumbent factions with the resources to capture the political process. We need real grass-roots deliberation. We need an internet architected to curtail the influence of the incumbents--a network where both ownership and control are maximally dispersed.

How Technology has enhanced the power of incumbents

Code is Law

One Switch to Rule Them All

Network Architecture can act as a check and balance on power

Federalist 10

Free Software, Free Firmware, Free Choice

Value consensus from the bottom up

The Technical Implementation

February 2009, Digital Broadcasting, and Spectrum

The F.C.C and White Spaces

Broadcasting or Webcasting?

Mesh Networks and the IEEE 802.11s Standard

One Laptop Per Child.. and Teenager, Father, Grandmother

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