Remembering Our Roots

corky6921 writes: "I recently stumbled onto a fascinating article that was written by John Perry Barlow, a founder of the EFF and an early member of the WELL. It was written in 1990, but manages to bring up many of the issues that we still have today, namely "What are data and what is free speech? How does one treat property which has no physical form and can be infinitely reproduced?" This article discusses the history of free software, the hacker movement, and the burgeoning difference between Internet newbies and Internet gurus. An important read for all who want to know the viewpoint of law enforcement regarding the Internet, as well as to understand the increasing paranoia from the U.S. government about "criminals" who steal copyrighted material." It occurs to me that a lot of people on the 'net today probably don't know anything about the events Barlow is describing, so I think this is worth posting even if it is 'old news' to some of you.