A Private European Internet?

jakemk2 writes "Bill Thompson writing in The Register advocates a private European Internet to stop the fact that it has "been so extensively abused by the United States and its politicians, lawyers and programmers that it has become a serious threat to the continued survival of the network as a global communications medium" Read it here" His logical fallacy is , of course, thinking that the US has a monopoly on this kind of thing.

Comments

World Peace

[SirSlud]

I remember people saying how the Internet would bring us all together. You know, no borders, that silly stuff.

Ironically, its proving that due to its non-geographical nature, you dont actually have to _have_ a border to fight over - you can just invent one at your own whim! Think about it .. subnets - the world's new holy lands, only this time you can add as many as you like if things get too homogonized for your liking. ;)

And please take this with a grain of salt, I'm only half-kidding.

Re:I can understand where he is coming from

[johnalex]

Fact: in 1900, if you wanted to see the President, an appointment was nice, but not necessary.

Yesterday, I heard on NPR that the Secret Service is closing more streets around the White House for "security reasons." I had one thought: "Yep, here we go, building our own Forbidden City."

Jerry Pournelle is fond of saying, "but we were born free." There has been much debate of late on his site about the current situation in the U.S., most of it revolving around the "Republic vs. Empire" issue. The U.S. may have been born a Republic, but the 20th century taught us that our security can't depend on two oceans. Unfortunately, if the oceans couldn't protect us, the next option was to expand our influence overseas so the fight would remain away from home.

11 September showed us we can't keep the fight from here without extreme measures. Personally, I don't think the "extreme measures" are worth the cost of personal liberty, but hey, I'm just a poor seminary student and computer geek.

I will say this, though; the EU may create their own Internet, but before long, the same forces wreaking havoc here - bureaucracy and corporatism - will wreak havoc there. Like it or not, we're all connected now, and the havoc is becoming increasingly difficult to isolate.