The necessary evil of internet regulation and why Cairncross was wrong:

Post two:

     Hi guys! Last time we were here I was talking a lot about Frances Cairncross and specifically how he so eerily predicted the future of technologies place in our world. He was basically a trend setter way before the time of trendsetters. Last time we talked about how specifically Cairncross predicted the was that web portals and blogs would transform into parts of our lives and in turn transform the way the internet is used. He was pretty spot on with these, so this week I wanted to see if he didn’t exactly hit the mark on all his predictions.

      This week I want to hit on Cairncross’ bullet #20 The Shift from Government Policing to Self-Policing “Governments will find national legislation and censorship inadequate for regulating the global flow of information.” (Cairncross) It is easy to see how so early on Cairncross predicted that the internet would be something that should be left free for the people to govern on their own. Perhaps he did not realize the magnitude the internet would grow to. In the article Four Phases of Internet Regulation by John Palfrey it is said that we have now entered the fourth phase of internet regulation. In this phase “States too, have come to recognize that activities mediated by digital technologies are deeply important in economic, political, and cultural ways as a critical mass of their citizens, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations online.”

        The government has realized that the internet has become too much a part of the way the world is now ran to not be regulated in at least some way shape or form. I do not think Cairncross realized all the negative aspects that would come from the internet being an un policed entity. In my own opinion, it is a necessary evil that the internet is regulated by the government. The internet is a dark place full of many horrors if you dig deep enough. It is already easy enough for people to find illegal substances, counterfeit goods, and weapons on the internet. Not to mention the endless forums which go into details about how to create bombs, child pornography, you name it. Cairncross touched on how he believed the government would not be able to control things like this because the internet would be such a vast cyberspace, but luckily in recent years the government has been able to gain more control over these internet portals.

     Not all of you might agree with me, you might believe that the government should back down in its control of the internet. Some of you might agree with Cairncross that cyberspace is too vast to be regulated by the government. But in my eyes, I believe that the government does police the internet and that the need to continue so it doesn’t turn into the wild west of the web.

Sources:

Palfrey, J. (2010). Four Phases of Internet Regulation. Social Research, 77(3), 981-996. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40972303