As we enter the decade of the 2020s it seems a good time to reflect on how over the last two decades the internet changed the face of society as this computer network transformed from a novelty for techies to an absolute necessity for everybody.
Another decade from now, I suspect every user of the internet will look back on today as “the good ol’ days.” The future of the internet is not exactly apocalyptic, but I do see serious threats to the free, as in low cost, and open internet as we know it today. Right now we are very likely living in the best of times.
First and foremost I fear censorship, red tape and government regulation. Never underestimate the power of governments to mess up what they try to protect in the name of law and order. This decade’s SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) legislation proposed in the U.S. Congress are dead for now, but will be back in some other form.
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