We have entered a new era of warfare a la in cyberspace. Visa, Mastercard and PayPal stopped payments going through to WikiLeaks. Retaliation seemed the operative word for some. So "attacked" at least, for certain,Mastercard's web site.
That raises the question of who actually owns the internet. Have PayPal and the others infringed First Amendment rights of free speech in the USA?
Those issues were the subject of an interview on ABC Australia's PM radio program - with Tim Wu, who has written a book called The Master Switch which argues that information technologies always start out free but have mostly been taken over in time by big monopolies. Read, or listen to the interview here.
The New York Times also considers the issue in "Hackers Give Web Companies a Test of Free Speech":
"Some internet experts say the situation highlights the complexities of free speech issues on the Internet, as grassroots Web companies evolve and take central control over what their users can make public. Clay Shirky, who studies the Internet and teaches at New York University, said that although the Web is the new public sphere, it is actually “a corporate sphere that tolerates public speech.”
Marcia Hofmann, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, “Any Internet user who cares about free speech or has a controversial or unpopular message should be concerned about the fact that intermediaries might not let them express it.”
She added, “Your free speech rights are only as strong as the weakest intermediary.”
That raises the question of who actually owns the internet. Have PayPal and the others infringed First Amendment rights of free speech in the USA?
Those issues were the subject of an interview on ABC Australia's PM radio program - with Tim Wu, who has written a book called The Master Switch which argues that information technologies always start out free but have mostly been taken over in time by big monopolies. Read, or listen to the interview here.
The New York Times also considers the issue in "Hackers Give Web Companies a Test of Free Speech":
"Some internet experts say the situation highlights the complexities of free speech issues on the Internet, as grassroots Web companies evolve and take central control over what their users can make public. Clay Shirky, who studies the Internet and teaches at New York University, said that although the Web is the new public sphere, it is actually “a corporate sphere that tolerates public speech.”
Marcia Hofmann, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, “Any Internet user who cares about free speech or has a controversial or unpopular message should be concerned about the fact that intermediaries might not let them express it.”
She added, “Your free speech rights are only as strong as the weakest intermediary.”
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