Gene Marsh a �crit:
>
> "InterplaNETary Commander"? Has he been demoted from "God of the Known
> Universe"?
Promoted. The known universe is not enough for Mr. Cerf. He aspires
to all that is not yet known as well. I suggested to him that he
exchange "InterplaNETary Commander" for "Intergalactic Father", but
he demurred. No doubt the Internet Protocol will not suffice for
inter-galactic communications and so Mr. Cerf, in deepest humility,
has restrained and self-limited his god-given calling.
These '60s types imbibed more acid (not the acetylsalicylic variety)
than was good for them. A good imagination may be helpful when
developing communcations protocols, but can be a hindrance when
applied to human geopolitics. Still, his monstrous vision of a
unified universe has found many adherents. Autocratic and
authoritarian philosophies always do attract many acolytes, people
who need to believe in the perfectibility of human nature, usually
as a compensation for some hidden and frightening imperfection in
their own character.
The will to control, never more evident in my own lifetime, I
believe, than in this usurpation of the free Internet "for the
public good", finds its most fertile ground in the finest ideas of
liberation. And it is the technocrats, the builders of the machine,
who turn the machine into the enemy of the people.
The Internet's success is its own downfall.
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Michael Sondow I.C.I.I.U. http://www.iciiu.org
Tel. (212)846-7482 Fax: (603)754-8927
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