The Birth of the Internet

The documentary "Birth of the Internet" underlined a dichotomy of the internet that I often wonder about. Sometimes, for example when watching web series, I get really excited about the internet as a tool which allows every creative voice to be heard. It's the internet as the great leveler. Other times, for example when hearing about censorship of the internet in China and other countries, I get paranoid about the internet as a tool of control and as a propagator of power structures. The documentary offered evidence for both cases. It showed how the internet was developed and given to the public through government intiatives. But it also showed how it was mostly made by innovative individuals working outside the system, and stressed how it was a community of free sharing. The way that the internet can manifest both these roles is shown in the documentary when it discusses how the internet is so new and crazy, that there are relatively few laws governing it. This may allow governments and corporations to engage in activities online that may be unconstitutional or invasive, but it also allows a greater freedom of expression to individual users. Future internet legislation or lack thereof will shape which of these roles the internet will ultimately take on.