It was only a minute ago the internet was supposed to free us from all evils. Now more and more, we talk about the problems of the surveillance economy and power concentration online. Great, this is the conversation Netopia has tried to have for a while!
George Soros made serious additions to the momentum by using most of his air-time at the World Economic Forum to talk about the perils of IT-monopolies and what can be done about it. This writer is not sure mr Soros reads Netopia, but this part reads like something from this blog (except with a different gravitas coming from this man!):
They claim they are merely distributing information. But the fact that they are near- monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access.
Hear, hear! World leaders – don’t take it from me. Take it from the founder of the Open Society Foundations.