[IP] Future history reports on Internet's demise

[dave@farber.net]

To: ip@v2.listbox.com
From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:44 -0400
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Dave Farber  +1 412 726 9889



...... Forwarded Message .......
From: George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky@attglobal.net>
To: dave@farber.net
Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:23:01 -0400
Subj: For IP if you like

Dave,

In view of the forthcoming meltdown conference, I thought this column 
would be of interest.

George

>
>
>http://gcn.com/23_16/tech-report/26347-1.html
>
>Future history reports on Internet's demise
>06/28/04
>By Robert Gellman
>Special to GCN
>
>This obituary is "preprinted" from a future edition of Government 
>Computer News.
>
>Today the Internet was pronounced dead. The immediate cause of death 
>was universal disinterest.
>
>For decades, the Net had been a free and open network that allowed 
>anyone to send e-mail, publish information, provide services or sell 
>products. Internet fever fueled a stock market boom in the 1990s 
>that made startup companies into household names. Then huge losses 
>resulted when business dried up from declining Net use. The Internet 
>auction business finally disintegrated because of persistent fraud.
>
>There were many contributing causes to the Internet's death. 
>Viruses, worms and government filters were some. Other factors 
>included:
>
>     * Phishing. Phishers, or cyberthieves, pretended to be trusted 
>service providers in order to induce people to disclose personal 
>information for use in identity theft scams. Phishers duped hundreds 
>of millions of people. Legitimate companies suffered because many 
>consumers, unable to distinguish the real from the fraudulent, 
>ignored all commercial e-mail and Internet activities.
>
>     * Spam. Despite worldwide efforts, governments could not stop 
>unsolicited e-mail, which became the overwhelming majority of all 
>e-mail messages. Several members of Congress who touted legislative 
>solutions were defeated for re-election when disgruntled Net users 
>held them accountable for the failure of their legislation. Another 
>spam victim was the Federal Trade Commission, which Congress 
>abolished years ago in frustration over the commission's inability 
>to protect consumers against spam and Internet fraud. One 
>beneficiary was the Postal Service, which boomed when regular mail 
>came back into vogue.
>
>     * Spyware. Keystroke loggers, browser hijackers and other forms 
>of spyware did considerable damage. Browser hijackers changed 
>settings, sent users to porn sites and prevented normal browser use. 
>Some people lost jobs or went to jail because of child porn or 
>classified materials placed on their computers by hackers. Some 
>employees refused to use computers connected to the Internet for 
>fear of losing their jobs.
>
>     * Advertising. An escalating war between pop-up ads and ad 
>blockers raged for years, with the ads always one step ahead. 
>Aggressive adware also contributed to declining Internet usage as 
>people often could see nothing but ads.
>
>    * URL redirection. Hackers became adept at pointing browsers to 
>their own sites, and users couldn't tell whether they had reached 
>the correct uniform resource locator or a copycat site. Search 
>engines suffered from redirection and became significantly less 
>helpful.
>
>The Internet is survived by wholly private networks and e-mail systems.
>
>Like gated communities, they offer some traditional Internet 
>functions, but at a stiff price. Private networks aggressively 
>authenticate users, check e-mail and scan attachments. Most allow 
>access only to accredited sites and send e-mail only to and from 
>authenticated accounts. All network activities are encrypted to 
>guard against interception and hijacking. Most Web sites are open 
>only to paying customers because of the costly, weekly 
>re-accreditation mandated by private networks.
>
>The Internet is mourned by all those who now pay higher prices for 
>fewer services.
>
>Robert Gellman is a Washington privacy and information policy consultant.
>
>--
>+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
>+ Robert Gellman                            +
>+ Privacy and Information Policy Consultant +
>+ 419 Fifth Street SE			    +
>+ Washington, DC 20003			    +
>+ 202-543-7923        <rgellman@netacc.net> +
>+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +


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