Is the Internet historys greatest hoax?

For a while there, the Internet and the World Wide Web showed great promise. They whispered sweet nothings in our ears, promising to be the voice of the marginalized, the new democracy, the great equalizer.

But it wasnt to be, for the Internet has a new master. No, its not Google. No, its not Microsoft. And no, its not even good ole Uncle Sam. Theyre just caretakers. The Internets new master is bigger than theyll ever be, and far, far older.

Meet the master

The Internets new master is the same master who holds the leash of all traditional commercial media.

The Internets new master is money and power. Not the capacity to earn money or the capacity to increase power (although those are certainly nice fringe-benefits). No, the Internets new master is the moneyed, powerful collective. Those who simultaneously mould and reflect mainstream opinion, values, and behavior.

I suppose we should have foreseen it, given the Internets military birthplace. But then, we were young and optimistic, and boy did we want to believe!

A little melodramatic? Perhaps. But fairly accurate nonetheless. Let me explain…

The early promise of...