Schedule > 13. The Internet

The internet is an enormous topic with many directions to explore. In this class, we’re going to contine thinking about the idea of “democratization v. centralization” (carried over from class 6).

Discussion Questions

• How was the internet developed?
• Who controls it?
• What were some of the early hopes for the internet in terms of its potential to positively impact society?
  • Did these visions come true? Why or why not?
• What are some of the reasons that publishing and accessing web content has become more centralized (think of the technical infrastructure as well as the business models)?
• According to some of the experts we’re hearing from today, what needs fixing? And how should we proceed in order ‘fix the internet’?

Slides

• The Internet

Readings

• Doctorow, Cory (October, 2021). Competitive Compatibility: Let's Fix the Internet, Not the Tech Giants. Communications of the ACM.
• Lee, Timothy (May, 2015). The Internet, Explained. Vox.
  • (Just skim it)

• Stewart, Emily (Feb., 2020). America’s monopoly problem, explained by your internet bill. Vox.
• Tim Berners-Lee, Jimmy Wales, Wendy Hall and more (December, 2017). The web's greatest minds explain how we can fix the internet. Wired (UK).
• Ford, Paul (2016). Reboot the World: The internet was supposed to be democratic and open to all. Then Facebook and the NSA got their hands on it. Is it too late to reclaim our digital future? The New Republic.

• David Clark et al. (2002). Tussle in Cyberspace: Defining Tomorrow’s Internet. SIGCOMM.
• Lee, Timothy (June, 2014). 40 Maps that Explain the Internet. Vox.