Surviving another year
What changes has the past year produced for the internet? Companies
such as MP3.com and Napster have been hounded by armies of lawyers representing
corporations claiming to be defending intellectual endeavour. The name
for this is “intellectual property rights”, and it provides the basis for
corporations to monopolise the work of others for profit.
Governments continue efforts to censor the internet. The French government
has decided to take a stand against racism, not by allowing French immigrants
to vote, but by trying to ban the sale of Nazi memorabilia over the internet.
The US government retains control over core parts of the Internet with
the newly launched ICANN naming and numbering organisation.
In a new attack, the Polish government has announced that it will tax
free software as if it had been bought at commercial rates. The core of
the internet today is free software.
The British government continues to demand the right to be able to read
every message it can get its hands on. The US FBI regrets that its program
to spy on email was named Carnivore: the FBI feels that a more neutral
name would have been less offensive.
And of course, the Australian government is now one year into trying
to police the internet on behalf of Senator Brian Harradine.
Despite the best efforts of US courts and many governments, the internet
is failing to prove a boon for corporations. The past year has been a truly
disastrous year for internet businesses. In the next few months up to half
the internet public companies in the US are expected to fail as they run
out of money. The overwhelming majority of all internet sales to consumers
in the US are made by just a handful of companies. It is nothing out of
the ordinary for companies to have lost 70-90% of their share value since
March.
Workers in the industry are beginning to understand the need to join
unions and fight for their conditions. Internet companies in the US have
sacked around 31,000 workers this year, more than a quarter of those in
November alone. While the numbers are tiny in relation to the total workforce,
these are highly skilled workers who had experienced several years of being
in high demand.
In November, 50 Amazon.com workers sought recognition as members of
the Communications Workers of America. A similar pattern is occurring across
the industry which has traditionally got workers to work long hours for
poor pay and a promise of future wealth.
Finally, something remains unchanged. As internet participation grew
from 200 million to 300 million over the past year, the most popular activity
continues to be sending email. This “low tech” and not very profitable
activity (for businesses) shows the continuing usefulness of the internet
to a small but growing portion of the world's population.
By Greg Harris
<gregharris_greenleft@hotmail.com>
