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The Sovereign Interet is not.
Aug. 5th, 2011 08:15 pmOne of the most amusing books sits on my Library bookshelf called “The Sovereign Individual” by Lord William Rees-Mogg and Dale James Davidson. A gift from a friend who is an Über techie, and total disciple of Lord Rees-Mogg's theories.
The premise of his Lordship’s work was that the Internet, with its millions of global users-companies-and Servers could evolve into a collective of independent individuals who are not bound by Terrestrial borders; but gather willingly into a virtual Nation-State. While still retaining their individuality separate from any Nation-State and reap profits from such independence. But that is not why I read it occasionally this charming volume, nor why I am amused with his Lordship’s work.
I read it for what was missed in the equation of independence with the internet, transmitting thoughts and ideas at a faster rate than ever in the history of the planet Earth, nor for his normally brilliant financial insight.
Lord Rees-Mogg was astounding in predicting financial trends for investors. Nearly 90% of his predictions were highly accurate and highly profitable on the FTS Exchange. Since the Internet had taken the financial world by storm and there was an obscene amount of profits to be made, everyone in Great Britain (UK) and in the financial districts of New York, Frankfort, and Hong Kong, waited with anticipation for Lord Rees-Mogg’s take on the Internet in 1997.
He makes the compelling argument that, in theory, would work well. However, I believe his Lordship failed to grasp one very important fact: Those millions of individuals and companies around the planet Earth are bound to terrestrial based machines, the Servers, located in many Nation-States. And those Severs' physical location fall under the direct jurisdiction of that particular Nation-States, who by their will or by their Laws command the terms of which traffic will flow in-to and out-of these marvelous machines.
This is and has always been the case since the evolution of the Internet. We as citizens of the world occasionally fail to grasp this stark and blunt fact: That the information we send is not an entitlement or right, it is at the pleasure and suffrage of any Nation-State.
Information that can be, at its mildest and slightly uncomfortable for the individual, intercepted and disseminated by a Nation-State such as the USA or the UK. Or, at its worst, dire, and decidedly uncomfortable condition, traffic stopped completely; such as in Egypt during its Arab Spring uprising.
Sometimes, even the middle ground is cause of concern. Such as the deliberate censoring of IP addresses like the People’s Republic of China or Iran. Which we, as citizens of the world, may cry foul play but have little recourse outside their jurisdiction.
And then, you have the case recently of LiveJournal and their Sprint and Verizon servers’ under a Denial of Service (DDoS) attack in Russia. This wildly circulated editorial piece flowing through the pages of LiveJournal in the Moscow Times sets out the argument that the Russian Government used zombie machines in South America to disable both companies IP severs which directly carry the LiveJournal internet feed. This to coincide with Mr. Putin’s campaign on the Internet, chats with Youth Political organizations, and general hard-ball antics of any Politician.
The editorial is either a very elaborate conspiracy theory or excellent editorial, couched within very astute investigative reporting, by the Moscow Times. I note that IP traffic continued for Twitter, Facebook, and other Russian social network sites. And there was a collect cry of outrage from users around the world due to effects of a Major IP routers inability to carry the LiveJournal traffic! This included many my friends and colleagues who were simply turned off and cut off from communicating.
So why LiveJournal? Because, the Severs which serve LiveJournal are based within the territorial boundaries of the Russian Federation. And we, as sovereign individuals, must come to the stark realization that the illusion of individual sovereignty is subjective to the Nation-State’s suffrage; in this case, the will and Law of the Russian Government.
In short, because they can.
And at times like these, I like to read “The Sovereign Individual” again, just to remind myself of how wrong we as individuals can be about the internet: How even the most brilliant of minds can make a mistake. How obscene fortunes turned to ugly losses, how London, New York, Frankfort, and Hong Kong all suffered for years; and how we, as sovereign individuals, can be grossly mistaken into thinking the internet is without boundaries. Just ask the LiveJournal users.
The premise of his Lordship’s work was that the Internet, with its millions of global users-companies-and Servers could evolve into a collective of independent individuals who are not bound by Terrestrial borders; but gather willingly into a virtual Nation-State. While still retaining their individuality separate from any Nation-State and reap profits from such independence. But that is not why I read it occasionally this charming volume, nor why I am amused with his Lordship’s work.
I read it for what was missed in the equation of independence with the internet, transmitting thoughts and ideas at a faster rate than ever in the history of the planet Earth, nor for his normally brilliant financial insight.
Lord Rees-Mogg was astounding in predicting financial trends for investors. Nearly 90% of his predictions were highly accurate and highly profitable on the FTS Exchange. Since the Internet had taken the financial world by storm and there was an obscene amount of profits to be made, everyone in Great Britain (UK) and in the financial districts of New York, Frankfort, and Hong Kong, waited with anticipation for Lord Rees-Mogg’s take on the Internet in 1997.
He makes the compelling argument that, in theory, would work well. However, I believe his Lordship failed to grasp one very important fact: Those millions of individuals and companies around the planet Earth are bound to terrestrial based machines, the Servers, located in many Nation-States. And those Severs' physical location fall under the direct jurisdiction of that particular Nation-States, who by their will or by their Laws command the terms of which traffic will flow in-to and out-of these marvelous machines.
This is and has always been the case since the evolution of the Internet. We as citizens of the world occasionally fail to grasp this stark and blunt fact: That the information we send is not an entitlement or right, it is at the pleasure and suffrage of any Nation-State.
Information that can be, at its mildest and slightly uncomfortable for the individual, intercepted and disseminated by a Nation-State such as the USA or the UK. Or, at its worst, dire, and decidedly uncomfortable condition, traffic stopped completely; such as in Egypt during its Arab Spring uprising.
Sometimes, even the middle ground is cause of concern. Such as the deliberate censoring of IP addresses like the People’s Republic of China or Iran. Which we, as citizens of the world, may cry foul play but have little recourse outside their jurisdiction.
And then, you have the case recently of LiveJournal and their Sprint and Verizon servers’ under a Denial of Service (DDoS) attack in Russia. This wildly circulated editorial piece flowing through the pages of LiveJournal in the Moscow Times sets out the argument that the Russian Government used zombie machines in South America to disable both companies IP severs which directly carry the LiveJournal internet feed. This to coincide with Mr. Putin’s campaign on the Internet, chats with Youth Political organizations, and general hard-ball antics of any Politician.
The editorial is either a very elaborate conspiracy theory or excellent editorial, couched within very astute investigative reporting, by the Moscow Times. I note that IP traffic continued for Twitter, Facebook, and other Russian social network sites. And there was a collect cry of outrage from users around the world due to effects of a Major IP routers inability to carry the LiveJournal traffic! This included many my friends and colleagues who were simply turned off and cut off from communicating.
So why LiveJournal? Because, the Severs which serve LiveJournal are based within the territorial boundaries of the Russian Federation. And we, as sovereign individuals, must come to the stark realization that the illusion of individual sovereignty is subjective to the Nation-State’s suffrage; in this case, the will and Law of the Russian Government.
In short, because they can.
And at times like these, I like to read “The Sovereign Individual” again, just to remind myself of how wrong we as individuals can be about the internet: How even the most brilliant of minds can make a mistake. How obscene fortunes turned to ugly losses, how London, New York, Frankfort, and Hong Kong all suffered for years; and how we, as sovereign individuals, can be grossly mistaken into thinking the internet is without boundaries. Just ask the LiveJournal users.
