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During the fall of 2008, we went online for responses to our Internet question to supplement the views of our invited experts. Here’s one notable sample.
The singular issue facing the Internet and media distribution in general is regulation. Thus far, the explosive growth of information on the Net has escaped any significant censorship; on the consumer side, the explosive growth has been unfettered by tax policy. Both factors are likely to change, and significantly.
The tax piece is obvious. As the global economic slowdown hits government revenues hard, the natural tendency will be to seek fresh sources of revenue such as higher sales taxes. Look out, Internet!
On the social policy side of the equation, the pressures will be even more intense. The Internet as an information source has been degraded by many factors, among them the rise of extremist blogs, the widespread availability of pornography to minors, and the plain inaccuracy of vast amounts of “information” coursing over the Web. For example, Wikipedia, a widely regarded source of user-developed information, now contains so much noise that it is useless for anything but casual reference. The impact of the credit meltdown will increase the likelihood of regulation. This dramatic failure of social policy and institutional governance will trigger a sweeping retooling of oversight of all institutions with significant social impact. The Internet sits squarely in the crosshairs.
Like our financial institutions, the Internet is a broad-based community vehicle. And, like the financial sector, its primary underpinning is confidence. The central banks and other major organizations were supposed to operate openly, with transparency, and in the best interests of the community. Even Alan Greenspan now admits trust broke down and corrections to oversight will be necessary. Similar forces will beset the Internet. Enterprises building their business models based on the current shape of the Net must reconsider them as the economics shift. The present posture of even casual users is, “Why not use the Internet to sell the product? After all, it’s free, and we don’t need anyone’s permission.” In the future, as governments seek firmer control, that won’t be the case.
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19 Mar 2010 · 10:37:30 AM GMT
Transparency may not be new as stated above (Farmer Jones) however, the difference is the speed at which a negative issue about a company can reach people and the amount of public it reaches. Given that we are now able to purchase from all over the w...—Rio Ferdinand
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07 Dec 2009 · 05:24:47 AM GMT
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I agree with the author. At present there is too much clutter in the internet. Too many participants are trying to use the medium to their advantage.Although the users of internet will only get smarter and ignore the noise but it is very much clear that the current pace of growth will slow down and what we will eventually witness is that only those players who are contributing meaningfully to satisfy and enhance the experience of users, will thrive.
Posted 4 August 2009, 05:08 by sagnik bhattacharjee
Former Washington governor Gary Locke is the new Secretary of Commerce. It’s significant because Gary was extremely active on the Fair Tax initiative — the government/industry group that got the cities, states, retailers, etc. together for the purpose of resolving the internet sales tax issue.
Lots of people cling to the Quill decision as the basis of ‘nexus’. What they overlook is the cell phone bill they receive every month. For years, we have been getting taxed based on where our cell phone is.
And why not? If we live somewhere, certainly we have an interest in making sure that the roads are kept up-to-date, that the teachers get paid, and that someone will come if we have a fire.
If there’s a restaurant that you like — in this environment, you should budget to go there about 3-5x a year, and either tell your friends to do the same or bring them along with you. Other than that, you would have better odds at the racetrack that the business will be around in a few years.
Governments don’t have that luxury.
Posted 2 March 2009, 18:37 by Brian Hayashi