But I do so without the knowledge or encouragement of my hosts, for whom I have great admiration. Exactly 10 years ago I published Power, the Press and the Technology of Freedom . That is a theme of this conference, and of my talk today. That book, written just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, predicted that communism would fall-partly, if not entirely, because of the power of information technology, and the spirit of freedom empowered by such communication.
Citizens can explore new ideas and defeat the crude control by government of unofficial expression.
So ran the theory. The spirit of human freedom was, indeed, aroused even as the lumbering communist system collapsed. There was startling diversity in the expression of ideas and the exercise of press freedom. But not for long. The news media suffered once again as Russia was beset by unrestrained private ownership, mafia-like feuds and frauds, criminal corruption, and unhealthy association of many news media with irresponsible corporate ownership and political opportunism.