As a result, the corporate world soon awakened to the potential of this medium and began pouring h undreds of millions of dollars into marketing initiatives. Moreover, the recent deregulation of the media industry is allowing ever fewer corporations to dominate the dissemination of information. While not yet exerting an impact on our ability to communi cate with one another through the Net, these giant transnationals are actively seeking to develop and control technologies that they hope will ultimately corral the unwieldy Internet frontier into a more manageable and profitable domain. Despite these trends, Hot Wired's Executive Producer Gary Wolf argues here that the Internet is headed toward a future more akin to the relatively diverse and decentralized publishing industry, rather than media such as television where the increasingly concentrated ownership structure is leading to a more homogenous and bland blend of ideas. Wolf may or may not be right, but it is important to point out that Hot Wired's print medium cousin Wired magazine plays a vanguard role in propagating the seemingly dominant ideology which has sprung up as part of Internet culture.
Cyberlibertarian ideology contributes to the corporate juggernaut.
Preventing government censorship of the Internet is a noble cause which should be supported. Yet when such a stance is part of a broader doctrine which advocates the dismantling of government regulation of industry, the gutting of social and environmental programs, and tearing down trade barriers, civil liberties become subservient to the corporate imperative to maximize profits at all costs. Ultimately, such corporate globalization will whipsaw back against some of cyberlibertarianism's own pr oponents and begin encroaching against freedom of expression on the Internet. We at Corporate Watch hope that this Feature will contribute to the debate about the future of the Internet and the future of democracy. We want this debate to be an ongoing one on our site and on the Internet.