Whilst the Net has dramatically altered the communication environment the law remains largely unaffected by the change. Those who seek to restrict the Net would have probably agreed with Thamus about writing7. Writing enabled records to be kept and knowledge to be stored. It also increased distribution. Laws were needed because existing controls had weakened8.
Digital information represents an equally dramatic shift in communication technology.
It involves breaking information into pieces and assigning a numerical value for each part. In this form it can be sent at great speed over great distances across the globe via Internet. The Net reverses the mass media revolution. Instead of one message being sent to millions of people, millions of messages can be delivered to millions of people. The problem faced by those wishing to censor the Net is that it is very difficult to keep digital information confined in one place.