You do not win freedom of information by filching data from a corporate warehouse, or begging the authorities to kindly abandon their monopolies, copyrights and patents. You have to create that freedom by a deliberate act of will, think it up, assemble it, sacrifice for it, make it free to others who have a similar will to live that freedom. Ivory towers are no longer in order. We need ivory networks. Today, sitting quietly and thinking is the world s greatest generator of wealth and prosperity.
Moguls spend their lives sitting in chairs, staring into screens, and occasionally clicking a mouse.
Though we didn t expect it, we re all on the same net. We no longer need feudal shelters to protect us from the swords and torches of barbarian ignorance. The structure of human intellectual achievement should be reformatted, so that any human being with a sincere interest can learn as much as possible, as rapidly as their abilities allow. The Internet is the greatest accomplishment of the twentieth century s scientific community, and the Internet has made a new intelligentsia possible. Like the scientific method, the Internet is a genuine, workable, verifiable means of intellectual liberation.