Even expressing an eccentric wish or deviant thought would have been to risk ostracising or worse. Today, the darkest of dark thoughts can be revealed anonymously in cyberspace with pointers for people of like mind to get in touch via e-mail. However such people are taking risks that others drawn to their e-mail boxes may be looking to gain evidence leading to a prosecution. The internet is used widely to trade and persuade. More than two and a half million people have already bought goods and services using their computers.
Music sales are popular.
One site sells 25,000 CDs every day, allowing people to hear samples before they order. The world's busiest site is a CD site, able to send out a staggering 100 megabits every second - that is the equivalent of 6,000 volumes of Encyclopaedia Britannica every minute. Magazines are also picking up large readerships. Most of these new web-sites will provide far more than just an advertisement for their owners. In addition, many companies which already have web-sites of their own are planning to expand them.