Today, especially for venture capitalists, if a brand new start-up doesn't have a ton of competitors, it may not really be a market. Back then, the Net seemed a more collegial place, still retaining the tone of its roots in academia and research. When Yahoo traffic overwhelmed the Stanford University computer science department, Netscape offered to host the burgeoning company's servers, free of charge. Back then, a benign anarchy loosely governed the Net. Today, powerful forces rush into the Net's vacuum of anarchy.
National governments seek to regulate smut, levy taxes, proscribe content.
Companies that run the backbone try to charge for services they once traded informally. The IETF still reigns over standards in its arcane but effective fashion, but commercial interests raise the stakes enormously. NEWS.COM wants your Perspective. Email your essay to opinions editor Margie Wylie to be considered for our guest editorial spot, the Soapbox . 1995-99 CNET Inc.