Global openness to flows of currency, goods and people Technology and the Internet do indeed empower the individual. They empower those who freely use their abilities to succeed in the marketplace of commerce and ideas, but also empower those who perceive that same freedom as a threat to be destroyed. While global communication makes knowledge of markets and opportunities available to all, it also shows the unfortunate in the less developed regions and the poor pockets of developed countries how the more fortunate live. This amplifies frustration, which in turn feeds destruction. But it also empowers the destructive hacker, the propagator of viruses, the global drug entrepreneur, and the terrorist and anarchist for whom destruction of freedom is itself a lofty goal.
Technology is a powerful force multiplier, but it is quite indifferent as to how that force is used.
The wonderful possibilities that follow the widespread prosperity implicit in the openness and the ensuing unregulatability of the Internet depend upon the fundamental questions of societal organization and the human spirit. It seems to me that the future will fulfill the promise outlined by Charles only if we work diligently to ensure that the forces of light keep the forces of darkness at bay.