Most of the nodes that exist on the Internet are in developed countries. As information becomes easier to access we will also see changes in governments. There is evidence that computer networks have played a role in both the fall of the USSR and in disseminating information on the riots in Tienamin Square. I will dare to make an analogy. Just as television has had its shortcomings, TV has allowed ideas to be shared across generational and cultural boundaries.
Television allows facts to be transmitted almost instantaneously across continents.
It becomes harder and harder to keep facts secret. Radio was an important tool of propaganda during wartime this century. But the ability to use radio or television for propaganda fails when people can receive alternative, unregulated programming that does not come from a government station. The computer networks that are developing today have the potential to free people from oppression and ignorance and help to unify the planet in a way that one can only imagine. The idea of a unified global computer network can be extended even more through the introduction of virtual reality.