There's no question about it: when our grandchildren and great-grandchildren look back at the history of our times, they will view the internet as one of the most profound technological shifts in all of history. It has changed the way people acquire information, communicate with each other, and do business. Just like historians regard the early 19th Century as the Industrial Revolution, they will regard the current era as the "information revolution", as it has opened up vast new mediums of knowledge to the public commons.

True, there is a lot of junk in the internet, but I grade the internet as an overall positive development.

But some regard this informational revolution as a threat. Decian McCullough from CNET.com wrote an interesting and eye-opening article about a bill in Congress being pushed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller that will grant the President the power to declare a "cybersecurity emergency" for particularly any reason.

I do know that Rockefeller isn't a friend of internet freedom and has sought in the past to control it's usage.

Here's the link to the article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html
I encourage everyone to take a look at it, and if it interests you more, read the actual text of the bill, which is linked in the story.

About 25 countries have laws in the books regarding "internet security" in one respect or another. A few others, including China and the US, are considering it. The trend seems to be towards less internet freedom. I'm sure all of us who use sites like RIA take very seriously the right to publish and read whatever material they desire to without state interferenece.