Andrew Shapiro's recent book "The Control Revolution: How the Internet is putting individuals in charge and changing the world we know" (cite) argues that the Internet is part of a trend that decentralizes control from the hands of a few central groups (e.g. governments and large corporations) to the masses.

The Internet fosters this revolution because it is a "many to many" communication medium. By contrast, television and radio broadcasting are "one to many" in in that a single station transmits to many people with little or no opportunity for public feedback other than that permitted by the broadcaster. Similarly, telephone conversation is "one to one" in that all communications are between individuals. While control is decentralized, impact is very limited because of its inability to reach large groups of people quickly. By contrast, the Internet permits anyone to transmit messages, while the ready availability of chat rooms, newsgroups, and mailing lists enable each individual to reach thousands of people.

Some striking examples:

1. Radio B92: Launched as an underground radio station critical of the Yugoslav government, it successfully used the Internet to inform the world of Milosovic's dictatorship after his troops disabled the radio station. While broadcasting facilities can be seized, it is nearly impossible to disable the multiple Internet channels that interconnect most nations.
2. Digital Freedom Network: Based in New Jersey, DFN publishes online editions of literature banned by various nations and publicizes attempts to suppress free speech.
3. Time Magazine Pornography Scare: When Time published a cover story asserting that an exhaustive study at Carnegie Mellon revealed that 83% of the online images consisted of pornography, hundreds of on-line writers conclusively exposed the underlying hoax perpetrated by a CMU student.

The control revolution is not a fait accompli, as both governments and large corporations seek to regain control of this new medium. Governmental efforts such as the Communication Decency Act and the restriction of strong encryption represent subtle attempts to limit personal freedoms while totalitarian nations such as China and Iran seek to impose sweeping restrictions on Internet content. Similarly companies like Microsoft and America Online seek to gain profits by becoming the Internet equivalent of cable TV systems offering a restricted group of sources from other companies that pay for the public exposure. Will the Internet be dominated by free choice, or will it become a yet another publishing system dominated by a few very large corporations? (more)

Shapiro also emphasizes the dangers of "oversteer" -- overuse of personal control can lead to many damaging impacts on both the individual and society. For example, there are hidden dangers in the ability of each individual to create highly customized information filtering:

"Ignorance and narrow-mindedness, then, are hidden dangers of the control revolution -- hidden because they are self-imposed and, even more, because the Net seems so open and diverse." (p. 107)

As individual experiences move increasingly online, they become increasingly narrow, as people lose even the accidental encounters that accompany living in the public. For example, online shopping eliminates the need to interact with local residents and merchants.

Ultimately, we will need to evolve a new balance between personal control and the convenience and ease of use that comes from surrendering control to central groups.

"Balance can be achieved if we apply principles in context, reconcile convenience and choice, and recognize the value of middlemen, accidents, and localism.... as Esther Dyson says, that in a world of diminishing state power, individuals will need to assume greater responsibility for their own actions and for the world they are creating'" (p. 218)