| The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
were created in the era of hand-set type, before the telegraph, telephone
or broadcast media. Each new wave of technology
has pushed at the boundaries of liberty and tugged at the coattails of
authority by enabling more rapid and comprehensive dissemination of information.
There's more communication taking place outside the purview of centralized
authority as well as more light shed on the inner workings of government
and business. For a long time now, drugs have been seen by the government
as the main threat to its control of knowledge and information.
Since the 1960s, the particular species of vegetable that I sometimes carry
in my pocket could, if found by the wrong person, land me in jail and lose
me my property.
Now its my disk drive.
Civilizing the Electronic Frontier: An Interview with Mitch Kapor & John Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Mondo 2000, Winter 1991, pp.45-49 |