We learned the internet as a vast (and invisible) mesh of signal transmissions wrapping around the entire planet. If there has ever been a single technological application that has given (abstract) form to the concept of "globalization," it is the internet. And no "enemy of globalization," during the time when this enmity was considered a "revolutionary" trend, ever turned against this epic form. Quite the opposite.

Nothing, however, is eternal. If, moreover, it happens to be a capitalist invention, the only logical thing is to expect either its obsolescence or some radical transformation - not "someday" but "sooner or later."

The internet could not remain untouched by the deconstruction and fragmentation of all the "freedoms" that, real or virtual, marked the last two or three decades. Internet communications are now firmly entering the sphere of state "care" - for protection...

An American think tank aligned with the "rebirth of America," named the "New America Foundation," points toward the enemies: they are internet authoritarians. Here's how it comments on a recent law for the protection of the Russian internet:

"The law places traffic exchange points under legal jurisdiction. The proposed legislative amendments define exchange points as those telecommunications facilities that connect and transfer traffic between provider networks - essentially what are known as Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Exchange points must share information and comply with orders from the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media - also known as Roskomnadzor. Exchange point operators must also comply with Roskom requests for changes in packet routing rules and develop the capability for addressing using the - still incomplete - Russian Domain Name System (DNS).

The second function of the law is to grant Roskom the right to centrally manage the Russian internet in cases where its integrity, stability, and security are threatened. According to the law, Roskom will develop the procedure, terms, and technical conditions for deploying threat countermeasures, as well as the prerequisites for using this technology. Roskom will then be able to act as the central internet manager either through its own threat countermeasures or by issuing binding instructions to telecommunications providers and network administrators."

The easiest thing for the demagogues of "freedom" is to portray their enemies as authoritarian - to hide their own totalitarianism. Or, if they intend to promote it, to shift the blame onto others. A recent BBC article titled "The Global Internet Is Disintegrating - What Next?" was a few bytes more honest:

"After revelations of election interference and the well-documented practice of Russian governments spreading discord on Western social networks, Western leaders began to realize that the idea of an open and free internet might ultimately be harmful to democracy itself."

Is it Russia's or/and China's fault? In reality, the internet was never "free." It only seemed so, as long as it could expand under the direction (and largely the ownership) of American companies, without serious competitors. One of the significant contributions of Snowden was precisely this: the demystification of the so-called "freedom" of the internet.

The walls being designed and implemented are not only about "national security." To a large extent, they are also walls of profitability. In the Internet of Things, everything will be on a pay-per-use basis; and 5G communications (which form the core of the Internet of Things) will highlight what in the previous historical phase seemed uncontrolled: on the internet, personal preferences will no longer be exercised almost for free - they will be sold and bought as services, at prices ensuring permanent profits - along with control.

Could it be different? As much as it could be allowed for everyone to play ball on the planet's wide highways whenever they please, with their friends. There are still some who hope (or imagine) that "freedom" on the internet can be preserved - encrypted.

Such hope, however sincere, declares the opposite: despair. It would be preferable to acknowledge the real situation rather than try to hide from it...

Separatrix / Ziggy Stardust