The Genie is Out of the Bottle


Most of us don’t really understand how the internet works. How is it that your kids or grandchildren can send you pictures or letters from anywhere in the world and (like magic) you see them on your screen! Does it work like TV? Well, maybe like a car- I don’t really know how it works either but when I turn the key it takes me where I’m going. For all of us who don’t really understand how those things work one thing is certain- the internet does work and it is a Genie that will never go back in the bottle! Yes, the internet does great things for us- human beings have never had access to so much information before. The only thing I worry about is how long it will take us to understand the difference between information and wisdom.

The flurry of stories about Wiki leaks is multiplying faster than I can read them. The details are pretty simple although the issues are much more complex. Does anyone have the right to steal secrets and then publish them? What pertains to governments also pertains to people. If we assert that the internet should not be censored then there is really nothing you can do if I decide to uncover and make public anything I want, like your credit card numbers or your social security number or anything else I choose.

Mr. Assange (the Wiki leaks guy) thinks he is doing the world a favor by revealing America’s “dirty little secrets.” In truth he is committing a crime against every American citizen (which, I believe, is closer to his intent.)His intentions have become even clearer as he states his threats against us- should he be arrested or killed there will be a flood of information that will be released. This is his “insurance policy.”

Does the age of the Internet mean that cyber-spying or cyber-terrorism should go unpunished and unanswered for the sake of “freedom-of-information?” I think not. We are now engaged in a war of wills- who will submit first? Those who have acted against Wiki leaks have seen their own websites attacked (MasterCard, PayPal.) Threats have been made to insure that these cyber-pirates stay in business. In one sense we are powerless- the internet has a life of its own somewhere out there in the flow of electric information- but behind that borderless flow of information are real people who choose to act as they do and should be held responsible. The Genie is out of the bottle but maybe a jail cell would be just the right size!