No one in our generation doubts the transformative power that computing and the Internet have had on society. We were the first kids to grow up hating the awful noise of dial-up modems, playing Oregon Trail and learning to distrust most information found on Geocities pages. For that reason, we are also the first generation capable of reforming the web beast and harnessing its constructive powers for future good.
As avid users of the existing model, some may be shocked to learn that a growing movement has emerged for a "New Internet" that can satisfy the security and capacity needs that the current "Series of Tubes" cannot handle. According to The New York Times, many of these reformers predict global catastrophes in the near future if upgrades are not made to the fundamental structure and organization of the Internet. The original system was never intended to conduct all international trade and communication, and programmers will never be able to patch every weakness in local security firewalls -- which will inevitably lead to massive hacker breaches in everything from personal operating systems to military defense networks. Today's web may not be broken, but starting over may be the only way to ensure reliable access in the future.Scientists and researchers at places like the Stanford Clean Slate project have already began building one possible form of a "New Internet" with improved security and even more potential applications. But in order for Internet 2.0 to close many dangerous security loopholes and provide avenues for more effective law enforcement tracking, we may have to lose or limit one of the most basic aspects of today's version: anonymity.
On an intrinsic level, the anonymity we receive while trolling the world wide web comforts us. No one knows that it was you who posted a bitter comment on some blog or "favorited" a YouTube video, and knowledge can flow without censors or critics. The ability to remain anonymous lets everyone roam free and access information without consequences. Obviously, in many cases this freedom can be liberating; it can enable a boundless exchange of ideas and broaden our intellectual horizons.
On the other hand, secrecy facilitates some of the worst behavior on the Internet. The most obvious of these activities is child pornography, but privacy also gives free range to hackers, peer-to-peer downloaders and online predators. As a New Yorker cartoon from 1993 observed, "On the Internet, nobody knows that you're a dog."
While I am normally a firm believer in Benjamin Franklin's old adage about the imprudence of sacrificing liberty for safety, I not only agree that restricting anonymity on the web is necessary, but I also believe this change represents part of the natural evolution of the Internet. The web should be an extension of the real world with real people participating in a global community, connecting in ways never before possible.
Our generation in particular has already begun to embrace this progression on social networking sites. Facebook represents a move toward the "New Internet" ideal -- people sharing information, even personal details, with the world. Twitter allows an up-to-the-minute exchange of everything from current locations to news reactions. This move away from anonymity might seem revolutionary, but we are slowly making it with each "wall post." Imagine if everyone else on the Internet made the move as well. Advice and statistics would be instantly more reliable, because everyone would know the source. Discussions and debates would be more rewarding if you came to know and work with other individuals, as opposed to just usernames.
Rather than sacrificing liberty for security, we would simply be moving closer to the freedoms existing in the real world, where nothing is quite so anonymous. Posting a comment on a chatroom or replying to a blog post would be the equivalent of sending a real letter to the editor. Online shopping would become less risky and illegal behavior would be punishable. Overall, the system could be just as worthwhile as interacting in person, yet better because of the millions more that one could reach.
A "New Internet" may not be instituted any time soon, but regardless of how far away an upgrade remains, we can still begin to question the underlying assumptions we make about the nature of the web, and imagine a day when it is no longer concealed by shadow.
