If it can be abused, at least it's power. (Score 2)

The Net is the most powerful means to free association we've ever had. If it allows abuses, it allows reactions, which allow organization, which allows implementing checks and balances.

It wasn't until I became destitute, last year, that I discovered I was information-rich. A million sites, vast search engines, MySQL, PHP, Wikiwiki, you know the litany. Bottom line: Any group of people can now implement any protocol and any record-keeping system they want.

If you want to fight abuses, OK, you have to deal with the constituted power structures. Learn how to prepare a legal case, how to lobby, how to use leisure instead of money, and how to beg for money anyway. But if you're serious, you're in a far better position than any pre-Net campaigners. And note how sensitive companies can be to mere attacks on their reputations.

Hegelian dialectic on fast-forward.