IP: the web runs on love, not greed >

In our disappointment of grand riches, we have failed to see the miracle

>on our desks. Ten years ago, it was easy to dismiss visions of a wondrous

>screen in our homes that would provide the whole world in its magical

>window. The idea of a universal information port was considered

>uneconomical, and too futuristic to be real in our lifetimes. Yet at any

>hour of today, most readers of this paper have access to the full text of

>the Encyclopedia Britannica, precise map directions to anywhere in the

>country, stock quotes in real time, local weather forecasts with radar

>pictures, immediate sports scores from your hometown, any kind of music

>you could desire, answers to medical questions, hobbyists who know more

>than you do, tickets to just about anything, 24/7 e-mail, news from a

>hundred newspapers, and so on. Much of this is for free. This abundance

>simply overwhelms what was promised by the most optimistic guru.