Who Rules the Web?

It just occurred to me that I talk a lot about the Internet. And for good reason. The Internet is this huge force that grows and grows and grows with no end in sight. It’s massive, massively influential, and the product of our finest technology. It even spurs on the development of technology. The Internet is the gift that just keeps on giving. And, recently, a thought came to me, “Just who rules the Internet?” Seems like kind of a silly question right? I mean, who could possibly rule something as massive as the web? Aren’t certain places of the web owned by certain people and certain organizations? Yes, those bits of the web are owned by companies, organizations, governments, individual people, etc. But the question isn’t who owns the web, the question is who rules the web. A very important distinction. So, just who rules the web? And what does it mean to rule the web?

It would be easy to say that internet service providers rule the net. After all, aren’t ISPs the gatekeepers of the net? So it seems reasonable to say that they truly do rule the web. I think this is true to a degree. ISPs do rule the web or, more accurately, they could rule the web. Currently, ISPs don’t really do a whole lot with the immense power they have. There is, currently, a great controller that keeps their monopoly in check. That controller is money. ISPs could deny Internet service to anyone, however, their desire for money keeps them from exerting this power. They could rule the net, but they chose to seek money instead of power (yes, money grants another kind of power but that is beyond the scope of this post). 

As mentioned above, businesses have domain over their respective portion of the web. In fact, most of the Internet likely “belongs” to businesses and organizations. Does this mean that these businesses rule the web? Not necessarily. Though these organizations may own portions of the web, it can’t really be said that they rule those portions.

Perhaps it’s time to explain what I mean by “rule the web”. I’ve already said that ownership doesn’t necessarily mean the owners rule what they own. And I’ve implied that, in order to rule something, the ruler must exert some kind of control over what he rules. This excluded ISPs as they don’t really rule what they own since their concern is profit, not being the ruler of the web. Their desire for profit keeps their “rulership” in check. Businesses, too, are in the Internet business for profit, so, necessarily, they work to further their own pocket-books, not rule the web.

What about the Average Joe? Does he rule the web? In my opinion, the Average Joe does rule the web, to a degree, since he is willing to exert his rulership more than ISPs or businesses. However, I can’t really call the Average Joe the ruler of the net since he can’t exert his rule to the fullest extent because of his limited domain over the web. But we are getting closer to the actual ruler of the web, so be patient.

So, if ISPs, businesses, and most people have chosen to not, or cannot, rule the web, who rules the Internet in their place? Is it the government? Indeed, it would seem that the American government rules the web. With all the power, resources, technical ability, and capital the government has, it would seem logical to point to the American government as the ruler of the web. The government even rules the ISPs, businesses, organizations, and most people. I think the government is the closest single entity of whom it can be said rules the web. Since the government has both de facto ownership and, more importantly, the will to rule the web, it’s fairly safe to say that the government is the de facto ruler of the web.

The web is a massive and diverse thing. Therefore, it would take a massive and influential thing, like a government, in order to be both the de facto owner and ruler of the net. A government is the one thing that comes the closest to ruling the web. However, the net is still larger than any government’s sphere of control, so the government can’t completely police it, even if it wanted to.

But why is it important to determine who rules the web? Like I mentioned above, the web is massive and massively influential. Anyone, or any government, that rules a sizeable portion of the web can influence a lot of people, changing lives and influencing minds.

Now that we’ve established that the government, mostly, rules the web and why it’s important to know who rules the web. We should answer another important question: who should rule the web? In all honesty, I don’t think any one organization or person should have complete rulership over the web. Complete rulership would make the web into a sterile, dull place in which creativity suffers and dies. Ideally, the web would be broken down into “islands” or domains that are ruled by individual people and organizations? Sound familiar? Well, that’s because we have reached that ideal, to a fair degree. The Internet is an exciting and unique place because of the variety and diversity of its content, which is due to the variety and diversity of the people who produce that content. Sure, groups are formed and some groups clearly eclipse other groups in influence and power (think of the mammoth known as Youtube), but small groups still exist just as much as their larger counterparts. Cybermantics is among the smallest sites on the Internet, yet it still exists and the ideas on the site still exist and, therefore, Cybermantics serves to make the web a more interesting place, hopefully. I’m glad to have my little island, if can even be called an island, exist within the massive ocean. Obscurity or no obscurity.

Hmm, perhaps I am wrong and individual people and organizations are the true rulers of the web. Each of us rule our respective domains, such is the kingdom of the Internet.

I don’t hope to come to any firm conclusion on this matter or force the reader to accept my ideas on the subject. All in all, this is just food for thought. And, in any case, this is a subject that deserves a more thorough examination.