money and the web

Being on the Internet is not quite like being in love (though some would argue about that) - but it brings with it the same sheen of pricelessness. On the Internet, through much of its past, the bulk of its present and the best of its foreseeable future, prices often don't matter at all. People don't seem to want to pay - or charge - for the most popular goods and services that breed on the Internet. Not only is information usually free on the Net, it even wants to be free, so they say.

I found it really interesting to read this blurb, from 1998, with the ongoing net neutrality debate in mind. Soon, we may pay for internet access like we pay for cable TV, which would be drastically different from the picture of the internet that the author conceived of 10 years ago.

I recently found a couple short videos about the net neutrality issue, which I find entertaining even if they're admittedly perhaps not unbiased. They are entirely put together by Lauren Weinstein, who has been involved with the internet since ARPANET.
Network Neutrality in 30 Seconds - Part 1
Network Neutrality in 30 Seconds - Part 2