With the possibility that 90% of high-quality content would have to be behind paywalls by 2016 as stated by Simon-kucher it did not surprise me that there will be a large percentage of users that won’t be happy about this. Why do I say that there might be a war coming?
After reading the post written by Freya Mumby about Aaron swartz it really gave me goosebumps on what the future might be?
Yes I do agree with my fellow mates such as posts by Simon who mentioned on us having to find the right fit to make content sharing work for both the provider and the reader.
But will we find that fit? I know I might be taking this slightly to dramatically but in the past people went to war to fight for their freedom! Till this day people are still at war at various parts of the world fighting for their freedom!
So will we have a cyber war in the future where people from all nations fight for their rights of freedom on the internet? Will there be an army of cyber soldiers like aaron swartz exposing journals that should be available to the public at no cost?
I would like to share a graph from zoe’s post,
Percentage of households with Internet access, by level of development. (International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2014)
There is an increasing trend on the percentage of households with internet access, and with this growing number the biggest concern I foresee is with the lack of content being available for free, people will result in stealing content through illegal methods not knowing the legal implications they will face.
As mentioned in my previous posts, there have been people charged in court for their tweets and similarly there are being charged for obtaining content on the internet illegally.
This was a simple video that was screened in cinemas in singapore for a number of years, I am sure most of you will recall this!
It all comes down to this last point, eventho certain content may be illegal or we choose to voice certain issues online through social media, Do we believe that the internet is ours? Do we believe that content being free is the only way it should be? Will the introduction of change cause an uproar from internet users all over the world?
Well….the future is in your keyboard.
Till next time,
Mr Ebra
Blogs I commented on :
https://freyamumby.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/open-access-yay-or-nay/comment-page-1/#comment-49
http://wingslykeagles.wordpress.com/
References:
Anon, Are we talking “cyber war” like the Bush admin talked WMDs? | Ars Technica. Available at: http://arstechnica.com/security/2011/04/are-we-talking-cyber-war-like-the-bush-admin-talked-wmds/ [Accessed December 10, 2014a].
Anon, Hacking of MIT website marks first anniversary of Aaron Swartz’s death | Technology | The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/11/aaron-swartz-death-first-anniversary [Accessed December 10, 2014b].
Anon, Hello Open Access! {Pros & Cons} | Zoe on WordPress.com. Available at: http://zoeyeeze.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/hello-open-access-pros-cons/ [Accessed December 10, 2014c].
Anon, Simon-Kucher: 90 percent online content behind paywall in 2016 · Consultancy.uk. Available at: http://www.consultancy.uk/news/88/simonkucher-90-percent-online-content-behind-paywall-in-2016 [Accessed December 10, 2014d].
Anon, The Realities of Cyberwar: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt | Bit9 + Carbon Black Blog. Available at: https://blog.bit9.com/2013/04/02/the-realities-of-cyberwar-fear-uncertainty-and-doubt/ [Accessed December 10, 2014e].
Anon, Wings.Like.Eagles on WordPress.com. Available at: http://wingslykeagles.wordpress.com/ [Accessed December 10, 2014f].
The thoughts of Mr Ebra 