Re: HTTP Futures

Fisher Mark (FisherM@is3.indy.tce.com)
Thu, 01 Dec 94 08:43:00 PST


Christian Mogensen writes in <9412011244.AA01060@Xenon.Stanford.EDU>:
>Fisher@tce.com writes:
>>Well said. As long as the Web community does not allow governmental
bodies
>>(or groups in league with governmental bodies) to mandate the use of
>>browsers that force their SOAP advice on users, the information on the Web

>>will remain unfettered. Don't laugh too hard about the possibility of
>>government mandates -- the U.S. political correctness movement would
>>undoubtably love a government mandate forcing people to use browsers that
>>permit only politically correct material to be viewed.
>
>Remember, it's a WORLD wide web. Norway has different standards of
>prurience than the U.S, and so on...

It is an interesting (and frightening) exercise to think how the Web would
have evolved if the governments of Singapore, Ireland, or North Korea had
initiated the Web. Or the U.S. government, for that matter...

There are subcultures in every government in the world (IMHO) that would
like some kind of mandated forbidden Web access to certain non-classified
materials. The content of the materials would be different for different
regimes -- but the underlying mindset is the same.

Mark "and me without a gripping hand" Fisher
======================================================================
Mark Fisher Thomson Consumer Electronics
fisherm@indy.tce.com Indianapolis, IN

"Just as you should not underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon
traveling 65 mph filled with 8mm tapes, you should not overestimate
the bandwidth of FTP by mail."