I appreciate the metaphor to feudalism - it certainly can describe what we are seeing now in the concentration on corporate powers, but I it is misleading to characterize the internet as a whole system of government, rather than a new dimension or frontier of an existing one.
A better metaphor is probably a comparison to the wild west. The early internet was government-sponsored, and the government's wait-and-see attitude is much more akin to their attitude toward early homesteaders heading out into the wild - they wanted the country settled, but could not offer anything but space to the early settlers. The government didn't really know what it was offering. That initial rush into the west came with the promise of fortune and glory and freedom, but came with no security, no guarantees.
That state that we think of as the wild west - boom and bust, saloons, gunfights, and stage coach robbery - really only lasted for around 20 years though, and was eventually replaced with a much more standardized, civilized world by comparison.
That is where we are with the internet now. The frontier is colonized, and the issues that remain are the industrialization of the existing claims. We're at the age now where the internet frontier yields to human habitation and comforts, and supplies us with guarantees, trade, economies, industries, mass production, and jobs.
The internet isn't industrial yet, but we're seeing the beginnings of it now. The original booms are mostly gone (Yahoo was one of the last), and now the more corporate, more focused companies have grown large. Now, the established businesses, too, are moving in, and the frontier is looking pretty tame - just an extension of the existing world order. Just like the wild west though, the original frontiersmen don't take well to reintegrating.
A better metaphor is probably a comparison to the wild west. The early internet was government-sponsored, and the government's wait-and-see attitude is much more akin to their attitude toward early homesteaders heading out into the wild - they wanted the country settled, but could not offer anything but space to the early settlers. The government didn't really know what it was offering. That initial rush into the west came with the promise of fortune and glory and freedom, but came with no security, no guarantees.
That state that we think of as the wild west - boom and bust, saloons, gunfights, and stage coach robbery - really only lasted for around 20 years though, and was eventually replaced with a much more standardized, civilized world by comparison.
That is where we are with the internet now. The frontier is colonized, and the issues that remain are the industrialization of the existing claims. We're at the age now where the internet frontier yields to human habitation and comforts, and supplies us with guarantees, trade, economies, industries, mass production, and jobs.
The internet isn't industrial yet, but we're seeing the beginnings of it now. The original booms are mostly gone (Yahoo was one of the last), and now the more corporate, more focused companies have grown large. Now, the established businesses, too, are moving in, and the frontier is looking pretty tame - just an extension of the existing world order. Just like the wild west though, the original frontiersmen don't take well to reintegrating.