The Internet in the Crosshairs - Governments and Politics Challenge the Future of the Internet

In the past 20 years, we've all come to rely on the Internet for quick information, for commerce, communication, cloud storage and more. What if the Internet as we know it - a reliable, relatively free and open 'information superhighway' - was gone? This may sound like some bad science fiction - but it could be a reality.

At last December's WCIT conference, leaders from the world's countries met to talk about the Internet and many of the global leaders were pushing for more controls and less centralization in setting standards.

I'm not an alarmist, but the pressures of many governments today is for a much less free and open Internet. Add to that the recent statement from President Obama noting that some of the cyberattacks on Western governments and companies are, in fact, state-sponsored.

I was happy when asked by Online Searcher magazine to look into the meetings in Dubai for an article. The article is available freely here and you might want to give it a good look. Just like our freedoms, the Internet is something we can't take for granted, but requires the diligence of everyone to protect its future.