RSA/The Economist – The Internet’s Golden Age is Over

I spoke last Thursday at the RSA/Economist’s debate, The Internet’s Golden Age is Over, arguing for the motion that it’s basically doomed. Well, to put it in a more nuanced manner, I believe that the internet never really had a golden age, but if we don’t act now, it never will. The three main threats are, I think, data retention, the end of net neutrality, and intermediary liability. If you want to hear me flesh out my arguments a bit more, then you can do so as the RSA has an MP3 of the evening available for download. I was joined on the side of the pessimistic by Professor John Naughton, and opposed by the optimistic Danny Meadows-Klue and Karen Thomson. The debate was ably chaired by The Economist’s Tom Standage.