Internet Is Coming Under Control Of Just A Few And Losing Decentralization As Originally Designed!

http://phys.org/news/2013-01-web-inventor-stifling-net-freedom.html

The idea behind the internet was to make a massive, decentralized system that wasn't under control of anyone, but that is increasingly changing, according to Matthew Prince, CEO of web security company CloudFlare. 

 His statements come at a time when Google and Facebook and other companies are increasingly building new products and services and locking in users to their respective walled gardens.

 From a CNBC report: 

 "More and more of the internet is sitting behind fewer and fewer players, and there are benefits of that, but there are also real risks," said Matthew Prince, chief executive officer of web security company CloudFlare, in an interview with CNBC. 

His comments came at CloudFlare's Internet Summit -- a conference featuring tech executives and government security experts -- on Tuesday in San Francisco.

 "If everything sits behind Facebook and you can't publish pictures like that, is the world a better place? Probably not," said Prince.

 "Before you know it, you could wake up and find more of the internet sits behind a small number of gate-keepers," said Prince. 

Putting that sort of power in the hands of a small number of people and companies "might not be the best thing," he said.

 Still, the wave of consolidation among the major internet companies is likely to continue, at least for now, he said.

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 A Walled Garden:

Kim Dotcom announced plans to start his very own private internet at the beginning of this year and has now revealed more details about MegaNet — a decentralized, non-IP based network that would share data via "Blockchains," the technology behind Bitcoins.

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