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Internet & Society: The Technologies and Politics of Control (Spring 2019)
Resource 1 . 1 . 1

“A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” by John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (1996).

John Bowers

This manifesto articulates a bold vision of decentralized internet sovereignty which stands in stark defiance of the global world order and its “weary giants of flesh and steel.” Barlow captures the techno-utopian spirit held dear by many of the internet’s framers and visionaries. The flair with which he does so has established the Declaration as a classic text in the early history of the internet. Do Barlow’s words still ring true today? Is control over the internet still meaningfully decentralized?

“A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” by John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (1996).

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