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In our July/August print issue, Paul Starr reviews an important new book on the future of the Internet:
For Zittrain, the very qualities that make the personal computer and the Internet so valuable are the source of their vulnerability and possible undoing. At the core of his thinking is a distinction between what he calls "generative" and "sterile" technologies. Generative technologies allow anyone to build upon them without permission, whereas sterile technologies are controlled by their manufacturer or owner. The generative/sterile distinction isn't exactly the same as the one between open-source and proprietary software. Microsoft's operating systems are proprietary, but in Zittrain's terms they're nonetheless generative because they can be built upon without Microsoft's approval.
And Kathryn Joyce, filling in for Sarah Posner, gives us the latest on the religious right:
Written by an author advocating "21st Century Socialism" under the pseudonym "Commando Salvador Allende," the letter called for "death to prolifers," and read in part: "Remember that accidents exist, remember that accidental deaths happen daily in our country. DO NOT CONTINUE YOUR ANTI-WOMAN AND HOMOPHOBIC CAMPAIGN... death to traitors, death to those who oppose the nation, DEATH OR REVOLUTION."
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—The Editors
