[artinfo] The Ends of the Internet by Boris Beaude

[Geert Lovink]

New INC publication:

The Ends of the Internet by Boris Beaude

INC Network Notebooks #11.

Translated from the French by Patrice Riemens.

http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/no-11-the-ends-of-the-internet-boris-beaude/

*The Ends of the Internet* is an investigation 
into all the reasons why the Internet, which has 
been with us for over thirty years, is now on the 
verge of disappearing. Originally conceived as a 
space of freedom, the Internet has become the 
world's largest panopticon and freedom of 
expression is subject to surveillance and 
supervision on an unprecedented scale. The 
utopian theories of collective intelligence have 
been undermined by a growing tendency towards 
commercial exploitation. A small group of 
companies profit from the majority of online 
activities. Even the robustness of the Internet 
itself is now at stake, with vulnerabilities 
increasing and many organizations, governments 
and individuals targeted by malicious cyber 
attacks.

Drawing upon critical insights on a range of 
current issues such as surveillance, NSA and 
privacy, Boris Beaude demonstrates that the 
Internet should no longer be considered a neutral 
or secure support. Beaude also formulates new 
proposals for enabling the Internet to survive 
the clash of special interest groups and remain a 
truly global space of freedom.

Boris Beaude is a senior research fellow with the 
Chôros research lab at the École Polytechnique 
Fédérale de Lausanne (CH). His research focuses 
on the spatial dimensions of telecommunication 
and the spatial context for social interaction. 
He is particularly interested in the Internet as 
a space of production, collaboration and 
coexistence.

Copy editor: Matt Beros. Network Notebook 
editors: Geert Lovink and Miriam Rasch. Design: 
Loes Sikkes, Rotterdam. EPUB development: André 
Castro. Printer: Printvisie. Publisher: Institute 
of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2016. ISBN: 
9789492302052.