The prediction, in brief:

A major value of the Internet culture, but possibly a transient value, is the absence of junk mail, advertisements, and oppressive commercialism. If the policies for the development of NII are driven by commercial investment, how can this condition be sustained?

Predictor: Branscomb, Lewis M.

Prediction, in context:

The 1995 book “Public Access to the Internet,” edited by Brian Kahin and James Keller carries the chapter, “Balancing the Commercial and Public-Interest Visions of the NII” by Lewis Branscomb, director of the Program on Science, Technology and Public Policy at Harvard University and principal investigator of the Information Infrastructure Project. Branscomb writes:”A major value of the Internet culture, but possibly a transient value, is the absence of junk mail, advertisements, and oppressive commercialism. If the policies for the development of NII are driven by commercial investment, how can this condition be sustained?”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure

Subtopic: Cost/Pricing

Name of publication: Public Access to the Internet (book)

Title, headline, chapter name: Balancing the Commercial and Public-Interest Visions of the NII

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 31

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne