Stephen Downes

"'Choice, freedom and openness' is not a given in the information business" says Artichoke, noting that there has been a not-so-subtle "shift from helping students adopt cyber-safe practice online to helping students become responsible cyber-citizens." The former, it seems to me, is about empowerment, while the latter more resembles indoctrination. As Tim Wu says in The Master Switch, "History shows a typical progression of information technologies: from somebody's hobby to somebody's industry; from jury-rigged contraption to slick production marvel; from a freely accessible channel to one strictly controlled by a single corporation or cartel – from open to closed system."