I wondered if he thought the Net might eventually evolve its own form of self-regulation?

"It already has! Ever say the wrong thing in a chat room or a BBS (bulletin board service)? You'll know it when you have, because the community will make it pretty clear. That's a form of self regulation.

But if by self regulation you mean things like NetNanny and software that blocks out certain websites, then no. That's not self regulation. That's old school xenophobia - paranoia and extremism - a disgusting mix of paranoia and venture capital. People see money to be made in providing this software and deciding what it acceptable or not for you. That is not self regulation.

Personally, I don't want a company telling me what's acceptable on the web any more than I want the government to."

Derek's not the only one who feels pretty strongly about blocking. Take a look at Tek for more.

But did he think a Net government would form or were the current governments going to cling onto power with the successful imposition of their own regulations?

"No.

The only thing that will successfully control the net is the one thing that all the people who are in it are beholden to: money.

If it becomes financially difficult to put content up on the web, fewer and fewer people will do it. And it's relatively easy to do now. Get a Geocities account and start writing! But if, say, you needed to buy a Marimba transmitter...."

That's what the Net's all about, a low entry cost. Anyone can set up shop and start making waves, if they're good enough. We've got to try and keep things like that, is it worth the risk of letting money becoming the only form of regulation? Tell me.

Seeing as Derek is currently working for electronic community leaders Electric Minds I asked him how he thought online communities are going to evolve.

"I think that community is the rarest (and therefore most treasured) commodity online. It used to be if you put up a threaded discussion system you could call yourself a community. And people used those early systems because that's all there was. But that's no longer the case - and the big sites are learning ( s l o w l y ) that you can't just put up a posting form and call it community.

A tool does not a community make.

And people online are getting more savvy. The more choices that are offered them, the more picky they can be about where they hang out.

My hope, however, is that there remain places online where you can talk with other people without having to suffer through one annoying animated ad after another."

Good news then. But things aren't all great in the wired world. Technology based artists expressing themselves through interactive forms of multimedia are having a hard time from critics who complain of the artists' use of technology being merely a gimmick which adds nothing to the art. Some even claim it detracts from the art. How did Derek feel about this?

"Art critics are always looking for something to complain about."

So what 's exciting Derek most at the moment?

"I'm thrilled by the possibilities that JavaScript stylesheets provide and I hope they catch on in a big way."

I finished by asking if he thought Microsoft would succeed in conquering the Net:

"Will they? No.

Will they try? Of course...."

Will people ever beat Derek Powazek's design style and intelligence? No.

Will they try? Of course...

 

by Jeep - Any thoughts on what Derek had to say? Tell us!

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