Jon Zittrain has posted a new article, The Generative Internet, that is forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review. Zittrain argues that a "cybersecurity crisis" is around the corner, and that its arrival will bring increased focus on security that will threaten Internet innovation. He contends that we need to be ready to protect values of innovation in the unfolding world of a "locked-down Internet," and offers some general strategies for doing so. For example, Zittrain suggests that we might have "two Internets," one for security and the other for experimentation. Alternatively, we could stick with one Internet and "creat[e] rough mechanisms for accountability for those who wish to introduce software to the world and for individuals who put that software to certain uses, while giving reason for the maintainers of generative technologies — the Internet architects, service providers, and operating system manufacturers — to keep them open[.]"

  The difficulty with the argument, I think, is that it hinges on the prediction that a particular type of "cybersecurity crisis" is unfolding. We don't know if such a crisis is coming or what it might look like, which makes it somewhat difficult to map out possible responses now. In any event, if you're interested in computer security or Internet design, check out the paper.