Internet Archive's 2046 Wayforward Machine says Google will cease to exist
- Reference: 1633118591
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/10/01/internet_archive_wayforward_machine/
- Source link:
The Wayforward Machine paints a picture of the internet in 2046 – smeared with censorship, regulation, governmental interference, and more.
On typing in any well-known web address to the Wayforward Machine, the viewer is presented with a number of popups – all of which suggest a nightmarish future where governmental surveillance reigns supreme and privacy is heavily frowned upon.
[1]
Visiting the BBC website brings up a popup stating: "Content on the site you are trying to access is protected by the Content Truth Gateway," while trying to reach Google.com shows that the Chocolate Factory has ceased to function after being regulated out of existence – perhaps intended as the sole light at the end of the tunnel rather than a sign of crushing defeat for freedom.
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The Internet Archive's Wayforward Machine, on Google's homepage. Click to enlarge
The site was launched to mark the IA's 25th anniversary, exploring how the World Wide Web might look in a quarter of a century from now. Many Reg readers will recall those halcyon days of 1996 when Microsoft was reeling from [3]accusations of breaking competition laws, Google and Facebook didn't exist, and social media as a concept revolved around internet message boards – or IRC for the technically adept.
We are the resistance!
On top of the Wayforward Machine, the IA has also published a timeline of things that could go wrong for the US side of the web, including repeal of [4]section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, which protects hosts and platform operators from being legally liable for user-generated content.
The timeline is pretty hysterical (sample: "2027: In the wake of the new copyright laws, Wikipedia faces myriad lawsuits for making 'copyrighted facts' freely available. It is forced to shut down on all centralized networks, but articles are still written and accessed on the Decentralized Web") in its attempt to convey a serious message about overregulation causing harm to the WWW as we know it.
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It also veers into more gloomy predictions ("2030: Lower income students are priced out of higher education") that have less to do with internet regulation, and ends on the Mad Max -esque note: "2046: Driven underground, activists for the Internet Archive organise resistance."
[6]Campaigners warn of an 'algorithm-driven censorship' future if UK Online Safety Bill gets through Parliament
[7]Online disinformation is an industry that needs regulation, says boffin
[8]US SEC chair calls for crypto regulation
[9]We take a look at proposed Big Tech regulations in the UK: Heavy on possible fines, light on enforcement
Internet regulation is a particularly hot topic at the moment. US calls to regulate tech companies have grown ever louder in recent years while in the UK, the promised Online Safety Bill seems certain to make using the internet a much more insecure experience thanks to mandatory age verification, which is a main plank of the government's [10]campaign to regulate (mostly) US-based tech companies.
If all of this isn't depressing enough for you, the IA has also set up a Twitter account based in 2046 that makes Edgar Allan Poe's oeuvre look like the Mr Bean Annual. We'll leave you to find that for yourself, dear reader. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YVeFK7SfiufonyBQpubO4AAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/10/01/screenshot_wayforward_machine_1.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2018/05/21/antitrust_google_us_government/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/05/section_230_us_safe_tech_act/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YVeFK7SfiufonyBQpubO4AAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/23/online_safety_bill_legal_type_legal_say/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/27/disinformation_is_an_industry/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/04/sec_chair_gensler_calls_for_cryptocurrency_regulations/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/16/uk_online_harms/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/23/online_safety_bill_legal_type_legal_say/
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "Google was a word in a dictionary not many people had heard of"
Of course not many people had heard the word, it was in a diccionary that misprinted "Googol".
You win the prize
Yeah, yeah, you know what we meant. It wasn't in people's lexicon. I've fixed that. Don't forget to email corrections@theregister.com if you spot something wrong.
C.
This week Google sent me an email saying they were downgrading my Google login account to "child" with intrinisic restrictions.
"For a more age-appropriate experience, Google has changed some of your settings because you aren't confirmed to be over 18.
If you're 18 or older you can verify your age when you check your settings.
"
To verify my age I have to give them my credit card details for them to do a nominal validation transfer. The email looks genuine - but I am not touching that verification process with a bargepole.
They succeeded to eradicate the book
It would have been a joke if it was a far fetched scenario. The problem is that many "outrageous" changes to laws, policy and commerce are more plausible than you'd expect. And that is the real danger here.
Many small changes in the wrong direction will exactly result in the described scenario. One step makes the next step logical/acceptable/plausible from the public and policy maker's perspective. The lobby groups will work overtime and the general public is misled by newspeak. We've already seen a (small) taste of the the unword discussions on the internet.
"Google was a word in a dictionary not many people had heard of"
Google was never a word in the dictionary until Google came along as a misspelling of "Googol."