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Milia 96: International Publishing and New Media Market Conference9 - 12 February 1996: Cannes, France (Sponsored by Reed Midem Organisation) Opening Keynote Address: Nicholas Negroponte |
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Michael Bush
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Copyright (c) 1996 - Future Systems Inc.
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Nicholas Negroponte (Founder, MIT Media Lab) termed the "Net Prophet" by the Milia Daily News, stated that "the Net" without a means of exchanging funds isn't much." He provided some interesting background on the Internet itself and how it works and also gave some insight into its global nature and the impact it will have on perceptions of morality and decency of communities around the globe. "What is considered appropriate in one location is already being considered inappropriate in another," he noted. For example, a student in Michigan offended a man in Moscow, via the Internet. The Russian called the president of the student's university, who, in turn, called the sheriff, who put the young man into jail without bail.
According to Negroponte, the big headline grabber in 1996 will be commerce on the "Net." "With the Web doubling every 50 days," he said, "income from advertising will climb from $20 million in 1995 to $1 billion in 1996." Furthermore, people who don't like the financial laws in one country will be able to move their activity to a different country a phenomenon, which when combined with untraceable "E-Cash," will get national treasuries very upset. States and borders created to deal with economies based on accounting for atoms will become irrelevant. Because intellectual property can now be transmitted anywhere as bits, "the whole ball game is being changed."
