In this article Tim Wu (Professor Wu was named one of Scientific American’s 50 people of the year in 2006. In 2007 Wu was named one of Harvard University’s 100 most influential graduates) argues that Steve Job’s policy of integration poses long-term dangers, particularly once the golden age ends. In an integrated or closed industry is inherently easier to censor than a fragmented or open one. While we don’t have these problems yet, we must never forget that an industry that’s been designed to control content from the get-go is an industry more easily used to control minds.
In his book “The Master Switch” (heavy-going but worth reading), Wu says that the Internet is in danger of becoming a closed system, co-opted by private interests, and to counter this, he proposes a “Separation Principle”, where competition in the information industry would be preserved by complete independence between owners of content, network infrastructure and tools of access.
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