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322HYPERTEXT 3.0 tert who reject outlandish claims for it. Then, there are those like Mitchellwho recognize the "no free lunch" factor-in other words, that every advantageof a new information medium brings with it a possible disadvantage. Forexample, many have proclaimed, quite correctly, the enormous benefits ofthe Internet, but connectivity has its downside, too, for as Mitchell wams after9117, "in a networked, electronically interconnected world, there is no fundamentaldifference between addresses and targets" (Me++,5). ,,The densely,globally networked world," Mitchell further explains, .,is emphatically not (asearly cyberspace utopians had sometimes imagined) inherently one of selfregulating,libertarian harmony. The proliferation and geographic distributionof access points-the very essence of the benefits of networks-arsomultiplies and distributes opporfunities to create threats to the safety andwell-being of those who have come to rely upon network capabilities" (Me++,179). Moreover, even those who remain convinced of the positive personaland political benefits of the Net, such as the cyber-activist Geert Lovink, havelearned from experience that discussion lists and other electronic forumsrequire some form of central control-editors, webmasters, moderators, gatekeepers.2Multiuser digital environments, like all human enterprises, turnout to need organizational techniques found outside cyberspace:'After abrief period of excitement, the newly founded web sites, lists, servers, medialabs, etc. have to find ways to deal with growth, economic issues, internalhierarchies, ever-changing standards, ongoing convergence probrems betweenplatforms, and incompatible software while establishing a form of cyberneticnormalcy in the process" (Dark Fiber,4l.Another reason for skepticism about the possibility of hypermedia, theInternet, and other digital technologies fulfilling predictions that they woulddemocratize institutions and empower users derive from justifiable fears that,as Lovink puts it, "the Internet, bit by bit, is being closed down, sealed offbyfilters, firewalls, and security laws, in a joint operation by corporations andgovernment in order to create a 'secure' and 'safe' information environment,free ofdissents and irritants to capital flows" (Dark Fiber, tl-I2). Lovink, oneof many who believe that "it is time to say goodbye to the short summer ofthe internet" (19), fears that governmental and commercial interference withthe Internet threatens to choke offits potential for political good:The primary values of the early Internet, with its Usenet, virtual communities anofocus on the fight against censorship are under threat. The consensus myth of anegalitarian, chaotic system, ruled by self-governing users with the help of artificial lifeand friendly bots, is now crushed by the take-over oftelecom giants, venture capital