| This research project examines the various user communities on the Internet that engage in activities that can be said to be in opposition to the commercialization of cyberspace. As the Internet becomes increasingly privatized, there is a risk that the cultures and communities that helped build the Internet are being marginalized by the influx of commercial services into cyberspace. In contrast to the for-profit Internet that is emerging, this analysis studies a number of communities that offer an alternative method of organization to that of commerce. This research project studies open source, file sharing, piracy, and cracking in order to discover the alternatives to the commercial Internet and to provide a basis for active citizenship both in cyberspace and the real world. |
