Oh Barlow, You so Crazy!

After reading Barlow (1996) A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, I could not actually remember why I stumbled upon this site. I felt like I was getting cyber-bashed for saying/doing something. Though Barlow does raise some important points about cyberspace; no governance, it cannot be built - but rather formed, he does go on a crazy tangent which does not look at all aspects of cyberspace.

To understand the arguement that Barlow (1996) is making, we have to first understand the term Cyberspace. It can be described as many computer networks, where individuals are able to participate in online communication (Wikipedia). We also have to take into account that Barlow wrote thier work in 1996, and the terminology of Cyberspace has changed over the past 17 years.

If we stick by the Cyberspace description found on Wikipedia, we can see that some of the points Barlow made are also incorrect. The world of Cyberspace, though it has no governance, sites are able to monitor what is written on it. Barlow makes the point that though cyberspace allows an individual to express themselves without predujuice, but he doesn't make the point that, sites are able to control what is written on their, acting as a form of governance.

The point I'm interesting mainly in, is when Barlow states "Your legal concepts of property, expression and identity and context do not apply to us". Now we do not know if Barlow is talking about the offline world, or if he is talking about Cyberspace, but is he is, he does not take into account the property that an individual can buy online EG: SecondLife property. Though when Barlow wrote this it was in 1996, and SecondLife did not exsist, but still, his point does not cover what an indivual can buy online.