"How we got the Internet" is a complicated story, in which the government, government agencies, tax money and Al Gore all played a part. I also give a lot of credit to the innovators, visionaries and entrepreneurs without whom the Internet would still be an obscure tool only used by academics, researchers and nerds. Not that the free market side of things was without its downside, as the Dot-Com crash demonstrated.
Anyway, the government still has a role. A country's data networks are a strategic national asset, requiring a national strategy and policies to support them. The government can also step in when social needs are not met by a purely free market approach. An example from Canada is government initiatives to provide broadband access to rural areas.
I think that there is some merit in separating the basic plumbing of the Internet from the other parts, though I can't say that I am familiar with the South Korean model.
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Date: 23/9/11 22:58 (UTC)Anyway, the government still has a role. A country's data networks are a strategic national asset, requiring a national strategy and policies to support them. The government can also step in when social needs are not met by a purely free market approach. An example from Canada is government initiatives to provide broadband access to rural areas.
I think that there is some merit in separating the basic plumbing of the Internet from the other parts, though I can't say that I am familiar with the South Korean model.