- The Internet Is Too Internationalized To Be Controlled
- The Internet Is Too Interconnected to Be Controlled
- The Internet Is Too Filled with Hackers to Be Controlled
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The Internet Is Too Interconnected to Be Controlled
Mann claims that a network that is absolutely decentralized is also absolutely dysfunctional. A search command that hops between thousands of machines in a decentralized network leads to big problems. In short, as the decentralized network grows larger, all these short search messages would inundate and quickly overwhelm the network.
To some extent this is true. But Mann forgets that there are limitations built into the P2P applications that allow users to regulate and throttle back the network use. Each short message is shared by a peer; although there is a significant amount of traffic, it's limited to the hosts that a user "knows" within the "neighborhood" of his P2P network. Morpheus is an example. Users can limit the number of uploads from their machines, or even turn off uploads completely. When the network slows down, users can reduce the number of uploads—and thus search queries—permitted from their machines.
Mann's next argument about interconnectivity is that eventually the distributed network will need centralized servers to make the network run faster and more efficiently. He states that even Gnutella has resorted to "indexing" servers that keep directories of what files are available on its network. Once decentralized, Gnutella now has a backbone of important computers that can be easily targeted and easily controlled. This is true. But if the centralized servers are discovered and forced to shut down, that doesn't eliminate the network—only slows it down.
Mann's final argument in this category states that the P2P traffic has distinctive digital "signatures"—the headers in a message. He claims that these headers can be read and identified with the newest software packages. What Mann is forgetting is that these headers—and the entire message—can easily be masked using encrypted tunnels such as SSL, thus protecting the identity and source of the information.