Futurists: Feds to squash online freedom (at Fortune)

Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig predicts that an online attack will prompt the government to clamp down on Internet freedoms. By Jon Fortt HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - Tech visionary Lawrence Lessig made a sobering prediction Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference: “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event,” he said, “an event that demonstrates the instability of the Internet, and that inspires the government to a response.” He said he believes this digital disaster – a major hacker attack or other act of cyber-terrorism in the next ten years – will prompt the U.S. government to clamp down on Internet freedoms in an online parallel to the Patriot Act. Lessig, a Stanford Law School professor who founded its Center for Internet and Society, said he came to this conclusion after a conversation with former federal... [read full story]