New media: brave new world or same old same old?

Extravagant forecasts made about the impact of the Internet and digital technologies on information production and consumption have, in some respects, proved correct. However, the new communication spaces created through the subsidised Internet are closing down as the public and corporate subsidies on which they were based have been reduced. Key factors include the end of free web-hosting, the rising cost of searching and subscribing to web-based content services, the "acceptable use" policies of the dominant Internet service providers, and further concentration in control and use of network access points and content services. The fear is that the commercialisation of the Internet will increasingly overwhelm the conversation. In this environment, public service broadcasters should provide a mechanism which will allow the searching, hosting and linking of alternate voices and non-commercial sites, seizing the opportunities made possible by the Internet's architecture to facilitate the information commons and public conversation of the digital age.