Net Reaches the Big Timehttp://web.archive.org/web/20010523143803/www.wired.com/news/...1 of 21/13/07 6:17 PM

Net Reaches the Big Time

bySteve SilbermanandArik Hesseldahl

7:35 p.m. Sep. 11, 1998 PDT

The Internet -- characterized just a few years ago by magazines like

Time

as a Wild West frontier inhabitedby geeks and pornographers -- has become a primary information conduit of American society, in light of theonline publication of Kenneth Starr's report."It's a powerful endorsement of the medium that the government has chosen this way to disseminate whatthey think is important information," says Amanda Higgins, spokeswoman for Infoseek.Thereport's publication on federal Web sites, followed by widespread mirroring of the text on news andindividuals' sites from theUnited StatestoSweden, caused Net gridlock as even high-throughput outlets likeMSNBCfroze up with "server busy" messages.A tidal wave of Net traffic washed over

The Washington Post

's Web site half an hour before the report wentup at 11:30 am PDT, says Eric Schvimmer, director of infrastructure for Washingtonpost.NewsweekInteractive.Erin O'Shea, a spokeswoman for the site, estimated that Washingtonpost.com may have received as manyas 10.5 million pageviews Friday -- the highest count ever, topping the previous record on 17 August, theday Clinton delivered his response to Monica Lewinsky's grand jury testimony.The real message of the traffic spike, however, says Silicon Alley new-media attorney Jonathan Ezor, is thatthe Net has become as much a part of daily life as telephones or fax machines."When the report was published to the Net, it was considered published to the world, and the news peoplereported it without batting an eyelash," Ezor observes. "This is the first time I had the sense that the Webhas gotten to that point."While Joe Kraus, the co-founder of Excite, appreciates the fact that the Net has been officially recognized asa means of wide distribution, he points out that there may have been a "political agenda" behind thepublication of the report on the Web."The highest damage can be caused to the president by the rapid, widespread release of a report that readslike a porn novel," he says.Kraus notes that "you can't do this report on television in a two-minute segment. Publication on the Netmeans that you can read it as deeply as you want to, at your own pace."Technology-law specialist Mark Kowalsky believes the instant dissemination of government documents callsfor an upgrade in our assumptions about the way our government works."All the traditional checks and balances were developed at a time when there was no way to widely publishand distribute documents like this. Now we have that," he says. At the same time, he cautions that instantubiquity may make the government "rethink what's acceptable as far as disclosure goes. They may end upbeing more restrictive about release of sensitive information."David Heller, afreelance Web designerwho specializes in building sites for progressive organizations, pointedout in a post to a popular Web developer's mailing list that publication to the Net is no guarantee of universalaccess.There are still "class issues involved," he wrote. "The Internet is still only open to those with the means tohave access to it. To assume it is a fair means of distribution is ... premature in my opinion."Compared to the traditional means of distribution in a democracy, however -- broadcast media and the dailynewspapers -- the Net still boasts the ability to put more unfiltered data in front of more eyeballs morequickly. While some papers, such as the

Chicago Sun-Times

, are electing to add special supplements to