Virtual States
Over the last decade, tech journalists leaned heavily on certain device: comparing virtual communities to ‘brick & mortar’ states. For example:
- “If Second Life were a physical country, it would be larger than Hong Kong, Singapore, and many Caribbean islands.” (Link)
- “With more than 400 million active users worldwide and rising fast, Facebook would be the third most populated country behind leaders China (1.33 billion) and India (1.17 billion).” (Link)
This device was once seated firmly in the land of metaphors. But this week, a trend is taking shape wherein virtual communities are acting increasingly like nation states. To wit:
- Google is butting heads with China and lobbying for US action on their behalf.
- Facebook is gearing up to issue their own currency.
- Wikileaks’ open-source spycraft is causing government anxiety (and, allegedly, counter-measures)
While not really in the same category, Apple is meeting with the US military to discuss future combat.
Odd, no? What would a sovereign network look like?
