The Internet has provided great benefits, but at the same time it has also created new dangers and inequalities. Is it possible to control some of these problems

No-one can deny that the Internet ltas reuolutionised much of society. Indiuiduals benefitfrorn access to almost endless amounts of information on theWorldWide Veb, as tlell as being able to communicate easily and cheaply utith fiends and strangers. For the business world the impact ltas been euen rl'tore dramatic. Vast sums of monry are constantly being instantly transferred around the utorld by electronic meAns. Banhs and otlter businesses now totally depend on tlte Internet. There are, houteuer, significant dangers in this deueloprnent. The frst problem that rnost PeoPle think of is tlte danger of hachers inuading tlte system and either obtaining secret inforrnation or introducing uiruses tltat cause irnmense damage. It is unlikely that this problem can euer be completely solued. As soon as tlte technology is deueloped to ouercoTne one hacher, anotber one produces some nela method. Apart fom this technical problem, houteuer, there is a rnuclt deeper one, and that is the inequality benreen indiuidualr and societies, uthich tlte Internet is mahing laorse. The gap behreen the rich and the poor is growing rapidly in the world, and access to the Internet is a signifcant part of the problem. Deueloping countries wltere scltools cAnnot offird computers, and small businesses which do not ltaue Internet Accest Are being lefi further and further behind. Some people belieue that if computers dre tuidely disnibuted in poor societies that this would be an important to reduce the inequalities. Others feel that the problem is much deeper, and needs to be deab u. , ith by bodies suclt as the World Tiade Organisation. The anstaer is probably that all possible methods should be used to breah down the inequalities, including Access to tlte Internet, to ensure that the world does not become more arud more unstable.