Beyond the Corporate Monoculture of the Modern Web
Via Noema Mag
The Story
Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon argue that the modern internet has hardened into an extractive corporate monoculture, and they propose borrowing the ecological practice of rewilding to restore its diversity and resilience.
They point to staggering concentration, noting that Google and Apple control roughly 85% of the browser market, two providers dominate more than half of global cloud computing, and Google handles about 84% of searches.
The pair compare this centralization to 18th century German scientific forestry, whose neat monoculture timber plantations eventually collapsed under storms, insects, and disease.
They warn that such concentration creates hidden single points of failure, citing the 2016 Dyn attack that knocked major websites offline and a Baltimore tunnel fire that severed concentrated fiber optic lines.
Their proposed remedies include antitrust enforcement, mandatory interoperability, open standards freed from corporate control, and transparent levies to fund independent browsers and infrastructure.
The takeaway is that a healthier internet, like a healthy ecosystem, depends on complexity and competition rather than the control of a few dominant firms.
They point to staggering concentration, noting that Google and Apple control roughly 85% of the browser market, two providers dominate more than half of global cloud computing, and Google handles about 84% of searches.
The pair compare this centralization to 18th century German scientific forestry, whose neat monoculture timber plantations eventually collapsed under storms, insects, and disease.
They warn that such concentration creates hidden single points of failure, citing the 2016 Dyn attack that knocked major websites offline and a Baltimore tunnel fire that severed concentrated fiber optic lines.
Their proposed remedies include antitrust enforcement, mandatory interoperability, open standards freed from corporate control, and transparent levies to fund independent browsers and infrastructure.
The takeaway is that a healthier internet, like a healthy ecosystem, depends on complexity and competition rather than the control of a few dominant firms.
Go Deeper
Read the original reporting at Noema Mag.
Read Full Story at Noema Mag →