Most of us rent on the Internet. We don't own. Perhaps we only squat. The 'net is owned and operated by smart, smart people with devious minds. They keep the rest of us like domestic animals.
If they needed to slaughter us, they could. But we are the ducks who lay the golden eggs. We are the fumbling creatures who provide the amateur entertainment for our technological superiors.
By connecting every aspect of our lives in a convenient network we gain the ability to transmit all sorts of content, for a price, using machines most of us don't understand. We can play and work up to a certain level of proficiency, but someone always seems to know a little more. The masters are those who have taken the time to master. We joke about the apparently jobless, unshaven geeks, bathed in screen light in some windowless room, but who else is investing the time? That's what it takes: investment of time. Power goes to those who seek it. The rest of us must deal with how they choose to use it.
As with any heterogeneous group of people, some use their powers benevolently while others revel in the ability to sow chaos and misery. In between lies all manner of generosity and mischief.
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