The internet, capitalism and policy

The role of financial capital in the development of the Internet services market is influencing the types of services that are being made available for citizens. This paper considers the implications the interests of investors in healthy financial returns. It makes a case for policy intervention to ensure that an Internet ‘commons’ is maintained. The empirical focus is on the development of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) market and on the implications of the main trends in this market for the development of non-commercial Internet Web sites and services. The case for policy that will foster diversity in the provision of Internet services is linked to the need to foster new media literacies to enable the majority of citizens to live their lives more effectively in intensely technologically mediated societies.