Universities ought to be aware of the degree they would want to accept funding from governments like China to work on, say, face recognition technology.

I went to SXSW in 2011. God, that was awful. I mean, I only went because my publisher wanted me to promote the book and the organizers invited me and it seemed silly not to go, especially for a relatively unknown first-time author. This is just not my cup of tea; the fewer such events I do on an annual basis, the happier I feel.

The director of the FBI has been visiting Silicon Valley companies asking them to build back doors so that it can spy on what is being said online. The Department of Commerce is going after piracy. At home, the American government wants anything but Internet freedom.

For all its shortcomings, Wikipedia does have strong governance and deliberative mechanisms; anyone who has ever followed discussions on Wikipedia's mailing lists will confirm that its moderators and administrators openly discuss controversial issues on a regular basis.

The Internet has made it much more effective and cheaper to spread propaganda.

Dictators aren't stupid, or regimes could be toppled easily by young people mobilizing on Facebook.

You know, anyone who wears glasses, in one sense or another, is a cyborg.