The concept of a "splinternet" or the "balkanization of the internet" -- in which rules and regulations would carve the global internet into a series of smaller internets -- has existed for years. But we're now barreling toward a point where concept will become reality.
In 2001, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — whose company had yet to turn a quarterly profit — said in an interview, "I very much believe the internet is indeed all it is cracked up to be." Now, 18 years later, the emphasis should be placed on how "cracked up" the internet could become. The concept of a "splinternet" or the "balkanization of the internet" — in which the global digital information network would be sectioned off into smaller internets by a growing series of rules and regulations — has existed for years. But we're now barreling toward a point where concept will become reality. The Wild West days of an open internet are gone for good, and the implications of an increasingly fragmented internet will be profound.
