The Way of the Web
Who owns the Internet? — No one.
Who controls the Internet? — No one.
Where is the Internet? — Everywhere.
Can you understand all and penetrate all with the click of a mouse?
To produce things and to make them well,
but not to sell them,
rather to give them away freely to all,
and by giving to become known and valued;
to act, but not to rely on one’s own ability,
to build on the works and lessons of others,
and to let others do likewise —
this is called the Way of the Web.
The best is like water.
Water benefits all things and does not compete with them.
Water dissolves barriers.
Water reaches out and covers the earth.
This is called the Way of the Web.
(written 1995, epigraph for my book The Way of the Web)