Community World

In our fourth scenario, the worst fears of governments worldwide are becoming reality. The Internet has become so powerful that virtually everyone is on-line. Those without access, the "homepageless," are practically non-entities, looked own upon and practically without a country; the Internet has become so dominant that it has usurped the identifying role previously held by oneีs nation.

People are no longer segregated based upon which country they reside in, but instead by which webserver they subscribe to. They are separated into "net communities." There is a great deal of animosity between these communities; many are not on speaking terms, and a few real conflicts have occurred. The racial prejudice of the past has been replaced by the "domainism" that is prevalent now.

This world has presented problems with regulating crime and enforcing laws on the net. Because the real world police and real world governments have so little influence and power in the new cyberworld, a new security force has been assembled-- "the UN-cyberpolice." Though they are undermanned and overmatched, they are the only legitimate enforcers of civil rights on-line.