[Air-L] Benkler, Bandwidth, and the State of the Internet in Japan

[Andrew Famiglietti]

Hey all!

I've been doing some writing about the Political Economy of Web 2.0 and
happened across this recent piece by one of the giants of Network political
economy, Yochai Benkler:

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/04/recovery_prescription_build_br/

In it, he calls for a massive public program to build communications
infrastructure in the United States. He makes a reference near the beginning
of the piece to Japan, where 100 Mbit connections to the home have
apparently been common place for awhile now.

Here's my question. The basic premise of Benkler's thought is that
widespread cheap computational power and bandwidth should lead to a
decentralized network full of horizontally collaborating smallholders. Is
this what has happened in Japan? Does anyone know of any work on the current
state of the Internet there that might address this question? Is Japan a
FOSS paradise? Or have the forces Nicholas Carr describes in his "Big
Switch" lead to greater centralization?

The Japanese case seems like it ought to provide some great evidence on this
one way or another, but I never see any referenced. Can anyone get me
started? Thanks.

- Andy

-- 
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Andrew Famiglietti
PhD Candidate
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green Ohio