The world on this side of the computer screen is such a seamless continuation of the world on the other side that even the Secret Service is here. In September, they announced a bust of six "hackers" accused of trading in stolen cellular phone codes. Apparently, those arrested had no qualms about discussing their activities on a BBS dedicated to the subjects of phone and credit card fraud--that the Secret Service had set up themselves. Perhaps the "hackers" truly believed the Net was an anarchic environment in which the Feds would not venture.

I agree with one of the harshest critics of computer culture, Jerry Mander, when he says, "The only problems that will be solved by computers are the problems that corporations may face."

The cyber hucksters are part of a long tradition. They are doing what salesmen have always done. They sell us a new technology or a new piece of turf and we invest in it all our hopes and dreams. We disengage from the world as we know it and push ourselves forward, believing it will be better. Our grandparents did it, traveling in steerage, to their next dimensional home. Our parents went to the World's Fair and came away inspired, believing in the future according to General Motors. We listen blissfully to the crackle of our modems, and think that what we're hearing is the theme music of a new society.

I'm willing to grant that there is at least one truly utopian quality to the Net: standardization.