The Net's People-Power Pioneers
Here's a look at some of the folks behind a slew of innovations that have helped individuals gain new strength from new connections
Open-source software, blogs, song-sharing networks, free Internet telephony -- they're each disrupting multibillion-dollar industries and reshaping the landscape of business, politics, and culture. What's the common thread behind them all? Us. All these new technologies -- spawned by nearly ubiquitous cheap computers and Net connections -- not only give individuals more power to get their own way but also allow people to join ad-hoc, mass global groups for the first time in human history. These are some of the movers and shapers of this new Cooperation Nation.