Who Owns The Internet?

Posted by admin

We all know Al Gore invented the internet, but there seems to be a lot of confusion locally over who is allowed to create websites related to our beloved Kern River Valley.

Keep in mind that WWW stands for World Wide Web, and just about anyone with an internet connection from anywhere in the world can legally register a domain and create a website whether it is a site about popcorn, pets or the Kern River Valley.

This troubles some people. They seem to believe that since they existed locally before me (and surely others to come) and created a few regional sites that somehow nobody else is allowed to design, promote or profit from the promotion of tourism in the Kern River Valley!  As a matter of fact they have even convinced many business owners and some of our local organizations of this. Just because we live in a somewhat isolated community people, doesn’t mean we need to think that way.

Let me ask you a question. If those who have been historically promoting tourism and business here are doing such a wonderful job, how come so many businesses are hurting or closing down, and how come each year it seems we have less and less visitors on holiday weekends where the campgrounds have been historically jam packed?

I know the Forest Service keeps adding and changing fees for use of the campgrounds, but they do that all over the state, and country for that matter, not just here so it isn’t the introduction of fees necessarily causing the problem. With the economy in a depression (that’s right, a depression not a recession) the news reports that vacationers are opting for more local resources of recreation rather than exotic locations and long distance airplane trips. How come then, we don’t have historically high numbers of visitors?

March 2010


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