Free-market computing and the global economic infrastructure

A powerful new vision of computing for the 21st century has emerged in which the World Wide Web will become the universal medium for computing. As part of this vision the Web will progress from mainly a passive supplier of information to a truly interactive medium for commerce, science, education and entertainment that will have a broad impact on society. The paper considers how the integration of computing into the world's economic infrastructure is essential if Web-oriented computing is to realize its full potential. The economic aspects of the free market computing approach to the use of computing resources on the Web are essential to the its success.