Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
The Internet has become one of the most important mediums of communication and information in modem society. For many, the rapid adoption of these technologies into mainstream society has been combined with a reliance on commercial software, most notably the Microsoft Corporation\u27s Windows operating system. Question arise out of the commercial dominance in a realm that until recently was characterised by the collective sharing of information and ideas. Although there is a lack of established sociological literature in this field, established literature on ownership, global capital, political economy and social exclusion have been identified and drawn upon to fill this gap in research. The research process highlights both traditional theoretical concepts, mainly drawn from the work of Marx, and their implications in terms of the Internet, computers and other related topics
