The Internet promises the realization of two of humanity's noblest dreams: universal access to all human knowledge and the capacity to form and coordinate groups at virtually no cost. As great as this sounds, it's bad news for certain kinds of top-heavy organizations and the kinds of companies that got rich on exclusion from information. From the UN to shady back-room "plurilateral" treaty negotiations, from the blogosphere to staid standards-committees, the fight over the future rages, with diplomacy and activism at its core.