Ethics, economics and IT

The theme of this conference concerns the 'flow on effects of information technology on society and the environment.' This paper attempts to show the role of the economics discipline in this theme. But first, some general thoughts about the effects of l. T. on society. Most people seem to be glowing with hope and optimism about I.T. and what it can offer us. Some writers have said it will make society more democratic, give more opportunity to greater numbers of people to participate, decentralise power, and even bring about more equality. I am sceptical about these claims, and generally more pessimistic about I.T.'s social consequences. People liken I.T. to the invention of the printing press. But look what happened to that. Commerce took control to further its own selfish ends. In Australia most of our media (especially television and print) are owned by two or three companies. I.T. is also compared to the introduction of television. But surely TV was always at best a mixed blessing, and now it is succumbing to the same concentration of ownership (and power) as happened with the printing press. Given these well known draw backs of previous media technologies, why should we be so optimistic about I.T.? Isn't it likely to become just another way the commercial world extracts money from us?