In places that don't or can't spend, big numbers don't mean as much when it comes to the mass consumer Net.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Asia Buzz: Let's Lose the Prefix

And the proportion of the population who use the Net is far from critical mass.

CNN: THE E-TAIL REVOLUTION

Within the 24-year period, 67% of the years show negative net annual specific balances, with a cumulative mass balance loss of - 10.50 m water equivalent (w.e.).

UNESCO: Dublin Core

Along with millions of other out-of-date and unsecured PCs strung together by the Internet--what Corman calls "the leper colony"--those machines represent a combined mass of computing power responsible for most of the Net's spam e-mails, much of its click fraud, and the vicious "denial of service" attacks that can knock sites offline and even destroy online businesses altogether.

FORBES: Zombie Storm Rising

Four years into its mass use, I think it's time to step back and look at the Net for what it really is, good and bad.

FORBES: The Internet's Unintended Revenge