I'm listening to cbc radio's spark podcast interview with Jonathan Zittrain, author of 'The Future of the Internet - and How to Stop It!'

This is a great discussion of 'tethered' appliances - endpoint appliances like iphone, apps like facebook and other access routes to the internet and our data that lock us in and kill innovation.

I have brisk discussions on the greatness of the iphone and how it's in Jobs' best interest to provide innovative software, but Zittrain verbalizes my concerns clearly: in any 'walled garden' the proprietor or the regulator can drop the hammer on our expectations.

To me, his strongest argument is a call for data portability, the same way years of lawsuits have led to privacy agreements and licensing agreements... and a more aware user who fights for those rights, the same way consumer advocacy groups fought for real-world regulation of products.

Zittrain's book is free online in PDF form here