%0 Journal Article %T Coisas velhas em coisas novas: novas "velhas tecnologias" %A Demo %A Pedro %J Ci¨ºncia da Informa£¿£¿o %D 2010 %I Scientific Electronic Library Online %R 10.1590/S0100-19652010000100007 %X the objective of this article is to present an up-todate discussion about the extraordinary technological innovations, mainly the new technologies underlining both breaches and continuities. technologies are supposed to present a sense of convergence as well as continuities. hackers and others who propose free software are in favor of liberty and liberation, considering computer and internet as arenas of freedom. this is only partly correct, because these hackers who consider themselves as libertarians submit themselves to narrow-minded structures of power (for example, autocratic bosses). internet is state-wide instead of being worldwide. france has imposed changes in the contents of sites. china does not allow a free flow of information. that aura of beginning liberty, granted as a structure of the computer for being customized and formatted is strongly contested by illegal and immoral flow, by introduction of spasm and marketing, as well as by virus contamination. the so called "generative internet" is loosing ground on account of the pressure of users who want guaranteed end-products, easier to be handled, for avoiding abuse of freedom. the case of wikip¨¦dia is remarkable. continuous wars of publishing unsettle the environment (although this does not hinder the production of a large and original encyclopedia). %K generative internet %K hacker spirit %K libertarianism %K new technologies %K abuse of freedom %K innovation %K continuities. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0100-19652010000100007&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en