John Perry Barlow, RIP

John Perry Barlow passed away in his sleep yesterday.  He was 70.

If you don’t know the name, but you use the Internet in your daily life, here’s how Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (of which Barlow was a co-founder some 27 years ago) put his impact in context:

It is no exaggeration to say that major parts of the Internet we all know and love today exist and thrive because of Barlow’s vision and leadership. He always saw the Internet as a fundamental place of freedom, where voices long silenced can find an audience and people can connect with others regardless of physical distance….

Barlow’s lasting legacy is that he devoted his life to making the Internet into “a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth . . . a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity.”

WIRED has a fitting remembrance here.

RIP, Mr. Barlow.  

May your soul find eternal rest in the electronic ether.