The tale of the Digital City is a bothersome one. In reading Geert's back history of the Amsterdam online cutlure, it seems that there was a distinct possibility that this form of democracy could have succeeded online. That it failed in the sense of becoming nothing more than a common ISP seems all the more disheartening due to its rather utopian beginnings. Not only does the article call into question the idea of community, it represents the general concerns facing internet activists--economics and legality. As he says in his last line, such a community is a difficult task to manage without support from government. Well, what government is supporting such communities. Lovink seems to hold a certain degree of hatred for Joost Flint, but how much can the individual corporation (or capitalist) be blamed when the entire structure favors commercialization?