LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuter) - Governments which seek to restrain the
freedom of speech and tax the vast electronic commerce spawned by the
Internet will almost certainly be wasting their time, experts say. 

The world-wide network of personal computers linked across telephone
lines allows ordinary citizens to communicate freely across
international borders, often for the first time. 

They will be able to tap into ideas from all corners of the globe and
also find the cheapest price in the world for goods, which they will
sometimes be able to buy without tax. 

This magical prospect for people is often heresy for governments. Even
if governments are not inclined to curb freedom of speech, they are
all alive to the dangers of loss of tax revenues. 

But there will probably be nothing they can do about it. 

Experts say that any attempt to control traffic over the Internet will
be futile. Governments in China, Burma and Singapore have already
tried to discipline this on-line activity with minimal success. 

INTERNET GROWTH SET TO ACCELERATE 

The growth in personal computer use and the Internet has been
stupendous. 

The U.S. high-technology research company IDG says that by the year
2000, more than one billion people across the world will be users of
personal computers, up from 450 million in 1996. 

In a recent report, the British research firm Datamonitor said 38
million European households will be able to connect their personal
computers with modems to the Internet by 2001. That would represent 25
percent of European households, up from less than two percent now. 

This will generate unprecedented levels of ``surfing'' for
information, and a gradual buildup of electronic commerce, where
people arrange their banking, buy holidays, select movies and shop. 

All this assumes that personal computer makers can make the final leap
to producing machines which are easy for non-experts and that
telephone utilities can keep pace with the demand on their lines. 

COMPUTER EXPERTS ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD OF GOVERNMENTS 

Dr Bob Glass of the U.S. technology leader Sun Microsystems Inc said
any attempt by governments to curtail any of this would be a waste of
time. 

Not even the most powerful computers will be able to effectively
patrol the world's telephone lines. Individual computer experts will
always be one step ahead. 

``Singapore has tried curbs. When you dial in you can only get the
headlines on web sites. But people just call outside the country to
another Internet server,'' Glass said. 

``The same in China. All Internet traffic is routed through Beijing
University which only allows the content the government allows. But
they can go via a telephone call to, say, Taiwan to find the
information they want,'' Glass said. 

This week Chinese officials said Beijing had loosened its controls on
Internet users accessing foreign news sources but would continue to
watch for politically suspect content on the network. 

Other countries have more direct methods of imposing their will. In
November Burma announced a law penalising the unauthorised use of
modems or fax machines with up to 15 years in jail.