I was looking at the web site of a new startup from India called NetAlter, they are creating a secure p2p application that they are touting as a possible new Internet. A quick look to the right on their homepage shows the main reason this will not happen, the patents they hold mean this will be a closed environment. You only need to look at AOL or MSN to see what the fate of a closed Internet is compared to an open one. They will potentially have a market in the corporate sector for information exchange applications, but the idea raises an interesting question.
A potential solution to the bad facets of the Net (spam, phishing, worms, etc.) is to remove the anonymity. The consequence is that it also removes some of the freedom of expression. An Internet on which you are easily identifiable need not be a complete replacement of what we have now. It could run in parallel, or on top of the existing Internet. But would people actually use it?
Personally I would shop, bank, read news and research on an Internet with universal identification, but I would be reluctant to post to forums or interact with people I didn’t know RL. How would your interaction with the Internet change if you couldn’t be at least partly anonymous?