Bill Sweetman is the vice-president of Internet strategy and marketing services of Toronto-based new media consulting firm mmsg and the producer of MultiMediator.com – Canada’s Multimedia Guide.

As massive and as over-hyped as the Internet revolution is to us today, it is still in its infancy. At the end of the 20th century, less than 5% of the world’s population is connected to the Internet, which means that what we’re experiencing today is just the tip of the iceberg. How you respond to the implications of this, whether it is joy, fear, or a healthy combination of the two, will determine the role you will play in this global juggernaut.

Those of you who are used to the protective barrier of a regulated environment are in for a rocky ride. Defending your turf in the unruly and unregulated online world requires staking your claim first, not crying to the regulators when someone else beats you to it.

I will leave it up the lawyers to debate the legality of the recently launched ‘Internet superstation’ iCraveTV.com, but from where I stand, this brilliant Canadian webcasting venture is a long overdue wake-up call to this country’s broadcasting community.

Being asleep at the technology wheel has proven to be a common ailment of the traditional media establishment. For years the global music industry had its head buried in the sand while the Internet encroached upon its livelihood with downloadable music files and ”pirate’ Web radio stations. Now it may be too late for the music industry to tame the beast known as MP3. And guess what? Movies and television are next in line….

As you make plans for your company’s relationship to, and with, the Internet, try to look beyond the notion of having a website. The Internet holds vastly more potential than that. Today, the majority of people experience the Internet using a personal computer at work or home. We’re already beginning to access the riches of the Internet from dozens of other devices such as watches, phones, fridges and cars. While these examples may sound like farfetched visions of a Buck Rogers future, they are all a reality today.

The relatively new medium of the Internet, at least for the time being, defies easy categorization or explanation. That’s why anyone who is looking for neat and tidy answers to where this revolution is headed is going to be frustrated and disappointed. Despite what you may have heard, there really is no one perfect business model, magic solution, or sure-fire hit. Even the ‘experts’ are basing their recommendations on glorified hunches rather than empirical evidence.

The most valuable piece of advice I can offer to anyone attempting to wrap their head around this new medium is to concentrate on what questions they should be asking, rather than search for answers that may not be there.