It is, in other words, an Internet Free-Zone.
Why? Well, it's not that we have anything against people selling things on the Web. Like it or not, this is a capitalist society: it is based on the exchange of goods and services for money. The real problem lies in how these goods and services are promoted.
Notice that a distinction is being made here. Promotion itself is not the issue. After all, "buyers" need to know what "sellers" have to offer. Unfortunately, most of the advertising we are subjected to these days has nothing to do with the product itself. Instead we are sold an association. "Eat this burger! Drive this car! Wear this lipstick! You'll be smarter, hipper, sexier, younger, and more successful, just like the people using our product. You'll be transformed by the power of consumption into a better, more desirable version of yourself!"
At least that's what these ads would have us believe. And it's entirely fraudulent.
Because this kind of promotion is so prevalent, the mixing of ideas and information with products and advertising inevitably devalues the former, especially in a large and impersonal society. If all I know about you is that you're trying to sell me something, how can I trust anything you say? The answer is: I can't. And that's why it's best to maintain a strict separation between the commercial and the non-commercial.
Naturally this isn't going to happen. Commercial interests will continue to exploit the Web; ideas and information will continue to be confused with commerce. Bad as this sounds, it will have one beneficial effect. The opportunity to make money—and the corresponding opportunity for us to buy things and improve our standard of living—will bring the Web into more and more homes over the next few years. So rather than trying to thwart the commercialization of the Web—which is a lost cause anyway—we would simply like to encourage a few outposts where self-interest doesn't get in the way of other things: Internet Free-Zones.
Harper Street Ink is one of them.