Guardian has an interesting interview/ portrait on "father of the internet" and now Google employee Vint Cerf:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/02/interviews.internet

In regards to scammers and spammers and such:
<<"It's every man for himself," he says, grinning. "In the end, it seems every machine has to defend itself. The internet was designed that way.">>

And:
<<He also doesn't think the net is going to exhibit any form of consciousness. "I don't believe we will see grow out of the network the kind of intelligence that sounds like a Fred Hoyle science fiction novel," he says. However, "even if the internet is not intelligent and aware, it will feel more intelligent than it does today. But it's fair to say that if you want the system to do things you care about, you have to let it know what you care about. You have to give up some information voluntarily.">>

[Via http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/74m14/vint_cerf_in_the_end_it_seems_every_machine_has/]