Of course, in 1975, the internet was only Darpanet, and irrelevant to most people's lives...

In John Brunner's "The Shockwave Rider", the hero devises computer worms (a term invented by Brunner) to invade the "data-net" and expose the secrets of the criminal/governmental elites who use the net to compile massive clandestine databases on ordinary citizens, manipulate the economy, and control future society.

From an Amazon review:

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The aspects of modern life depicted here range from the profound: the Internet (though it's not called that); the "disposable" lifestyle where everyone is seen more as a replaceable cog in a machine than as an individual, and neither employees nor employers have any loyalty to each other; and the break-down in mental health and relationships that these ever-increasing pressures cause; political corruption because the Powers That Be are bought off by corporations; also bioengineering in a smaller way than is true for us. Others are more minor: the "circuses" seem to have strong similarities to reality TV; the Wii is referenced, as is by implication the Tivo etc.; and the increasing pointlessness of advertising. Even vulture capitalists are implied.
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