First and foremost is ill-formed public perception towards digital libraries. This is perhaps the most serious roadblock for DL' s future. The general public by and large continues to view a digital library as the electronic version of the traditional library-where you get to use books and other materials on electronic forms either online or from the local library, for free. Thr broader vision for the DL circa 1994 has hardly had much effect on that outdated perception. Second, part of this ill formed public perception is due to the overemphasis of research on the development of basic science and technology, and not enough priority given to user needs. This is reflected in what the research community do more and best, for example, technical conferences and publications. Few, if any, real large-scale open experiments and, demonstrations for the benefits of the public or the industry have been done in the last ten years. The third roadblock is commercial success in non-public domains where such e-contents and services as music and grease being made readily available online at lost cost. Such successes overshadow a similar need and opportunity for e-contents in the public domain. The fourth roadblock, perhaps the most important, is the lack of a business models and incentives for making public e0contents more accessible and profitable. Without such models in the DL research agenda, the path of innovation will continue to lack a sustainable force and consequently less a progressive or even self-destructive.