Communications of the ACM
Tim Berners-Lee, Web Creator, Defends Net Neutrality
"The idea that privacy is dead is hopelessly sad," says World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, speaking at a technology conference in London on Wednesday, said harnessing the full potential of the Internet and Web technology in the future will require the codification of network neutrality into law.
The battle over network neutrality is approaching a major inflection point with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission poised to issue a final decision on new net neutrality rules later this year, possibly allowing for Internet service providers to charge for improved access to bandwidth at the same time the European lawmakers pass laws guaranteeing open and equal access to online content for everyone. Berners-Lee said erosion of network neutrality would inevitably degrade the innovation the Internet has enabled over the last several decades. "It's all predicated on a neutral network," he said.
Berners-Lee also addressed the need for citizens to have greater control over and insight into how governments and companies gather and use their data. He particularly pushed back against comments made by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg about how most people are content to surrender their privacy for access to online services. "The idea that privacy is dead is hopelessly sad," Berners-Lee said. "Privacy is really important."
From The New York Times
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