[It's great that TBL's cashing in on his cred in an endeavour to get
some action. But Web 2.0, the digital surveillance economy, and the
digital surveillance state, are all extremely difficult to combat, let
alone reverse. I suspect economic disruption and social revolution are
more likely to get results.]
Web creator Berners-Lee launches contract for better internet
Principles defend free and open web.
Media Release Republished
Nov 6 2018
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/web-creator-berners-lee-launches-contract-for-better-internet-515125
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has launched a campaign
to persuade governments, companies and individuals to sign a "Contract
for the Web" set of principles designed to defend a free and open internet.
Berners-Lee, who hatched the Web in 1989, said a sense of optimism about
the internet had been damaged by abuses of personal data, online hate
speech, political manipulation and the centralisation of power among a
small group of major tech firms.
He said he wanted to rebuild trust in the web and increase internet
access on fair and affordable terms by encouraging governments,
companies and individuals to work together.
"The web is at a crucial point," Berners-Lee said in excerpts from his
speech launching the project at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon on
Monday. "We need a new Contract for the Web, with clear and tough
responsibilities for those who have the power to make it better."
Berners-Lee said governments, companies and individual internet users
had a role to play.
"Some policy things like net neutrality have to involve governments,
some things clearly involve companies - big companies, small companies
and start-ups," he said in an interview ahead of the launch.
"If you're an ISP (internet service provider) you (commit to) deliver a
neutral internet. If you are a social networking company you make sure
that (...) you allow people to control their data."
Individuals would pledge to "respect civil discourse and human dignity
so that everyone feels safe and welcome online", according to one of the
core principles.
However, it is not clear how such a principle could be enforced, given
the inherent anonymity of the internet.
The contract's starting principles have already received the endorsement
of more than 50 organisations including the French government, Internet
Sans Frontieres and companies including Google and Facebook.
Berners-Lee said the full terms of the contract would be agreed in the
coming months, with the objective to finalise it in May 2019 - the 50/50
moment when more than half of the world's population will be online for
the first time.
People will be able to get involved by using the hashtag #ForTheWeb, he
said.
--
Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected]
T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University
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