Tim Berners-Lee, Web creator, defends Net neutrality

Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has big plans for the future of the Internet.

Greater use of online data, faster computers to take care of day-to-day tasks and more collaboration among people around the world are all possible, Berners-Lee told an audience at a technology conference in London last week.

But the British computer scientist warned that this future would happen only if people continued to have unfettered access to the basic infrastructure that powers the Internet.
“It’s all predicated on a neutral network,” said Berners-Lee, in a reference to the heated debate around so-called net neutrality, a principle according to which everyone should have equal access to online content.

“Net neutrality is really, really important,” he added. “Never before have you had something in the system that could throttle your app.”

The intervention of the founder of the World Wide Web, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, comes as both sides of the net neutrality debate are sharpening their claws.

Cable providers and cellphone carriers are demanding that they be able to charge companies like Netflix for better access to their networks because of the high amounts of available bandwidth they use.

In contrast, content providers, search giants like Google and consumer groups have led an outcry against the proposals, saying that the creation of a two-tiered Internet would go against the fundamental principle of open access for all.

 “Why are so many people attracted to the concept of net neutrality? Because they fear the loss of the digital commons,” Reed Hastings, the Netflix chief executive and a vocal defender of net neutrality, told a Brussels conference last week.

Speaking to an audience of telecom operators, he added, “We shouldn’t have to pay for your network if you don’t have to pay for our content.”

The debate has taken different paths in the United States and Europe as policy makers on either side of the Atlantic have taken opposing views on how net neutrality should be implemented.

In America, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed new rules that might allow companies to pay for improved access to Internet pipelines, though a final decision is expected to be made by the end of the year.

In contrast, European lawmakers passed legislation this year guaranteeing equal access to online content for everyone. But while the decision is a blow to local carriers, there is still time for companies to lobby for changes to the rules before they are completed sometime next year.

“Higher prices for higher speeds are acceptable, but not at the price of others,” Andrus Ansip, the nominee to lead the digital agenda at the European Commission, told lawmakers in Brussels recently.

Along with unobstructed access to online content, Mr. Berners-Lee also emphasised that people must have greater control of how governments and companies use their data.
His comments come as companies like Google and Facebook are under increased scrutiny over how they access – and sell – individuals’ information. Public awareness about online privacy has also skyrocketed after the revelations by Edward J Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, about the surveillance efforts of American and British security agencies.

“The idea that privacy is dead is hopelessly sad,” said Berners-Lee, a reference to comments from the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who said that people were now comfortable with sharing their lives online. “Privacy is really important.”