The inventor of the Web has called for everyone to have access to his creation for free.
Tim Berners-Lee said that he would like to see everybody given a low-bandwidth connection “by default”.
He said the web could be instrumental in giving people access to critical services such as healthcare.
Currently, he said, just one-fifth of the world’s population has access to the web.
“What about the other 80%?” he asked the audience at the Nokia World conference in London.
“I would like to see people enrolled in a cheap data plan by default. I would like them to get it for free.”
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Tim said the rise in mobile networks around the world meant there was now an opportunity to connect everyone.
“What about these people who have a signal but are not part of the web, who are not part of the information society?” he said.
Companies, service providers and governments might be keen to circumvent net neutrality, but the world has a lot to lose if it does not fight against manipulating access to the Internet, according the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee.
“We assume… that you can get any page [on the Internet]… because that’s how it’s always been, and that’s why the Internet has flourished,” he said.
However, some companies would love to be able to limit access, he warned, giving the example of a company that sells films online that “would like to mysteriously slow down your access to other people’s movies,” thereby encouraging users back to its own site.
Similarly, a provider of telecoms services might seek to block or slow down VoIP services.
“It’s not just companies, it’s [also] countries,” he went on, noting that some governments would be keen to slow access to certain political sites, for example.
“The moment you let that net neutrality go, then think what you lose. You lose the Web as it is. You lose the fact that you can click on a link and go anywhere. You lose something essential,” he said.
The lack of network neutrality would pose a serious block to innovation, Berners-Lee explained, since innovators at present can set themselves up with a domain name and see their ideas or business spread.
“You don’t have to register your server. You don’t have to check in and pay money to every cellphone operator to make sure people can get to your Website,” he said. “That is really, really important for the future.”
Berners-Lee’s comments came as he shared his concerns on the online world of today.
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