The World Wide Web turned 25 yesterday and it’s a landmark anniversary for Tim Berners-Lee and he is like a proud father. He says, “I feel like inventor’s pride and my greatest pleasure has been the spirit of collaboration we’ve had for the last amazing 25 years.”
Berners-Lee has watched the web grow through a cheerful childhood and bitter adolescence, reaching to a more serious stage. He said that it’s time to make some crucial decisions for the fate of Internet especially when it’s under attack from different authorities who think they can easily control people through web.
He said during an interview, “Our rights are being violated more and more, and the worst side is that we get used to it. We need a Bill of Rights for Internet to make things more safe, secure and genuine.” He also added, “After 25 years of contribution, we need independence of the World Wide Web for democracy.”
The recent years were not at all good due to revelations of mass surveillance by the NSA as well as other agencies. The use and stock of illegal and immoral material has grown in bulk. The Bill of Rights he is talking about is to protect freedom of speech on the Internet and rights of users after revelations about government wiretap of online activity.
The World Wide Web Consortium – a global community and Berners-Lee united with a mission to lead the web to its full potential. They have launched a campaign called ‘the Web We Want’ in order to urge people to push ‘Bill of Rights’ for every country. The founder of web is clear that our ability to associate freely and speak is under threat.
Following are the principles an Internet Bill of Rights advances:-
• The protection of user’s personal information and the right to communicate in private
• Affordable access to a globally available platform of communication
• Decentralized, diversified and open infrastructure
• Neutral networks
• Freedom of expression online as well as offline
Berners-Lee said that unless we have an open, neutral web we cannot say anything about what’s happening at the back door. We can’t have good democracy, connected communities, good healthcare and open government until we have Bill of Rights.