“Unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society,” Sir Tim said. --- it's a thing America is not a democracy.
gov surveillance is necessary to thwart int'l and domestic terrorism and espionage. On Jun 10, 1:45 pm, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > ** ** > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10107784/Web-inventor-... > **** > Web inventor Berners-Lee warns forces are 'trying to take control'**** > > [image: Tim Berners Lee wins £1m engineering prize]**** > > The inventor of the World Wide Web said the internet is facing a “major” > threat from “people who want to control it on the sly” through “worrying > laws” such as SOPA, the US anti-piracy act, and through the actions of > internet giants. **** > > “If you can control [the internet], if you can start tweaking what people > say, or intercepting communications, it's very, very powerful...it's the > sort of power that if you give it to a corrupt government, you give them > the ability to stay in power forever.” **** > > Sir Tim was speaking as it emerged that the US government has been > collecting huge amounts of personal information from Google, Facebook, > Apple and other internet companies. **** > > There have also been reports that British spies have been gathering > intelligence from the internet giants "through a covertly run operation set > up by America's top spy agency" **** > > “Unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights > that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society,” Sir Tim said. > “I call on all web users to demand better legal protection and due process > safeguards for the privacy of their online communications, including their > right to be informed when someone requests or stores their data. **** > > “Over the last two decades, the web has become an integral part of our > lives. A trace of our use of it can reveal very intimate personal things. A > store of this information about each person is a huge liability: Whom would > you trust to decide when to access it, or even to keep it secure?” **** > > Sir Tim added that a “wake up call” had been delivered when former Egyptian > President Hosni Mubarak cut off communications services during the uprising > that ousted him. **** > > “A lot of people thought the internet was like the air, it just flows. > [After this] people asked, 'who could turn off my internet'?” **** > > Sir Tim said "companies and governments in different places all over the > world trying to take control of the internet in different ways" is a much > bigger threat to its development than fears over any one company having an > online monopoly. **** > > "If you remember [web browser] Netscape, people thought, oh the web is > great but here's a completely controlling web company, what are we going to > do? Then one morning they weren't worried about Netscape any more, it was > Microsoft. Then suddenly, wait a moment the browser wasn't the issue, it > was the search engine. Then, it's wait a moment, it's the social network. ** > ** > > "If you look at it broadly, yes a monopoly slows innovation, reduces > competition. That's why it's important this is an open platform. But > monopolies come and go all the time." **** > > Sir Tim called for governments to protect the neutrality and independence > of the web and compared its democratic importance to the freedom of the > press. **** > > He said "organisations that keep the internet running" should be "connected > to government but at arms length. That's really important and as years have > gone by that's got more and more important. Once you have an open internet, > with an open world wide web on top of it, I'm very optimistic". **** > > Sir Tim was speaking in Monte Carlo at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur > of the Year competition. He likened the determination he needed when > developing the web to the single mindedness exhibited by successful > entrepreneurs. **** > > “With the web, it was a paradigm shift. It's a well used phrased but it > means that afterwards the world is so different, there weren't the words in > the old word to describe the new world. People didn't understand clicks and > links and web pages – we didn't have words. **** > > “You just need to stick with it and work with a few people with in a > twinkle in their eye because they get it. Some people will respond with > excitement – not everybody, maybe three in three hundred will get it. The > web took off because a few people around the world had the twinkle in their > eye and said they could understand what it would be like if all the > information in the world was [online].” **** > > He added that while about "25pc of the world" now uses the web, "a massive > gap" remains. "There are number of languages where there isn't a lot of > stuff on the web, and a lot of culture that isn't represented. A lot of > countries haven't got the backbone for a good internet-based democracy. **** > > "The change for the world will be massive when we go from only 20pc of the > world having it to 80pc of the world. It is going to be a wonderful > explosion in culture and participation and I hope that people of different > cultures use it to understand each other as a result." **** > > __._,_.___ > > Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional > Change settings via the > Web<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJnMTJoNGI...>(Yahoo! > ID required) > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily > Digest<[email protected]?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>| > Switch > to Fully > Featured<[email protected]?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Fully+Featured> > Visit Your Group > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNjkwOHN2BF9T...>| > Yahoo! > Groups Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> | Unsubscribe > <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> > > __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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