World Wide Web inventor says Internet should be 'human right'

[humble3d]

World Wide Web inventor says Internet should be 'human right'

The computer scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web says affordable access to the Internet should be recognized as a human right, as a report showed that billions of people still cannot go online and government surveillance and censorship are increasing.

Tim Berners-Lee said Thursday the Internet can help tackle inequality — but only if it comes with the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. The Briton, who launched the Web in 1990, made the remarks as he released his World Wide Web Foundation's latest report tracking the Internet's global impact.

The Web Index found that laws preventing mass online surveillance are weak or nonexistent in more than 84% of countries. It also said that almost 40% of surveyed countries were blocking sensitive online content to a "moderate or extreme degree," and that half of all Web users live in countries that severely restrict their rights online.

Almost 4.4 billion people — most of them in developing countries — still have no access to the Internet, the Web Index said.

"It's time to recognize the Internet as a basic human right," Berners-Lee said. "That means guaranteeing affordable access for all, ensuring Internet packets are delivered without commercial or political discrimination, and protecting the privacy and freedom of Web users regardless of where they live."

Denmark, Finland, and Norway were ranked as top overall, meaning they were best at using the Internet for economic, political and social progress. At the bottom of a list of 86 countries were Yemen, Myanmar and Ethiopia.

Berners-Lee was working an engineer at the CERN laboratory in Geneva when he proposed the idea of a World Wide Web in 1989.

http://thewebindex.org/report/http://mashable.com/2014/12/11/tim-berners-lee-net-neutrality/?

[Roy W]

And the sooner this happens the better for all.

[stylemessiah]

The paranoid Americans will never stop filtering packets, so theres that....

Of course they could pursue a more humane foreign policy that didnt always add up to killing innocents around the globe, fostering hatred and retaliation....and not need to live in fear, but what would the republicans and their friends like Lockheed Martin who manufacture tools of death do?

Nope, theres too much money in war, and so abhorrent foreign policies will continue and packet monitoring will of course be needed to stop the resultant retaliation by the "enemies of America", because theyre "evil"

Internet freedom, youre kidding right...as long as America exists, your packets will be gathered and analyzed.

This will happen until the end of time, or until America collapses under its own paranoia, bad foreign policy results in it getting nuked or "God" comes back to earth

* Of the above, the only possible real choice is: The end of time......or possibly America collapsing, or getting nuked.

Thanks for playing "why we (in the rest of the world outside of America) cant have freedom"

p.s. Yes, i know, youre right its ironic that the reason why we cant comes down to the country that calls itself the beacon of freedom

[VileTouch]

i disagree. making it a human right would be worse.

look at what they do with all the other so-called "human rights"!