IP Democracy: Berners-Lee on Net Neutrality

Courtesy of TechDirt, this essay on network neutrality by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the widely respected inventor of the Internet. Berners-Lee makes the case that the Internet was built on the very ideas of clean design and independence of layers, with no checking of packets for content permission.

It is of the utmost importance that, if I connect to the Internet, and you connect to the Internet, that we can then run any Internet application we want, without discrimination as to who we are or what we are doing. We pay for connection to the Net as though it were a cloud which magically delivers our packets. We may pay for a higher or a lower quality of service. We may pay for a service which has the characteristics of being good for video, or quality audio. But we each pay to connect to the Net, but no one can pay for exclusive access to me.

In passionate terms, Berners-Lee urges U.S. lawmakers to make sure the Internet stays neutral.

The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on May 3, 2006 7:50 AM to IP Democracy