Web inventor warns of 'dark' net

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5009250.stm

 

 

BBC NEWS

 

Web inventor warns of 'dark' net

By Jonathan Fildes

 

 

BBC News science and technology reporter in Edinburgh

 

 

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

 

The web should remain neutral and resist attempts to fragment it into

different services, web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said.

 

Recent attempts in the US to try to charge for different levels of

online access web were not " part of the internet model, " he said in

Edinburgh.

 

He warned that if the US decided to go ahead with a two-tier internet,

the network would enter " a dark period " .

 

Sir Tim was speaking at the start of a conference on the future of the

web.

 

" What's very important from my point of view is that there is one

web, " he said.

 

" Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece

looks very boring. "

 

An equal net

 

The British scientist developed the web in 1989 as an academic tool to

allow scientists to share data. Since then it has exploded into every

area of life.

 

You get this tremendous serendipity where I can search the internet

and come across a site that I did not set out to look for

Tim Berners-Lee

However, as it has grown, there have been increasingly diverse

opinions on how it should evolve.

 

The World Wide Web Consortium, of which Sir Tim is the director,

believes in an open model.

 

This is based on the concept of network neutrality, where everyone has

the same level of access to the web and that all data moving around

the web is treated equally.

 

This view is backed by companies like Microsoft and Google, who have

called for legislation to be introduced to guarantee net neutrality.

 

The first steps towards this were taken last week when members of the

US House of Representatives introduced a net neutrality bill.

 

Pay model

 

But telecoms companies in the US do not agree. They would like to

implement a two-tier system, where data from companies or institutions

that can pay are given priority over those that cannot.

 

This has particularly become an issue with the transmission of TV

shows over the internet, with some broadband providers wanting to

charge content providers to carry the data.

 

The internet community believes this threatens the open model of the

internet as broadband providers will become gatekeepers to the web's

content.

 

Providers that can pay will be able to get a commercial advantage over

those that cannot.

 

There is a fear that institutions like universities and charities

would also suffer.

 

The web community is also worried that any charges would be passed on

to the consumer.

 

Optimism

 

Sir Tim said this was " not the internet model " . The " right " model, as

exists at the moment, was that any content provider could pay for a

connection to the internet and could then put any content on to the

web with no discrimination.

 

Speaking to reporters in Edinburgh at the WWW2006 conference, he

argued this was where the great benefit of the internet lay.

 

" You get this tremendous serendipity where I can search the internet

and come across a site that I did not set out to look for, " he said.

 

A two-tier system would mean that people would only have full access

to those portions of the internet that they paid for and that some

companies would be given priority over others.

 

But Sir Tim was optimistic that the internet would resist attempts to

fragment.

 

" I think it is one and will remain as one, " he said.

 

The WWW2006 conference will run until Friday at the International

Conference Centre in Edinburgh.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/5009250.stm

 

Published: 2006/05/23 14:12:40 GMT

 

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