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Web Foundation · March 12, 2018

March 12, is the World Wide Web’s 29th birthday. Here’s a message from our founder and web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee on what we need to ensure that everyone has access to a web worth having.

 

Today, the World Wide Web turns 29. This year marks a milestone in the web’s history: for the first time, we will cross the tipping point when more than half of the world’s population will be online.

When I share this exciting news with people, I tend to get one of two concerned reactions:

  1. How do we get the other half of the world connected?
  2. Are we sure the rest of the world wants to connect to the web we have today?

The threats to the web today are real and many, including those that I described in my last letter — from misinformation and questionable political advertising to a loss of control over our personal data. But I remain committed to making sure the web is a free, open, creative space — for everyone.

That vision is only possible if we get everyone online, and make sure the web works for people. I founded the Web Foundation to fight for the web’s future. Here’s where we must focus our efforts:

Close the digital divide

The divide between people who have internet access and those who do not is deepening existing inequalities — inequalities that pose a serious global threat. Unsurprisingly, you’re more likely to be offline if you are female, poor, live in a rural area or a low-income country, or some combination of the above. To be offline today is to be excluded from opportunities to learn and earn, to access valuable services, and to participate in democratic debate. If we do not invest seriously in closing this gap, the last billion will not be connected until 2042. That’s an entire generation left behind.

In 2016, the UN declared internet access a human right, on par with clean water, electricity, shelter and food. But until we make internet access affordable for all, billions will continue to be denied this basic right. The target has been set — the UN recently adopted the Alliance for Affordable Internet’s threshold for affordability: 1 GB of mobile data for less than 2% of average monthly income. The reality, however, is that we’re still a long way off from reaching this target — in some countries, the cost of 1GB of mobile broadband remains over 20% of average monthly income.

What will it take to actually achieve this goal? We must support policies and business models that expand access to the world’s poorest through public access solutions, such as community networks and public WiFi initiatives. We must invest in securing reliable access for women and girls, and empowering them through digital skills training.

Make the web work for people

The web that many connected to years ago is not what new users will find today. What was once a rich selection of blogs and websites has been compressed under the powerful weight of a few dominant platforms. This concentration of power creates a new set of gatekeepers, allowing a handful of platforms to control which ideas and opinions are seen and shared.

These dominant platforms are able to lock in their position by creating barriers for competitors. They acquire startup challengers, buy up new innovations and hire the industry’s top talent. Add to this the competitive advantage that their user data gives them and we can expect the next 20 years to be far less innovative than the last.

What’s more, the fact that power is concentrated among so few companies has made it possible to weaponise the web at scale. In recent years, we’ve seen conspiracy theories trend on social media platforms, fake Twitter and Facebook accounts stoke social tensions, external actors interfere in elections, and criminals steal troves of personal data.

We’ve looked to the platforms themselves for answers. Companies are aware of the problems and are making efforts to fix them — with each change they make affecting millions of people. The responsibility — and sometimes burden — of making these decisions falls on companies that have been built to maximise profit more than to maximise social good. A legal or regulatory framework that accounts for social objectives may help ease those tensions.

Bring more voices to the debate on the web’s future

The future of the web isn’t just about those of us who are online today, but also those yet to connect. Today’s powerful digital economy calls for strong standards that balance the interests of both companies and online citizens. This means thinking about how we align the incentives of the tech sector with those of users and society at large, and consulting a diverse cross-section of society in the process.

Two myths currently limit our collective imagination: the myth that advertising is the only possible business model for online companies, and the myth that it’s too late to change the way platforms operate. On both points, we need to be a little more creative.

While the problems facing the web are complex and large, I think we should see them as bugs: problems with existing code and software systems that have been created by people — and can be fixed by people. Create a new set of incentives and changes in the code will follow. We can design a web that creates a constructive and supportive environment.

Today, I want to challenge us all to have greater ambitions for the web. I want the web to reflect our hopes and fulfil our dreams, rather than magnify our fears and deepen our divisions.

As the late internet activist, John Perry Barlow, once said: “a good way to invent the future is to predict it”. It may sound utopian, it may sound impossible to achieve after the setbacks of the last two years, but I want us to imagine that future and build it.

Let’s assemble the brightest minds from business, technology, government, civil society, the arts and academia to tackle the threats to the web’s future. At the Web Foundation, we are ready to play our part in this mission and build the web we all want. Let’s work together to make it possible.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


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Hoy es el 29 cumpleaños de la World Wide Web. Este es un mensaje de nuestro fundador e inventor de la web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, sobre lo que necesitamos para poder garantizar que todo el mundo tenga acceso a una web que merezca la pena.


Hoy la World Wide Web cumple 29 años. Este año marca un hito en la historia de la web: cruzaremos un punto de inflexión y más de la mitad de la población mundial estará conectada.

Cuando comparto estas emocionantes noticias la gente suele reaccionar con alguna de las dos siguientes inquietudes:

  1. ¿Cómo hacemos para que la otra mitad del mundo pueda acceder a la web?
  2. ¿Estamos seguros de que el resto del mundo quiere conectarse a la web que tenemos hoy en día?

En la actualidad las amenazas a la web son muchas y reales, incluidas las que describí en mi última carta: desde la desinformación y el uso de propaganda política cuestionable hasta la pérdida de control sobre nuestros datos personales. Pero sigo comprometido con poder garantizar que la web sea un espacio libre, abierto y creativo — para todos.

Esa visión sólo es posible si conseguimos conectar a todo el mundo y nos aseguramos de que la web funcione en beneficio de las personas. Creé la Web Foundation para luchar por el futuro de la web. Estos son los puntos en los que deberíamos concentrar nuestros esfuerzos:

Cerrar la brecha digital

La brecha entre las personas que tienen acceso a internet y las que no lo tienen está aumentando las desigualdades ya existentes — desigualdades que plantean una grave amenaza mundial. Como era de esperar, es más probable estar desconectado si se es mujer, pobre, habitante de un área rural, de un país de bajos ingresos, o cualquier combinación de los anteriores. Hoy en día estar desconectado significa ser excluido de  oportunidades para aprender y ganarse el sustento, de acceder a servicios valiosos y de participar en el debate democrático. Si no invertimos seriamente en acabar con esta brecha, miles de millones de personas podrían tener que esperar hasta el año 2042 para poder tener acceso a internet. Eso implicaría dejar atrás a toda una generación.

En el año 2016 las Naciones Unidas declararon que el acceso a internet es un derecho humano, como lo son también el agua potable, la electricidad, la vivienda y los alimentos. Pero este derecho básico seguirá siendo denegado a miles de millones de personas hasta que el acceso a internet sea asequible para todos. Ya tenemos un objetivo establecido. Recientemente las Naciones Unidas adoptaron el umbral de asequibilidad propuesto por la Alianza por un Internet Asequible: 1 GB de banda ancha móvil por menos del 2% del ingreso promedio mensual. La realidad sin embargo es que todavía estamos muy lejos de alcanzar este objetivo — en algunos países el coste de 1GB de banda ancha móvil todavía está por encima del 20% del ingreso promedio mensual.

¿Qué hace falta para alcanzar este objetivo? Debemos apoyar políticas y modelos de negocio que mejoren las condiciones de acceso de los grupos más desfavorecidos a través de soluciones como las redes comunitarias y las iniciativas de acceso WIFI público. Debemos invertir recursos para garantizar el acceso de mujeres y niñas, y asegurarnos de que puedan aprovechar el poder de esta herramienta mediante la enseñanza de habilidades digitales.

Conseguir que la web funcione en beneficio de las personas

La web a la que muchos se conectaron años atrás ya no es la web con la que se encontrarán los nuevos usuarios. La rica variedad de blogs y sitios web de aquella época se ha visto comprimida bajo el aplastante peso de unas pocas plataformas dominantes. Esta concentración de poder da lugar a un nuevo conjunto de custodios de la red, permitiendo que un puñado de plataformas tengan control sobre cuáles serán las ideas y opiniones que se podrán ver y compartir.

Estas plataformas son capaces de afianzar su posición dominante mediante la creación de barreras de entrada a potenciales competidores. Absorben a las startups con potencial para convertirse en una amenaza, compran todas las innovaciones tecnológicas y contratan a los mejores talentos de la industria. Si a esto añadimos la ventaja competitiva que les proporcionan los datos de sus usuarios actuales, no podemos sino esperar que los próximos 20 años sean bastante menos innovadores que los anteriores.

Además, esta concentración de poder permite ampliar el impacto de quienes utilizan la web como un arma. En los últimos años hemos visto cómo teorías conspirativas logran convertirse en tendencia en las plataformas de medios sociales, cuentas falsas en Twitter y Facebook avivan las tensiones sociales, actores externos interfieren en los procesos electorales y grupos criminales se apoderan de valiosos datos personales.

Hemos buscado respuestas por parte de las propias plataformas. Las empresas son conscientes de estos problemas y se esfuerzan por solucionarlos — y observamos cómo cada cambio que implementan termina afectando a su vez a millones de personas. La responsabilidad — y a veces también la carga — de tomar estas decisiones recae sobre empresas que han sido creadas para maximizar sus beneficios económicos en lugar de maximizar el bien social. Un marco legal o regulatorio que tenga también en cuenta los objetivos sociales podría contribuir a aliviar esas tensiones.

Incorporar más voces al debate sobre el futuro de la web

El futuro de la web no trata únicamente acerca de todos aquellos que ya estamos conectados, sino también sobre aquellos que aún no lo están. La poderosa economía digital actual exige estándares sólidos que permitan equilibrar los intereses de las empresas y los de los ciudadanos conectados. Para ello será necesario pensar en cómo podemos alinear los incentivos del sector tecnológico con los de los usuarios y la sociedad en general, consultando a una muestra representativa y diversa de la sociedad en el proceso.

Dos mitos limitan actualmente nuestro imaginario colectivo: el mito de que la publicidad es el único modelo de negocio posible para las empresas digitales, y el mito de que ya es demasiado tarde para cambiar la forma en que operan las plataformas. Para resolver estas dos cuestiones deberemos ser un poco más creativos.

A pesar de que los problemas a los que se enfrenta la web son complejos y grandes, creo que deberíamos verlos simplemente como bugs: problemas en el código y en los sistemas de software que fueron creados por personas — y que por tanto pueden ser también corregidos por personas. Crea una nueva serie de incentivos y a continuación llegarán los cambios en el código. Podemos diseñar una web que ofrezca un entorno constructivo y alentador.

Hoy quiero que nos desafiemos a tener ambiciones más grandes para la web. Quiero que la web refleje nuestras esperanzas y cumpla nuestros sueños, en lugar de amplificar nuestros miedos y profundizar nuestras divisiones.

Como dijo en una ocasión el difunto activista de internet John Perry Barlow: “una buena manera de inventar el futuro es predecirlo”. Puede sonar utópico, puede parecer imposible de conseguir después de los reveses sufridos durante los dos últimos años, pero yo quiero que imaginemos ese futuro y lo construyamos.

Reunamos a las mentes más brillantes del ámbito de los negocios, la tecnología, el gobierno, la sociedad civil, las artes y el mundo académico para afrontar las amenazas al futuro de la web. En la Web Foundation estamos listos para desempeñar nuestro papel en esta misión y construir la web que todos queremos. Trabajemos juntos para hacerlo posible.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


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Aujourd’hui le World Wide Web fête son 29ème anniversaire. Voici un message de notre fondateur et inventeur web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, sur ce dont nous avons besoin pour nous assurer que tout le monde ait accès à un Web qui en vaille la peine.


Aujourd’hui le World Wide Web fête son 29ème anniversaire. Cette année marque un tournant dans l’histoire du Web. Pour la première fois, nous allons franchir une étape charnière où plus de la moitié de la population mondiale sera connectée.

Lorsque je partage cette formidable nouvelle avec les gens, j’ai tendance à recevoir l'une des deux réactions d'inquiétude suivantes :

  1. Comment pouvons-nous connecter l'autre moitié du monde ?
  2. Sommes-nous sûrs que le reste du monde veuille se connecter au Web tel qu’il est aujourd’hui ? 

Les menaces envers le Web aujourd'hui sont réelles et nombreuses, y compris celles que j'ai décrites dans ma dernière lettre, de la désinformation et de la publicité politique douteuse à une perte de contrôle sur nos données personnelles. Mais je reste déterminé à faire en sorte que le Web soit un espace libre, ouvert et créatif, pour tout le monde.

Cette vision n'est possible que si nous sommes tous connectés, et si nous veillons à ce que le Web fonctionne pour les gens. J'ai fondé le Web Foundation pour que nous puissions nous battre pour l'avenir du Web. Voici où nous devons concentrer nos efforts :

Réduire la fracture numérique

Le clivage entre les personnes qui ont accès à Internet et celles qui ne l'ont pas aggrave les inégalités existantes ; des inégalités qui constituent une menace sérieuse au niveau mondial. Sans surprise, vous êtes plus susceptible de ne pas être connectée si vous êtes une femme pauvre, vivez dans une zone rurale ou un pays à faible revenu, ou une combinaison de ce qui précède. Ne pas avoir accès à Internet de nos jours c'est être exclu des opportunités d'apprendre et de gagner de l'argent, d'accéder à de précieux services et de participer au débat démocratique. Si nous n'investissons pas sérieusement pour combler cet écart, le dernier milliard d'habitants ne sera pas connecté avant 2042. C'est toute une génération qui est laissée pour compte. 

En 2016, l'ONU a déclaré que l'accès à Internet était un droit de l'homme, au même titre que l'eau potable, l'électricité, le logement et la nourriture. Mais jusqu'à ce que nous rendions Internet financièrement accessible à tous, des milliards de personnes continueront à être privées de ce droit fondamental. L'objectif a été fixé : les Nations Unies ont récemment adopté le seuil de l'Alliance pour un Internet abordable avec un seuil d'abordabilité de 1 Go de données mobiles pour moins de 2 % du revenu mensuel moyen. La réalité, cependant, est que nous sommes encore très loin d'atteindre cet objectif. Dans certains pays, le coût de 1 Go de haut débit mobile reste à plus de 20 % du revenu mensuel moyen.

Que faudra-t-il faire pour atteindre cet objectif ? Nous devons soutenir les politiques et les modèles d'entreprise qui élargissent l'accès au Web aux habitants les plus pauvres du monde grâce à des solutions d'accès public, telles que les réseaux communautaires et les initiatives de WiFi public. Nous devons investir afin de garantir un accès à un Internet fiable aux femmes et aux filles, et les émanciper en leur permettant d'acquérir des compétences numériques.

Faire fonctionner le Web pour la société

Le Web auquel beaucoup se connectaient il y a des années n'est plus celui que les nouveaux utilisateurs trouveront aujourd'hui. Ce qui était autrefois une riche sélection de blogs et de sites Internet a été comprimé sous le lourd poids de quelques plates-formes dominantes. Cette concentration du pouvoir crée un nouvel ensemble de gardes-barrières, permettant à une poignée de plates-formes de contrôler quelles idées et opinions sont vues et partagées.

Ces plates-formes dominantes sont capables de verrouiller leur position en créant des barrières pour les concurrents. Elles font l'acquisition de start-ups concurrentes, achètent de nouvelles innovations et embauchent les meilleurs talents de l'industrie. Ajoutez à cela l'avantage concurrentiel que leur procurent leurs données d'utilisateur et nous pouvons nous attendre à ce que les 20 prochaines années soient beaucoup moins innovantes que les 20 dernières.

Par ailleurs, le fait que le pouvoir soit concentré parmi si peu d'entreprises a permis de faire du Web une arme à grande échelle. Au cours des dernières années, nous avons vu des théories de conspiration se répandre sur les réseaux sociaux, de faux comptes Twitter et Facebook attiser les tensions sociales, des acteurs externes interférer dans les élections et des criminels voler des trésors de données personnelles.

Nous nous sommes tournés vers les plates-formes elles-mêmes pour obtenir des réponses. Les entreprises sont conscientes des problèmes et s'efforcent de les résoudre en affectant des millions de personnes lors de chaque changement. La responsabilité – et parfois le fardeau - de prendre ces décisions relève des entreprises qui ont été érigées pour maximiser les profits plus que pour maximiser le bien social. Un cadre légal ou réglementaire qui prendrait en compte les objectifs sociaux pourrait aider à atténuer ces tensions.

Faire que davantage de gens prennent part au débat sur l'avenir du Web

L'avenir du Web concerne non seulement ceux d'entre nous qui y sont connectés aujourd'hui, mais aussi ceux qui ne le sont pas encore. La puissante économie numérique actuelle nécessite des normes solides permettant de trouver un équilibre entre les intérêts des entreprises et ceux des citoyens connectés. Cela implique de réfléchir à une manière d’harmoniser les incitations du secteur technologique avec celles des utilisateurs et de la société dans son ensemble, ainsi que de consulter un échantillon représentatif de la société dans le processus.

Deux mythes limitent actuellement notre imaginaire collectif : le mythe que la publicité est le seul modèle commercial possible pour les entreprises en ligne, et le mythe selon lequel il est trop tard pour changer le mode de fonctionnement des plates-formes. Sur les deux points, nous devons nous montrer un peu plus créatifs.

Alors que les problèmes auxquels Internet est confronté sont complexes et importants, je pense que nous devrions les considérer comme des bugs : des problèmes relatifs au code et aux systèmes logiciels existants qui ont été créés par des Hommes - et peuvent être corrigés par des Hommes. Créez un nouvel ensemble de mesures incitatives et des changements en ce qui concerne le code suivront.  Nous pouvons concevoir un Web qui crée un environnement constructif et coopératif.

Aujourd'hui, je veux nous mettre au défi d'avoir de plus grandes ambitions pour notre toile. Je veux que le net reflète nos espoirs et réalise nos rêves, plutôt que de magnifier nos peurs et d'approfondir nos clivages.

Comme l'a dit un jour John Perry Barlow, qui en fut un défunt défenseur : « Un bon moyen d'inventer le futur est de le prédire ». Cela peut sembler utopique, cela peut sembler impossible à réaliser après les échecs des deux dernières années, mais je veux que nous imaginions ce futur et que nous le construisions.

Réunissons les esprits les plus brillants du monde des affaires, de la technologie, du gouvernement, de la société civile, des arts et du milieu universitaire pour s'attaquer aux menaces qui pèsent sur l'avenir du Web. À la Web Foundation, nous sommes prêts à jouer notre rôle dans cette mission et à construire le Web que nous souhaitons tous. Travaillons ensemble pour rendre cela possible.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


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Hoje é o 29.º aniversário da World Wide Web. Aqui está uma mensagem do nosso fundador e inventor da rede, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, sobre o que precisamos para garantir que todos têm acesso a uma web que vale a pena ter.


Hoje, a World Wide Web faz 29 anos. Este ano é um marco na história da web: pela primeira vez, iremos ultrapassar o ponto crucial em que mais de metade da população mundial estará online.

Quando partilho esta notícia emocionante com as pessoas, tenho tendência a obter uma de duas reações de preocupação:

  1. Como fazemos para ligar a outra metade do mundo?
  2. Temos a certeza de que o resto do mundo quer ligar-se à web que temos hoje?

Atualmente as ameaças à web são muitas e reais, incluindo as que descrevi na minha última carta - desde a má informação e publicidade política questionável até uma perda do controlo sobre os nossos dados pessoais. Eu mantenho-me empenhado em garantir que a web é um espaço livre, aberto e criativo - para todos.

Essa visão só é possível se conseguirmos que todos estejam online e garantindo que a web trabalha para as pessoas. Eu fundei a Web Foundation para lutar pelo futuro da web. É aqui que devemos focar os nossos esforços:

Fechar a divisão digital

A divisão entre as pessoas que têm acesso à Internet e as que não têm está a aprofundar as desigualdades existentes - desigualdades que representam uma séria ameaça global. Como esperado, é mais provável estar offline se for do sexo feminino, pobre, viver numa área rural ou num país de baixos rendimentos ou qualquer combinação das condições anteriores. Hoje em dia, estar offline significa estar excluído das oportunidades de aprender e de ganhar rendimentos, de ter acesso a serviços valiosos e de participar do debate democrático. Se não investimos seriamente no encerramento desta lacuna, os últimos mil milhões não estarão ligados até 2042. Isso representa toda uma geração que fica para trás.

Em 2016, a ONU declarou o acesso à Internet como sendo um direito humano, a par com água limpa, eletricidade, abrigo e comida. Mas até tornarmos o acesso à Internet acessível para todos, continuará a ser negado este direito básico a mil milhões de pessoas. O objetivo foi definido - a ONU adotou recentemente o limite da Aliança para a Internet Acessível como limiar de acessibilidade: 1 Gb de dados móveis por menos de 2% do rendimento mensal médio. A realidade, contudo, é que ainda estamos muito longe de atingir esse objetivo - em alguns países, o custo de 1 Gb de banda larga móvel continua acima de 20% do rendimento mensal médio.

O que será necessário para alcançar este objetivo? Devemos apoiar as políticas e modelos de negócio que expandam o acesso aos mais pobres no mundo, através de soluções de acesso público como redes comunitárias e iniciativas de Wi-Fi pública. Devemos investir para garantir acesso de confiança para mulheres e meninas e capacitá-las através da formação de capacidades digitais.

Fazer a web trabalhar para as pessoas

A web a que muitos se ligavam há anos atrás não é a mesma que os novos utilizadores encontram atualmente. O que um dia foi uma seleção rica de blogs e websites, foi comprimido sob o poderoso peso de algumas plataformas dominantes. Esta concentração de poder cria um novo conjunto de guardiães, o que permite que meia dúzia de plataformas controlem que ideias e opiniões são vistas e partilhadas.

Estas plataformas dominantes são capazes de se bloquearem na sua posição através da criação de barreiras à competição. Adquirem os competidores das startups, compram as novas invenções e contratam os melhores talentos da indústria. Adicionando a isto a vantagem competitiva que os dados dos seus utilizadores lhes dão, podemos esperar que os próximos 20 anos sejam muito menos inovadores do que os últimos.

Além disso, o facto de o poder estar concentrado em tão poucas empresas tornou possível transformar a web numa arma à escala. Nos últimos anos, vimos tendências de teorias de conspiração em plataformas de redes sociais, contas falsas de Twitter e de Facebook provocarem tensões sociais, atores externos interferirem em eleições e criminosos roubarem coleções de dados pessoais.

Olhámos para as próprias plataformas para obter respostas. As empresas estão conscientes dos problemas e estão a fazer esforços para os corrigir - com cada mudança que fazem a afetar milhões de pessoas. A responsabilidade - e por vezes fardo - de tomar estas decisões recai em empresas que foram construídas para maximizar o lucro mais do que para maximizar o bem social. Um quadro legal ou regulamentar que seja responsável pelos objetivos sociais pode ajudar a aliviar essas tensões.

Trazer mais vozes para o debate sobre o futuro da web

O futuro da web não é apenas sobre aqueles de nós que hoje estão online, mas também sobre aqueles que ainda não se ligam. A poderosa economia digital de hoje exige padrões sólidos que equilibrem os interesses tanto das empresas como dos cidadãos online. Isto significa pensar sobre como podemos alinhar os incentivos do setor da tecnologia com os dos utilizadores e da sociedade em geral, e consultar uma secção transversal diversificada da sociedade durante o processo.

Atualmente existem dois mitos que limitam a nossa imaginação coletiva: o mito de que a publicidade é o único modelo de negócio possível para as empresas online e o mito de que é tarde demais para mudar a forma como as plataformas operam. Em ambos os pontos precisamos de ser um pouco mais criativos.

Enquanto os problemas que a web enfrenta são grandes e complexos, penso que devemos vê-los como erros: problemas com o código e sistemas de software existentes que foram criados por pessoas - e podem ser corrigidos por pessoas. Criemos um novo conjunto de incentivos e as mudanças no código seguir-se-ão. Podemos criar uma web que dê origem a um ambiente construtivo e de apoio.

Hoje quero desafiar todos nós a termos maiores ambições para a web. Quero que a web reflita as nossas esperanças e cumpra os nossos sonhos, em vez de ampliar os nossos medos e aprofundar as nossas divisões.

Como uma vez disse o falecido ativista da Internet, John Perry Barlow: "uma boa maneira de inventar o futuro é prevê-lo". Pode soar utópico, pode parecer impossível de alcançar depois dos recuos dos últimos dois anos, mas quero que imaginemos esse futuro e que o construamos.

Vamos reunir as mentes mais brilhantes dos negócios, da tecnologia, do governo, da sociedade civil, das artes e da academia para enfrentar as ameaças ao futuro da web. Na Fundação Web estamos prontos para desempenhar o nosso papel nesta missão e construir a web que todos queremos. Vamos trabalhar juntos para que seja possível.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


Por favor, partilhe esta carta no Twitter usando a hashtag #HappyBirthdayWWW

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[This Swedish version was not translated by the Web Foundation. With thanks to Per Axbom who volunteered the translation. Follow Per at @axbom.]

Idag, den 12:e mars, fyller World Wide Web 29 år. Här är ett meddelande från vår grundare, och webbens uppfinnare, Sir Tim Berners-Lee om vad vi behöver för att säkerställa att alla har tillgång till en webb som är värd att ha.


Idag blir World Wide Web 29 år. Det här året markerar en milstolpe i webbens historia: för första gången kommer vi passera brytpunkten där mer än hälften av världens befolkning är online.

När jag delar denna spännande nyhet med människor brukar jag få en av två bekymrade reaktioner:

  1. Hur ser vi till att den andra halvan av världen blir uppkopplad?
  2. Är vi säkra på att resten av världen vill koppla upp sig mot den webb vi har idag?

Hoten mot webben idag är riktiga och stora till antal, inklusive de jag beskriver i mitt senaste brev — från desinformation till tvivelaktig politisk marknadsföring, till en förlorad kontroll över vår personliga data. Men jag står fast besluten att säkerställa att webben är en fri, öppen, kreativ plats — för alla.

Den visionen är bara möjlig om vi får alla att komma online, och ser till att webben fungerar för människor. Jag grundade Web Foundation för att kämpa för webbens framtid. Det är här vi måste fokusera våra ansträngningar:

Stäng den digitala klyftan

Klyftan mellan människor som har tillgång till internet och de utan förstärker befintliga orättvisor – orättvisor som föranleder ett allvarligt globalt hot. Inte helt oväntat ökar sannolikheten att du är offline om du är kvinna, fattig, bor på landsbygden eller i ett låginkomst-land, eller någon kombination av dessa. Att vara offline idag är att vara exkluderad från möjligheter att lära sig och tjäna pengar, att använda värdefulla tjänster och att delta i demokratisk debatt. Om vi inte på allvar investerar i att stänga den här klyftan kommer den sista miljarden inte vara uppkopplad förrän 2042. Det är en hel generation som överges.

År 2016 fastställde FN att tillgång till internet är en mänsklig rättighet, i paritet med rent vatten, elektricitet, tak över huvudet och mat. Men till dess att vi gör kostnaden för internet-access överkomlig för alla, kommer miljarder att nekas denna grundläggande rättighet. Målet har satts — FN antog nyligen Alliance for Affordable Internet:s tröskel för överkomlig kostnad: 1 GB mobildata för mindre än 2% av genomsnittlig månadsinkomst. Verkligheten är tyvärr långt från det målet — i vissa länder kostar 1GB mobildata mer än 20% av den genomsnittliga månadsinkomsten.

Vad krävs för att nå målet? Vi måste ge vårt stöd till handlingsplaner och affärsmodeller som utökar åtkomst för världens fattigaste genom publika lösningar för access, som samhällsgemensamma nätverk och publik WiFi. Vi måste investera i att säkerställa tillförlitlig access för kvinnor och flickor, och stärka dem med utbildning i digitala färdigheter.

Få webben att fungera för människor

Webben som många anslöt till åratal sedan är inte vad nya användare möts av idag. Det som en gång var en riklig blandning med bloggar och webbplatser har komprimerats under den kraftfulla tyngden av ett fåtal dominanta plattformar. Den här maktkoncentrationen skapar en ny grupp grindvakter, och ger en handfull plattformar kontroll över vilka idéer och åsikter som syns och delas.

De här dominanta plattformarna kan låsa sina positioner genom att skapa barriärer för konkurrenter. De förvärvar utmanande småföretag, köper upp nya innovationer och anställer branschens främsta talanger. Lägg därtill den konkurrensfördel som deras användardata ger dem och vi kan förvänta oss att de kommande 20 åren kommer vara betydligt mindre innovativa än de senaste.

Dessutom, det faktum att makten är så koncentrerad i så få företag har gjort det möjligt att beväpna webben i stor skala. De senaste åren har vi sett konspirationsteorier trenda på sociala medie-plattformar, falska Twitter och Facebook-konton eldar på sociala spänningar, externa aktörer blandar sig i allmänna val och kriminella stjäl mängder personlig data.

Vi har vänt oss till plattformarna själva för svar. Företagen är medvetna om problemen och gör ansatser för att fixa dem — och varje ändring påverkar miljoner människor. Ansvaret — och ibland bördan — för att ta dessa beslut faller på företag som byggts för att maximera vinster mer än social nytta. Ett juridiskt eller föreskrivande ramverk som beaktar sociala målsättningar kan hjälpa till att lösa upp de knutarna.

Inbegrip fler röster i debatten om webbens framtid

Webbens framtid handlar inte bara om de av oss som är online idag, utan även om de som ännu inte anslutit. Dagens starka digitala ekonomi kräver robusta standarder som balanserar intressen hos såväl företag som uppkopplade medborgare. Det innebär att vi tänker på hur vi matchar drivkrafterna inom tech-industrin med incitamenten hos användare och samhället i stort, och samtidigt rådfrågar ett brett tvärsnitt av samhället.

Två myter begränsar just nu vår kollektiva uppfinningsförmåga: myten att annonser är den enda möjliga affärsmodellen för online-företag, och myten att det är för sent att förändra hur plattformarna fungerar. På bägge punkter måste vi bli lite mer kreativa.

Trots att webbens problemen är komplexa och stora, tror jag vi bör se dem som buggar: problem med befintlig kod och mjukvarusystem som har skapats av människor — och kan fixas av människor. Skapa en ny uppsättning incitament och förändringar i koden kommer att följa efter. Vi kan forma en webb som skapar en konstruktiv och stödjande miljö.

Idag vill jag utmana oss alla till att ha större ambitioner med webben. Jag vill att webben reflekterar våra förhoppningar och infriar våra drömmar, hellre än överdriver våra rädslor och eskalerar våra splittringar.

Som den framlidne internet-aktivisten John Perry Barlow en gång sa: "ett bra sätt att uppfinna framtiden är att förutse den". Det må låta utopiskt, det kan låta omöjligt att uppnå efter de senaste två årens motgångar, men jag vill att vi föreställer oss den framtiden och bygger den.

Låt oss samla de skarpaste tänkarna inom affärslivet, teknik, politiska system, det civila samhället, kultur och vetenskap för att hantera hoten mot webbens framtid. På Web Foundation är vi redo att spela vår roll i detta uppdrag och bygga webben vi alla vill ha. Låt oss arbeta tillsammans för att göra det möjligt.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


Hjälp gärna till att dela detta brev på Twitter med hashtag #HappyBirthdayWWW

The Web Foundation står i frontlinjen för kampen att främja och skydda webben för alla. För uppdateringar om vårt arbete, prenumerera på vårt nyhetsbrev och följ oss på Twitter @webfoundation.

Prenumerera på The Web This Week, vår bevakning av nyheter inom teknik och digitala rättigheter, som publiceras varje fredag.

[This Arabic version was not translated by the Web Foundation. With thanks to Bilal Zaiter who volunteered the translation. Follow him at @ZaiterBilal]

اليوم ، 12 آذار-مارس، هو عيد الميلاد التاسع والعشرون لشبكة الإنترنت العالمية. إليكم رسالة من مؤسسنا ومخترع الويب، السير تيم بيرنر لي حول ما نحتاج إليه لضمان وصول كل الناس إلى شبكة انترنت على المستوى الذي نستحقه.


اليوم، تبلغ الشبكة العالمية عامها التاسع والعشرين. وتمثل هذه السنة علامة فارقة في تاريخ الشبكة: فللمرة الأولى، سنتجاوز تلك النقطة إذ سيصبح أكثر من نصف سكان العالم متصلين بالانترنت.

عندما أشارك الناس هذه الأخبار المثيرة، يجاذبني همان:

كيف يمكننا جعل النصف الآخر من العالم متصلاً بالانترنت؟

هل نحن على يقين من أن بقية العالم يريدون الاتصال بشبكة الانترنت على ما هي عليه اليوم؟

التهديدات التي تتعرض لها شبكة الإنترنت اليوم فعلية ومتعددة، تتضمن تلك التي أوضحتُها في رسالتي الأخيرة - من معلومات مُضلِلَة وإعلان سياسي مشكوك فيه، وصولاً إلى فقداننا السيطرة على بياناتنا الشخصية. لكنني ما زلت ملتزمًا ببقاء الشبكة عبارة عن مساحة خالية ومفتوحة وخلاقة للجميع.

هذه الرؤية ممكنة فقط إذا استطعنا جعل جميع الناس متصلين بالانترنت، وتأكدنا من أن الشبكة تخدم الناس. لقد قمت بتأسيس “مؤسسة الويب” للنضال من أجل مستقبل الويب. هنا النقاط التي يجب أن نركز جهودنا عليها:

إغلاق الفجوة الرقمية

إن الفجوة بين الناس القادرين على الوصول إلى الإنترنت وأولئك الذين ليس لديهم اتصال يُعمِق اللامساواة الحالية - هذه اللامساواة تشكل تهديدًا عالميًا خطيرًا. من غير المستغرب أن تكوني بلا اتصال بالانترنت إن كنتِ أنثى أو فقيرة أو إن كنتَ تعيش في منطقة ريفية أو بلد منخفض الدخل أو مزيج مما سبق. أن تكون غير متصل بالانترنت هذه الأيام  يعني استبعادك من فرص التعلم والرزق، والوصول إلى خدمات ذات قيمة، والمشاركة في الحوارات الديمقراطية. إذا لم نستثمر بجدية في سد هذه الفجوة، فلن يتم ربط آخر مليار شخص بالانترنت حتى عام 2042. ذاك جيل متروك بأكمله.

في عام 2016 ، أعلنت الأمم المتحدة أن الوصول إلى الإنترنت يعدُ حقاً من حقوق الإنسان، تماماً كحقوق الحصول على المياه النظيفة والكهرباء والمأوى والغذاء. ولكن إلى أن نجعل الوصول إلى الإنترنت في متناول الجميع ، فإن مليارات من البشر سيتم تجاهل حقهم الأساسي  هذا. لقد تم تحديد الهدف - إذ اعتمدت الأمم المتحدة مؤخرًا المبلغ الذي اقترحه “تحالف الإنترنت بأسعار معقولة” للوصول للإنرتنت: تكلفة حزمة جيغابايت واحدة من بيانات هاتف الموبايل يجب ألا تتجاوز 2٪ من متوسط دخل الفرد الشهري. غير أن الواقع يشير إلى أننا لا زلنا بعيدين جداً عن الوصول لهذا الهدف - ففي بعض البلدان، لا زالت تكلفة جيجابايت واحدة من بيانات هاتف الموبايل الواسعة النطاق تبلغ  أكثر من 20٪ من متوسط الدخل الشهري.

ما المطلوب لتحقيق هذا الهدف؟ يجب علينا دعم السياسات ونماذج العمل التي توسع من إمكانية وصول الناس الأكثرفقراً حول العالم  للانترنت من خلال الحلول العامة مثل شبكات المجتمع المحلي، أو مبادرات الشبكات اللاسلكية العامة. يجب أن نستثمر في تأمين اتصال النساء والفتيات بالانترنت بشكل آمن ويمكن الاعتماد عليه، يجب تمكينهن من خلال تدريبات على المهارات الرقمية.

جعل شبكة الإنترنت للناس

إن شبكة الانترنت التي اتصل بها العديد من البشر قبل سنوات لم تعد ما يلقاه المستخدمون الجدد اليوم. ما كان ذات يوم مضى مجموعة متنوعة من المدونات والمواقع الإلكترونية الغنية المحتوى تم ضغطها اليوم تحت الوزن الثقيل لعدد قليل من المنصات المهيمنة. هذا التركيز المكثف  للقوة خلق مجموعة جديدة من حراس البوابة، وهو ما يسمح لحفنة من المنصات بالتحكم في الأفكار والآراء التي يمكن رؤيتها ومشاركتها.

هذه المنصات المهيمنة قادرة على تثبيت أقدامها من خلال خلق حواجز في وجه المنافسين. إنهم يستحوذون على شركات ناشئة تتحداهم، ويشترون ابتكارات جديدة، ويوظفون لديهم أفضل المواهب في هذه الصناعة. إذا أضفنا لهذا كله تلك الميزة التنافسية التي توفرها لهم بيانات المستخدمين على منصاتهم، سيصبح بإمكاننا توقع السنوات العشرين القادمة أقل ابتكارًا من نظيرتها التي أفلت.

بل أكثر من ذلك، إن تركيز السلطة بيد عدد قليل من الشركات جعل بالإمكان تحويل الانترنت لسلاح ذو نطاق واسع. في السنوات الأخيرة، رأينا تنامياً في نظريات المؤامرة على منصات وسائل الإعلام الاجتماعية، وحسابات وهمية على تويتر وفيسبوك أثارت توترات إجتماعية، تدخلات خارجية في الانتخابات، ومجرمين يسرقون مقتنيات ثمينة من البيانات الشخصية.

لقد نظرنا إلى تلك المنصات بذاتها لنجد إجابات. الشركات مدركة لهذه المشاكل وتبذل جهودًا لإصلاحها - ومع كل تغيير تجريه ينعكس التأثير على ملايين الأشخاص. تقع المسؤولية - وأحيانًا العبء- في اتخاذ هذه القرارات على عاتق الشركات التي تم بناؤها لتعظيم الأرباح بدلاً من تعظيم المنفعة الاجتماعية. قد يساعد على تخفيف هذه التوترات وجود إطار قانوني أو تنظيمي يضع نصب اهتمامه الأهداف الاجتماعية.

جلب المزيد من الأصوات للحوار حول مستقبل شبكة الانترنت

لا يقتصر مستقبل الشبكة على أولئك الموجودين بيننا على الإنترنت اليوم، بل أيضًا أولئك الذين لم يتصلوا بعد. يتطلب الاقتصاد الرقمي القوي اليوم معايير قوية تعمل على موازنة مصالح كل من الشركات ومواطني الإنترنت. وهذا يعني التفكير في كيفية مواءمة محفزات قطاع التكنولوجيا مع محفزات المستخدمين والمجتمع ككل، والتشاور مع مختلف قطاعات المجتمع في هذه العملية.

هناك خرافتان تقيدان خيالنا الجماعي: خرافة أن الإعلان هو النموذج التجاري الوحيد الممكن لشركات الإنترنت، وخرافة أنه قد فات الأوان لتغيير طريقة عمل المنصات. في كلا النقطتين ، يجب أن نكون أكثر إبداعًا بقليل.

ومع أن المشكلات التي تواجه الشبكة هي مشكلات معقدة وكبيرة، إلا أنني أعتقد أنه يجب علينا النظر إليها كأخطاء برمجية: مشكلات في أنظمة البرمجة والبرامج الموجودة التي صنعها الناس- و بالتالي يمكن إصلاحها من قبل الناس أنفسهم. إذا ما خلقنا مجموعة جديدة من الحوافز فإنه سينجم عنها تلقائياً تغيرات في تلك البرمجيات. يمكننا تصميم شبكة قادرة على خلق بيئة بناءة وداعمة.

اليوم، أريد أن أتحدى أنفسنا جميعًا بأن نمتلك طموحاً أكبر تجاه شبكة الانترنت. أريد أن تعكس الشبكة آمالنا وتحقق أحلامنا، بدلاً من أن تُضَخِم مخاوفنا وتعمق إنقساماتنا.

وكما قال ناشط الإنترنت الراحل، جون بيري بارلو، ذات مرة: "هناك طريقة جيدة لابتكار المستقبل من خلال التنبؤ به". قد يبدو الأمر طوباوياً مثالياً، قد يبدو من المستحيل تحقيقه بعد النكسات التي حدثت في العامين الماضيين، لكني أريدنا أن نتخيل ذلك المستقبل ونبنيه.

دعونا نجمع ألمع العقول من قطاع الأعمال والتكنولوجيا والحكومة والمجتمع المدني والفنون والأوساط الأكاديمية لمواجهة التهديدات التي يتعرض لها مستقبل شبكة الإنترنت. في “مؤسسة الويب”، نحن على استعداد للعب دورنا في هذه المهمة وبناء الشبكة التي نريدها جميعًا. دعونا نعمل معا لجعل ذلك ممكناً.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee


يرجى مشاركة هذه الرسالة على تويتر باستخدام هاشتاغ

#HappyBirthdayWWW

تحظى “مؤسسة الويب” بموقع الصدارة في الكفاح من أجل تعزيز وحماية شبكة الإنترنت لجميع الناس. للحصول على تحديثات حول عملنا، يرجى التسجيل في نشرتنا الإخبارية ومتابعتنا على تويتر

@webfoundation.

للإشتراك لتلقي الويب هذا الأسبوع، تقريرنا عن التكنولوجيا وأخبار الحقوق الرقمية، الذي يتم نشره كل يوم جمعة.

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  1. Use Logic

    March 12, 2018

    Advertising, as practiced today, is professional lying. It is designed to limit the truth and to distract the end user with unrelated content. It gives the "celebrities" the opportunity to speak above their intellectual weight and increases the cost of products and services to feed the leaches that live off it. Advertising needs to be severely limited to factual information without all the half naked women on display. With the most successful Internet companies making their fortune on lying and obfuscation says something about our society.We also need a serious look at the current laws regarding speech. The concept of "hate speech" needs to disappear. All speech, no matter how vile or stupid, needs to be tolerated. There should be no laws against speech or any attempt to limit it in any venue. The truth will ultimately rise to the top once all the arguments are heard. Private companies should be prevented from moderating content, as they always have a political angle that aligns with their profit incentive. Once they put up a platform, it should be anything goes and let the public police the content with their rebuttals to inane posters.

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    1. DANIEL CHESS

      March 12, 2018

      The web needs to change from an advertising supported model to one based on micro-payments. Furthermore it should be a human right to see all personally identifiable information held by any company. Any individual should have the right to see the file held on them by a company like axciom (the worst abuser), Google, or Facebook, and have that file completely deleted. Personally identifiable information belongs to the individual and not the company holding it.

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      1. ML

        March 12, 2018

        yes! excellent point!"Advertising, as practiced today, is professional lying. It is designed to limit the truth and to distract the end user with unrelated content. It gives the "celebrities" the opportunity to speak above their intellectual weight and increases the cost of products and services to feed the leeches that live off it."

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        1. Arjun Chatterjee

          March 13, 2018

          Everything sounds fine till you get to the point where you have to choose the group of people who will be the arbiters of this technology. This is basically about Donald Trump, Brexit and Hate speech. Advertising has allowed people like me in India to enjoy media on youtube which I would never even have dreamt of being able to watch a decade ago. It has allowed small time musicians, bloggers to get attention and some ad money. It has allowed people to get ahead in education with the open courseware videos online. All of this would not be possible without the ad funded web. I get that people are angry about the coverage of the EU and Trump - exposing the truths of the political system,etc. But to disparage the platforms which have brought pleasure to millions just because the powers that be have become too divisive in the last 5 years is pretty bad.I hope the nuances of this discussion is discussed in detail,otherwise we are looking at censorship. Plain and simple.

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        2. Michele

          March 12, 2018

          Bravo. This is the way it should be. To work for the good of all people everywhere. And not used for some control freaks to rule the world. Humanity should have the right to web access to have the chance and choice to improve their lot in life. This is a big wide world and connecting mankind thru the internet is amazing. Balance is necessary though so people don't become like machines. That they still use their brains for what they were made for...thinking. Not to be consumed for the evils of the intented intended evil that is rampant in society in the name of Satan, devil, whatever. There is enough bad in the world naturally without having intented intended evil. I don't Believe in Satan anymore and it would be wise for the whole beautiful wide world to adopt that thinking also. Positive thinking and thoughts are never a bad thing. Working thru the web for the good of the web and mankind everywhere. I was doing my part but the intented intended evil of FB and Twitter; my perspectives do not get heard. They got censored to the point of the other day they cut me off. Ha lol. Guess it must of been about the "I don't believe in the Jabberwocky or Satan part......." Really kinda 2 Cool in a Way. But the point is my Freedom of expressing my opinions, perspectives and feelings should not be sequestered and judged by individuals who don't give a rats ass about anybody but themselves and their intented intended evil to bring out the worse in people. It is Time for a Change for the Good. Humanity deserves a chance without all the lies. The web can be a force for good again. I am all for it. Extremism with evil intent is evil. A evil the world can live without. And no I'm not a religious freak but I do Believe in the Triune GOD...I am a Truth teller and a Trendsetter. But I can not do my service to mankind if they censor my Ways. I am not rich so my monetary contributions won't be much. I have approx. $760 a month to live on. Just saying...but I will help in any way I can. I can't share this as I don't even want a FB or Twitter anymore because as soon as they realize it's me they hack my phone. It is bs. My Heart is with your effort to effect a positive change for humanity. Thank you so much. You RoCK.😎😉 The real bmwh.

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          1. A. William Kleinebecker

            March 12, 2018

            Some ideas.... Net Neutrality applied to Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, etc.? GDRP applied/enforced at the presentation level and implemented in an SDN network controller? Have W3C (or ICANN) establish a personal data mart for users to police the use of their private data following GDRP guidelines with a value exchange and consent with each transfer of personal data even among service providers.The California state government is trying to reinstate Net Neutrality for its citizens. Some of its companies named in this letter have spoken out in favor of Net Neutrality. Are they hypocrites? California has the corporate headquarters (for now) of the people building the technology (5G Wireless, Network slicing) for the world's next Internet... Sir Berniers-Lee heads W3C.https://webfoundation.org/2018/03/web-birthday-29/

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            1. Jose

              March 15, 2018

              Where is the solution to everyone have free access for everything?Sounds crazy words?We live on this planet and it is supposed to be..... All Happy! Yes, We need Freedom to Live.... to Be Happy, always?Everyone has the right..... to have food, house, clothes, etc., etc. Why is not possible everyone living in Peace and Harmony, on this Planet?PS - This is my comment here.... hope this can help to find a solution for our planet to be Happy, for everyone!Michele - How can we be "free" from companies that supply us what we need? ;-)

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            2. Willem

              March 12, 2018

              While the brightest minds are are assembling, this is what all of us can do right now:- Don't use Facebook, Google and similar platforms funded by advertising and involved in data surveillance. There is a life without them!- Don't use browsers that are made for data surveillance like Chrome and Edge.- Embrace paid- and donation-funded services.- Distrust anything that claims to be free. The word has a different meaning on the Internet.- Only use products and services based on open standards. Yes, you will have to explain many friends why you're not on WhatsApp.- Learn your kids to make well considered choices about the apps they use.

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              1. Michael

                March 12, 2018

                you say embace paid and donation services .. well with the "weaponised" web of today I don't feel safe putting credit card details into a browser (and now even trust in the browser itself is pretty shakey - 2 browsers is too few and guess what "upstream" probably knows what you looked at)and "distrust everything free" is yet again missing something importantnot everything is created purely for profit.as someone who has been running a site for events since 1994 now finding it hard to see how it can even continue that us a big problem.yes its free to use, always was.. but I don't earn a living from it,I started it because it looked like a fun thing to try and something others might find useful.Seeing that people did actually use it made it worthwhile keeping it going sure its not billions of users but by 2000 and for another decade or so with stats generated from sesrver logs showing 15000 or so unique ips turning up every day it was used by a lot more people than I would have ever dreamed back in 1994 (not here to advertise so not posting link)ok thats not billions and it never made money .. but it still exists (just barely atm)- Those people pusing that view that money is the only motivation that exists cannot explain that. what I'm getting at is please don't forget the people that make things becouse its interesting or might be fun to try .. if there had been none of that there would have been pretty much nothing else either.Don;t forget the sheer enthusasm that brought millions of people to the internet before it was even considered acceptable to conduct commercial activity though much of that network of networks.an enthusiam which I also shared like so many others sparked by seeing discussion on usenet at uni in the late 80s.and those hobbyist networks extending the reach of the internet into the community in the early 90s before there were commercial isps. (and many of whom that later led to employment that wasn't imagined when they started tinkering)ok maybe I'm old and that last sentence might be before the web as such but please don't suggest locking out things that people do without any immediate plan to make money. It frightens me that thar now hobbyist has almost become a dirty word and its worrying that the diversity that made the internet (and the web) so attactective to so many people in the first place is now inder threat.if that gets trampled to death under the increasingly adversorial politics, monopoly-building, knee-jerk leglislation, trade wars, and all sirts of sleaze taking advantage of the mess then most of what all those people are bickering about will be lost on all sides of any of it. if people can;t feel free to express an idea without fear theres no freedom of speech let alone anything "social" or fun. if this keeps up for much longer a lot of people will probably just pull the plug (literally) and create whatever else they can to fill the gap.. I think they call that "fragmentation" .. unless we see some sane balance return its probably inevitableif even someone like me now has fear where not so long ago there was a sense of excitement and possibilities surely thats a sign.if diversity and freedom of expression are locked out, the outcome of most of those disputes will not benefit any "side" .. EVERYONE will lose.whats needed is to restore some kind of sane balance .. and it wasn't so bad a decade or so ago compared to now. sure, it wasn't perfect .. but does anyone really think the current mess is better?its really a worrying sign if even somone like me starts to think theres no future in anything I have done for decades (including paid work - having worked at an isp for nearly two decades - will I need to look for a new career path? - and with such thoughts anything that looks possible being only so because the creative parts could be done as far away as possible from any network cable)I hope that drives home the message I'm trying to convery here.I just hope it isn't too late to somehow restore some kind of balance that human beings can actually live with!

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              2. Mala Mukherjee Suess

                March 12, 2018

                What we need to focus on is gl

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                1. Mala Mukherjee Suess

                  March 12, 2018

                  What we need to focus on is media and digital competency education for children. Even in the richest countries girls are falling back in tech education. Every child should know about the concepts behind technology and learn to use, apply and develop technology for true innovation. We must shift away from self expression to innovation. Ten thousand interchangeable beauty tutorials rivalling each other on Youtube are good from an advertising perspective but not really a great step forward for humanity... The shift in the workforce through digitalization will either toss whole populations into abject poverty (everything a human does can be done better by machines, even psychotherapy and nursing which are being introduced now in Switzerland and Japan) or transform the very fibre of our society. I work in technology for Big Corporations and HR/Systems/Blind people for 25 years now, am a mom and am a media educator pro bono in Switzerland.

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                  1. eric

                    March 12, 2018

                    Just make each web server owner legally responsible for content passing across it. Changes the way hardware is deployed but gives legal recourse to damaged parties.

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                    1. Voor

                      March 12, 2018

                      Internet can be compared with human history/future.I can imagine long long time ago lets say Adam and Eve 2 persons having to deal with each other.Those 2 people must come to an agreement if it would only be to stay alive.First child borne.The world was still the world.Compare first smiley.The tribe grows to 3 (odd number) people and agreements would be more easy to make.The tribe grows to 4 (even number) people and agreements would be more difficult to make.The tribe grows to 5 more easy, but requires more talking.To 6 not easy and much more talking and again agreements more difficult.To 7 less easy lots of talking8 only talking.Compare early days of Internet.9 to 10 dictatorship will arrive.10 to 20 the first war and dictatorship will be confirmed.Compare Internet years ago growing and Napster killed.Dictatorship provides an easy way of living.100 to 200 people want to decide for their own and first rebellion.Compare P2P arrival and piracy.1000 to 2000 people have to re-find their selves.10.000 to 20.000 democracy will be invented.100.000 to 200.000 opportunist and war arrives again (WWW World Wide War).1.000.000.000 to 1....... the world gets smaller.Compare Internet to day search and abandon illegality (read unwanted by the rich).17.000.000.000 The world is small and democracy will be questioned no equality.Compare Internet as it is ahead of us.Free world and free Internet?Equality? Dictatorship?Robots will tell but don't expect the best.

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                      1. ACHRAF SELLAM

                        March 13, 2018

                        Dear Sir. Tim Berners-Lee,I think [Digital Gender Divide] starts by giving the opportunity for women who are most concerned by this question the chance to have her own computer. [Making the web working for people] means a lot of work for engineers in order to setup the network around the Earth and more education for them in order to understand the network better and easily. [Bringing more voices to the debate] means for me to promote Social Networks in the Internet like Facebook Company. But, in the web 29th birthday I would like to remember that we need pen and book, first. If we cannot know how to write or to read, then we will not use the computer properly. Pen and Book are the alliance for affordable Internet, which meant a lot at early time of the network in general: This the web of Half-World.Thank you,ACHRAF SELLAM

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                        1. bobneurone

                          March 13, 2018

                          I have to agree that education is a pre-requisite to be able to access media such as internet and get benefits from it. books and pen, masters and classrooms are the fundamental educational needs. digital divide is just one aspect of social divide around the world which includes others such as health, housing and food divides.

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                        2. Fraser Liscumb

                          March 13, 2018

                          Like all things in life to have value; you need a negative and positive side to create something of value to the community. Has too much of a good thing ends up to be a bad thing and to much of a bad thing require the community to come together to fix it. In the best interest of all; not just a privileged few. The Web is growing and like anything created by man is coming to its point in life where it will need to be considered by the government as essential service just like water, electricity, infrastructure is required and the key to the dilemma on advertising and profit-driven is using a sustainable Blockchain technology. it retain the incentive but remove the greed.

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                          1. Yani Haigh

                            March 13, 2018

                            "[Bringing more voices to the debate] means for me to promote Social Networks in the Internet like Facebook Company."Promote Facebook? I'm on my 6th 30 day ban in 6 months. What did I do? I did Facebook Live from a protest in Australia to save Ahed Tamimi from jail. I'm sorry but FB has become an advertising spy platform with a gold pipe to Mossad. Everyone who cases about human rights in Palestine and made statements on this has suffered blocks and account deletion. On my last trip to Palestine, was a waited for my Jewish girlfriend to arrive, she was held up experiencing hand rape at BG airport, then deported and reported to Interpol and Homeland Security as a potential terrorist. All the result of participating in discussions on FB.Is there the web you want to promote? I'd suggest we need to act and become independent of the control matrix of major companies and look to social media solutions like Diaspora, Hubzilla and Friendica... get back to where we started with Open Source Projects and decentralized networks.

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                            1. Arek

                              March 13, 2018

                              In terms of financing, there is only one way to change it - force telecoms companies to pay royalties to creators on revenues related to customer fees for Internet access.But even more important is the total surveillance and centralization of the network.You have to finally get rid of DNS and central domain management, which allows governments to block them, take over, etc.

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                              1. Kelly Curtis

                                March 14, 2018

                                Create a platform where you can ask everyone in the world questions. Answers are tallied and everyone can see how they do/compare/count. And millions of people could vote (make their voices count) all the time. Amazon, Facebook, and Google know - how many people searched that subject and all its correlating key words. But they don't tell us what they know. We never really get a total count of how everyone feels on a particular subject. They will use that data to sell us appropriate ads or modify their algorithms on us. Be we don't get to use that data - it's not saved for public access. So we can't use that info to collaborate or work together online - and see the same results, discussions, over and over. To keep moving forward. Building (block) chains of user created identity verification could be established. We could start to claim our opinion. Our ideas, our thoughts. Then a small step to claiming real online property. Bottom line is that owning one's data - is sort of the key to achieving certain rights online. Which are translating to real life rights. Could we own our votes, by verifying our identify? And start owning little blocks of our data (later - music, art, etc). What is really representative of public opinion in a digital age?

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                                1. Ahmed

                                  March 16, 2018

                                  happy birthday www. but why not turkish language?

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                                  1. Web Foundation

                                    March 16, 2018

                                    Hi Ahmed. Thanks for the birthday wishes! As a non-profit with limit resources, we had to select a small number of languages for translation and chose French, Spanish and Portuguese because they cover a large number of countries in which we work. Someone kindly volunteered to translate the letter into Swedish and so we were able to include that too. We have had offers of translations in other languages so we may be able to add more soon. I hope that answers your question.- Calum

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                                  2. Dimitri

                                    March 23, 2018

                                    When Boeing made new twice fuel effective jets air flights not become cheaper - but airlines become twice richer. Same with the internet but much much worst. Bernard Lee is a naive scientist released an evil out if the bottle.

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                                    1. Francois

                                      March 24, 2018

                                      I'm longing for a blockchain-based social network that will enable users to backtrack why they see a particular post, because of their friendship network, as advertising and who paid how much for it, or any underlying algorithmic reason. Expose the funding, you regain control as Eliott Ness did with the Chicago mafia...

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                                      1. Whats How

                                        March 29, 2018

                                        जब तक आप उस बिंदु तक नहीं पहुंचते हैं, जहां तक आपको इस समूह के लोगों का समूह चुनना पड़ता है जो इस तकनीक के आर्बिटर्स होंगे। यह मूल रूप से डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प, ब्रेक्सिट और नफरत भाषण के बारे में है। विज्ञापन ने मुझे यूट्यूब पर मीडिया का आनंद लेने के लिए भारत में मेरे जैसे लोगों को अनुमति दी है, जिसे मैंने कभी भी एक दशक पहले देखने में सक्षम होने का सपना नहीं देखा था।- राजनीतिक प्रणाली की सच्चाई को उजागर करते हैं, आदि। लेकिन जिन प्लेटफार्मों ने लाखों लोगों को खुशी दी है, उनसे निराश करने के लिए, क्योंकि पिछले 5 वर्षों में जो शक्तियां बहुत विभाजित हैं, वे बहुत खराब हैं। मुझे उम्मीद है कि इस चर्चा की बारीकियों पर विस्तार से चर्चा की गई है, अन्यथा हम सेंसरशिप पर विचार कर रहे हैं। सादा और सरल। इसमें छोटे समय के संगीतकारों, ब्लॉगर्स को ध्यान देने और कुछ विज्ञापन पैसा देने की अनुमति है। इसने लोगों को ओपन कोर्सवेयर वीडियो के साथ शिक्षा में आगे बढ़ने की इजाजत दी है। विज्ञापन वित्त पोषित वेब के बिना यह सब संभव नहीं होगा मुझे लगता है कि लोग ईयू और ट्रम्प के कवरेज के बारे में गुस्से में हैं

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                                        1. Fernando Bacelar

                                          November 8, 2018

                                          "Share the Web": make an effort to expand the web around you: community, city, country and world level. share a router, a ISP, create new tech, donate... Close the digital gap.

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                                          1. Chris Maden

                                            March 12, 2019

                                            I agree with most of the comments above. What started as a medium for democratising facts has ended up becoming a weapon for disseminating gossip, banter and lies. It's sad that so many of these lies are so uncritically accepted by so many people.However, I am not convinced that the advertising model of many (but not all) internet giants - although it makes an easy target - is to blame. The places we used to go for facts were newspapers and academia. Journalism and academic research have always had biases built in, but their respective ethos of fact-checking and peer-review, though not flawless, were (like democracy itself) the least bad solutions we had.Journalism's ethos of fact-checking has now been so eroded by commercial pressures as to be close to meaningless, and academic journals are too expensive for most people to afford. These institutional failures create the space for the advertising-based model of the internet to succeed. Until newspapers are willing to pay journalists to check facts, and until large publishers can be made to release their chokehold on academic journals, technological fixes will not help the internet regain its truth.By the way, blockchain folk: spare a thought for the vast amount of electricity that this technology uses over and above the already staggering amount that IT consumes, and that most of that electricity is made by burning coal.

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