Web Pioneer Tim Berners-Lee Warns of Government Bid to Control Internet 'On the Sly'

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has warned that the internet is facing a major threat from governments and companies who are seeking to "control it on the sly". Berners-Lee said the internet's founding principles of openness and freedom of speech were at risk of being lost due to laws such as the US Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa), government surveillance and attempts by internet giants to profit from individuals' private data. "Unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society," said Berners-Lee. "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?"...more