Calling for an online Bill of Rights

A few weeks ago, I posted about the war over net neutrality and likened it to the American Revolution and a struggle over freedom and equality. Now, Tim Berners-Lee, the founding father of the internet, is calling for an online Bill of Rights. He says a document is needed to govern the internet and protect people from governmental and corporate abuse.

Today's internet certainly isn't what Berners-Lee had in mind when he drafted a proposal 25 years ago for what would eventually become the World Wide Web. The web was designed as an open space with a level playing field, free of ties to greed and power. But today, the internet is increasingly regarded with an air of cynicism and distrust as the curtain is slowly lifted on hoards of personal data and breaches of privacy. Much like when English subjects imposed the Magna Carta upon the King of England, Berners-Lee calls for global collaboration to draft a document that protects everyday folks' online rights.

A very compelling point he makes is that the free and open flow of information is essential to democracy. If we have to constantly worry about "what's happening at the back door" and what kind of information the government is holding, we lose trust in the entire system. And it has ramifications for much more than just government. Without a free and open internet, we erect barriers that prevent understanding and connectedness among different nations and cultures.

An internet that affords some people more access than others is a notion many of us quickly dismiss as unimportant or irrelevant. Maybe that's because the idea of "data" is so abstract. Most of the time the tiny bits of information floating around cyberspace don't produce any immediate impact, and it's easy to play out-of-sight-out-of-mind. If people were hoarding our money, or if leaders were wrongly detaining us, we'd notice. Those are tangible and egregious violations of our freedoms. But what Berners-Lee is trying to suggest is that an internet controlled by power structures may be just as dangerous, and just as contradictory to democratic ideals.

One challenge Berners-Lee notes is that the document must be global, not confined to any particular border, culture or government system. After all, the internet is a system for everyone. It's a place where anyone can speak freely, where anyone can create content, and where anyone can establish an online presence. Drafting a Bill of Rights would be a major step toward ensuring the free and open World Wide Web Berners-Lee had in mind.

What do you think? If you had to write a global, online Bill of Rights, what rights would you include?

techcrunch.com