to think maybe Tim Burners-lee shouldn't have given the world wide web away for free

[JustAsking1837]

Was very kind of him but maybe it would have helped raise lots of tax revenue for the UK if he hadn't given it to the world for free.

What do you think?

His invention, he can do with it as he pleases.

Of course he can, but the one great invention that has come from the UK in modern times which the whole world uses, and it's given away for free.

I think that the global good of free access to the World Wide Web far, far outweighs the National benefit of monetising it, and it’s incredibly parochial and short sighted to prioritise national interest over the vast benefits internet access has brought to the whole world. He did absolutely the right thing from a moral perspective imo.

@JustAsking1837

Was very kind of him but maybe it would have helped raise lots of tax revenue for the UK if he hadn't given it to the world for free.

What do you think?

He could have made Bill Gates look impoverished! Who would need windows without t'interweb?

In the good old days software was free as well. (They made a small charge for the cost of sending it to you.) Not everything has to be monetised or taxed.

Smart phones have brought vast benefits to the world but I don't see them being given away for free

@Thelnebriati

In the good old days software was free as well. (They made a small charge for the cost of sending it to you.) Not everything has to be monetised or taxed.

I think it’s the change in moral perspective from then to now, that’s the reason for the world going rapidly to hell in a hand cart. Imagine a world where the greater good took precedence over personal gain.

If he had even hinted at charging for it, then it would have descended into a VHS v. Betamax battle on an epic scale with lawsuits tying it up in knows for centuries.

People forget (or don't know) that Apple patented round edges on phones. Goodness knows what would have happened if that mindset was let loose on the foundations of the web.

Anyway, the battle isn't over. Monetising the webs architecture has been a wet dream of the US neocons since the year dot (well 1993).

I would love a moral world where things are given away for free for the greater good, but it's not. Does America give anything away for free? Does China? Would they have given the internet away for free? Doubt it.

The web only became dominant because the standards were free and unencumbered. Any individual or company could develop a web server, web browser, or pages and sites to view using them. It was by no means the only application for the internet.

If the web had been shackled in a greedy bid to make money, something free would have arisen instead.

@safariboot

The web only became dominant because the standards were free and unencumbered. Any individual or company could develop a web server, web browser, or pages and sites to view using them. It was by no means the only application for the internet.

If the web had been shackled in a greedy bid to make money, something free would have arisen instead.

Exactly. It works BECAUSE it's free, not in spite of being free.

It’s a shame somebody well intentioned didn’t retain some control over it.

There have been too many negative uses of the internet. Things like the dark web, mainstreaming of extreme porn, sharing of abuse images etc on one hand. OTOH there are sites run by neo-fascists such as Twitter and Reddit that make their owners large fortunes while popularising unpleasant ideologies.

OFC, that depends on the assumption that Berners-Lee is a safe pair of hands who would have appointed more safe pairs of hands.

I couldn’t care less about tax revenue, though.

Smartphones aren’t the same as the internet.

The internet is a service, a democratic public resource. It exists because it is free and because everyone has access to it and can be a contributor to it.

A smartphone is a device. They’re nice to have, but if a person doesn’t have one they aren’t being deprived of participating in a global network which connects everybody in the world.

The web only became dominant because the standards were free and unencumbered. Any individual or company could develop a web server, web browser, or pages and sites to view using them.

What if it were free but had light-touch restrictions on content?

Does America give anything away for free?

The internet. GPS. Countless medicines, after the 28-year patent period expires. Pretty much all the science done by NASA. I could go on.

As for China I don't know. But I'd rather Britain aspire to be the best, not race to the bottom.

It’s a shame somebody well intentioned didn’t retain some control over it.

The thought of one person or organisation having control over what we can and can’t access on the internet fills me with horror. Who would you honesty trust to make those decisions?

@ArriettyJones

The web only became dominant because the standards were free and unencumbered. Any individual or company could develop a web server, web browser, or pages and sites to view using them.

What if it were free but had light-touch restrictions on content?

Whose light touch ? Chinas ? Americas ? Europes ?

Isn't it Tim Berners-Lee?

T'internet is your friend.

The thought of one person or organisation having control over what we can and can’t access on the internet fills me with horror. Who would you honesty trust to make those decisions?

That’s the rub. You kind of hope that if TB-L has retained control, he would have been wise enough to immediately pass control to some kind of impartial committee of other wise types.

The existing Wild West situation isn’t great. How mismanaged would a committee need to be to be worse?

In the tech world, giving something away free is what makes it thrive. AOL tried to set up a 'walled garden', so did Microsoft with MSN (the Microsoft Network). They both failed. He deserves due credit for what he did, as do the Americans for inventing the Internet and not charging for it.

Berners-Lee was working at CERN in Switzerland when he developed the WWW, so I'm not sure that any tax revenue from a commercial WWW would have automatically gone to the the UK government.

While he's British it was invented while working at CERN so wouldn't have been a British product and taxable here.

The history of the internet is long and complicated. The web and the internet are not the same thing. Obviously the web was incredibly important but can't be looked at in isolation when looking at where we are today

@ArriettyJones

The thought of one person or organisation having control over what we can and can’t access on the internet fills me with horror. Who would you honesty trust to make those decisions?

That’s the rub. You kind of hope that if TB-L has retained control, he would have been wise enough to immediately pass control to some kind of impartial committee of other wise types.

The existing Wild West situation isn’t great. How mismanaged would a committee need to be to be worse?

We can't get the 5 permanent members of the UN security council to agree on much...how would a committee representing every country on earth possibly agree what content should (and more importantly should not) be available on the web ?

And it's worth noting that "the web" is not "the internet" by a long shot.

Um, I don't think Tim Berners-Lee invented http and www in his kitchen and went around seeking investors for his invention...he was working for a company when he figured out the whole thing out. He also didn't 'invent the internet' btw, even he himself is quite clear about that.

It wasn't really his to give away

What is ‘the dark web’, Arietty Jones?