Internet must remain neutral, says Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Access to data online must not be limited, founder of the world wide web tells Nokia World conference

Mobile operators and internet service providers must not be allowed to break the principle of "net neutrality" – that there should be no favouritism for connecting to certain sites online – Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, warned today.

He also said that low-cost mobile phones with a data connection were essential to ensure that the 80% of people who are not yet connected to the web could benefit from its ability to bring new information.

Berners-Lee suggested that concerns over privacy and the sharing of personal data will mean that businesses will have to improve their ability to segment the use of user-specific data such as addresses and where people are using their phones.

On net neutrality – which has become a major talking point in the US, especially as Google appears to have ceded the principle to some of the major mobile carriers there – Berners-Lee was adamant that it must remain a founding principle of the internet.

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Continua qui: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/sep/15/net-neutrality-tim-berners-lee