Tim Berners-Lee Calls for Free Internet Worldwide
BBC News (09/15/10) Jonathan Fildes
World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee is calling for universal Web access, arguing that every person should be granted a free low-bandwidth connection "by default." Only 20 percent of the global population currently has Web access, and Berners-Lee sees a growing opportunity for universal access with the advent of mobile networks worldwide. He says the Web could be vital to giving people access to health care and other essential services, and notes that through Web access people could "create their own communities and share their own information" about health, business, and agriculture. Berners-Lee suggests that network providers could offer free Web links on the basis that people would become richer in the future and be willing to pay for high-bandwidth mobile services. His comments resonate with similar observations by International Telecommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun Toure, who recently said that information access ought to be a "universal human right."
View Full Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11309...
World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee is calling for universal Web access, arguing that every person should be granted a free low-bandwidth connection "by default." Only 20 percent of the global population currently has Web access, and Berners-Lee sees a growing opportunity for universal access with the advent of mobile networks worldwide. He says the Web could be vital to giving people access to health care and other essential services, and notes that through Web access people could "create their own communities and share their own information" about health, business, and agriculture. Berners-Lee suggests that network providers could offer free Web links on the basis that people would become richer in the future and be willing to pay for high-bandwidth mobile services. His comments resonate with similar observations by International Telecommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun Toure, who recently said that information access ought to be a "universal human right."
View Full Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11309...
This is really a great idea to offer the www free especially for health care purposes which would allow the poorest of people who live in bush country or villages where there are no roads. I'm sure how the electricity would be worked out, but maybe there would be a central location (a hut or home) people could go to have access to doctors via web. It's at least a thought and makes good sense to me, but perhaps not to greedy money hungry businesses.