Internet has no ‘off switch’, says web inventor

7:17 am | Thursday, September 6th, 2012

British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. AFP FILE PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES

LONDON—Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide Web, on Wednesday warned governments that attempts to block the Internet were doomed to failure due to its scattered structure.

Speaking at the launch of a league table showing which countries use the web most effectively, Berners-Lee said the lack of a global internet “off-switch” meant authoritarian regimes could not stem the influx of digital information.

“The way the Internet is designed is very much as a decentralised system,” he explained at the London launch.

“At the moment, because countries connect to each other in lots of different ways, there is no one off switch, there is no central place where you can turn it off.

“In order to be able to turn the whole thing off or really block, suppress one particular idea then the countries and governments would have to get together and agree and co-ordinate and turn it from a decentralised system to being a centralized system.

“And if that does happen it is really important that everybody fights against that sort of direction.”

Sweden came out on top of the global league table, which was calculated by the World Wide Web Foundation using indicators such as the political, economic and social impact of the web, connectivity and use.

The US came in second, ahead of Britain, Canada and Finland. France came in at 14th place. Yemen ranked bottom, closely followed by Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and Benin.

Berners-Lee, who was honored during the London Olympics opening ceremony, launched the first web page on Christmas Day 1990.

He is credited with creating the World Wide Web, which enables users to store and access information via the internet.

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Tags: Britain , Internet , Sweden , technology , Tim Berners-Lee

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=532789214 Liza Lc Par

Thank you Mr. Tim Breners-Lee for the http://www.
bluestar777

Very true! As it is Mr. Tim Berners-Lee is
practically UNKNOWN to everyday Net users save a few aficionados and
hackers who have DEEP KNOWLEDGE about the workings of the Internet and
computers in general

This guy is not your *everyday guy* on the street who enjoys the
LIMELIGHT of being a celebrity of some sort and savoring every minute
of it. He is a very humble and deprecatingly UNASSUMING personality
that borders on the edge of being MEEK

I’m a fan of both Bill gates and Steve too; since these two guys never
went to school learning about computers. Nevertheless, the knowledge
they had earned by studying by themselves in the School of Hard Knocks
is equivalent to, or much much better than to those that graduated from
a variety of related courses from different schools. There is no
similarity really in comparison between them and Tim Berners-Lee. Bill
Gates and Steve Jobs never went to college or had drop-out, while Tim
Berners-Lee was and is STEEPed in Academics and; thereupon, graduated a
string computer and science related courses in college

And so, and therefore we can handily suffuse our profuse sympathies for
both Bill and Steve for treading thier footprints under the sun the
Hard Way. Since they were hampered and disadvantaged owing to not
guided and benefited with a formal education

But, but…here is the very big, I should say tremendous let down and
somewhat cruel unfairness to real score vis-a-vis them and Tim
Berners-Lee. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs became a multi-billioners as
consequence and derivative of their trade. As a matter of fact, Bill
Gates for many years was richest man on the planet. Not anymore, he’s
only the second fiddle now because the bulk of his wealth now belongs
to his many philantropic excesses. Not a wise move for him, but that’s
his money.

Now, here comes Tim Berners Lee: He invented the World Wide Web that
CHANGED the FACE of the INTERNET forever. And what did and does he get
from it in return? NOTHING! Because of his invention, the Internet
became GRAPHICAL and COLORFUL. Not like those old DOS like interface,
that only those hard-core hackers and do-it-yourselfers care to tread
and navigate.

Adding insult to his injury, he is virtually UNKNOWN and blatantly UNSUNG for his contribution for the betterment of mankind.

He has a personal website. It’s been there for decades. Very simple.
Devoid of any tapestries of arrogance and vainglory. No
sophistication…and there’s nothing in there that could arouse
excitement to even the most incompetent and mediocre web builder. All
you can see there is just a small picture of him…and some text

His personal website is even buried under a directory.

Undeniably, not by any ghost of common sense— a fitting
tribute and lasting legacy to the one that: INVENTED the World Wide
Web.

Mr. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the WWW. What’ta humble and unassuming guy!
pablosantino

kung hindi dahil sa kanya hindi ako maagsawang kapapanood ng mga x-rated at bold na pelikula sa internet..salamat sayo doctoc lee

Diablo_III

hahaha. youjizz or spankwire bro..

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3QBMYPCCPWL5IDWF55BTBVWSAE UPLB-2008-3****

Reminder lang people, “Internet” != “World Wide Web”.

Internet refers to the network of computers.
“World Wide Web” is a service made possible by the Internet.
Other services made possible by the Internet:- Email (i.e., when using Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird), before the advent of webmail came
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- Telnet
http://profile.yahoo.com/MYQHCLG6LUPTRX33NJK35WKVDQ Simon

no need to centralize it…. just shut down all electrical sources and dead goes the internet =D
rockinLeon

Tim did not invent the Internet. Actually, he used HTTP and IP protocols invented 50 years ago during the Cold War as the networking protocol for his WWW communication and him saying that there’s a need of a centralized “switch” to turn off the whole Internet shebang is not making any sense, One “circuit breaker” to turn off millions of networks and gateways in and out of respective countries is impossible. It’s not fail safe.

http://twitter.com/FleebyBoy Fleeb

According to the article, Tim is the British inventor of the “World Wide Web”. Nowhere it said he invented the internet.

just_the_guy

The internet is public. But decision is personal. The off-switch is in your head.
andresa igbac

and now am suddenly thinking, where does all the internet “energy” and “interconnection” come from? one big large supercomputer in some large hidden warehouse? (am channeling super detective TV programs/movies). one day you think you understand everything alreadyl, then next day, it all seems confusing, and you need to sit down and digest it all.

Goubb

Millions of supercomputers, servers, computers, data centers scattered across the globe, actually all of the computers that are connected are the energy and interconnection. Your computer is part of the internet.

andresa igbac

i know goubb..it’s just amazing sometimes that all this hardware (including cables under the seas and satellites) and software are making the world just one little place, with countries mere seconds away from one another. but if we will all shut off our gadgets, the internet and the WWW will be dead. kaput. or is it?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3QBMYPCCPWL5IDWF55BTBVWSAE UPLB-2008-3****

I suggest you read the entry for “Domain Name Server” in Wikipedia.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KF2TCBJ2AUC7VIPR3TACWUGITE Rednaxela VD

Just because of the www invemtion, this guy could be considered one of the most important persons in the history of mankind

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000448629179 Gamaliel Taqued

But don’t tell that to Apple fans.

I_kabod

saka microsoft! sadly, at any given time, his name will be in the shadows of bill gates and steve jobs.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KF2TCBJ2AUC7VIPR3TACWUGITE Rednaxela VD

true. i only learned about the guy during the olympics
bluestar777

Very true! As it is Mr. Tim Berners-Lee is practically UNKNOWN to everyday Net users save a few aficionados and hackers who have DEEP KNOWLEDGE about the workings of the Internet and computers in general
This guy is not your *everyday guy* on the street who enjoys the LIMELIGHT of being a celebrity of some sort and savoring every minute of it. He is a very humble and deprecatingly UNASSUMING personality that borders on the edge of being MEEK

I’m a fan of both Bill gates and Steve too; since these two guys never went to school learning about computers. Nevertheless, the knowledge they had earned by studying by themselves in the School of Hard Knocks is equivalent to, or much much better than to those that graduated from a variety of related courses from different schools. There is no similarity really in comparison between them and Tim Berners-Lee. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never went to college or had drop-out, while Tim Berners-Lee was and is STEEPed in Academics and; thereupon, graduated a string computer and science related courses in college
And so, and therefore we can handily suffuse our profuse sympathies for both Bill and Steve for treading thier footprints under the sun the Hard Way. Since they were hampered and disadvantaged owing to not guided and benefited with a formal education
But, but…here is the very big, I should say tremendous let down and somewhat cruel unfairness to real score vis-a-vis them and Tim Berners-Lee. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs became a multi-billioners as consequence and derivative of their trade. As a matter of fact, Bill Gates for many years was richest man on the planet. Not anymore, he’s only the second fiddle now because the bulk of his wealth now belongs to his many philantropic excesses. Not a wise move for him, but that’s his money.
Now, here comes Tim Berners Lee: He invented the World Wide Web that CHANGED the FACE of the INTERNET forever. And what did and does he get from it in return? NOTHING! Because of his invention, the Internet became GRAPHICAL and COLORFUL. Not like those old DOS like interface, that only those hard-core hackers and do-it-yourselfers care to tread and navigate.
Adding insult to his injury, he is virtually UNKNOWN and blatantly UNSUNG for his contribution for the betterment of mankind.
He has a personal website. It’s been there for decades. Very simple. Devoid of any tapestries of arrogance and vainglory. No sophistication…and there’s nothing in there that could arouse excitement to even the most incompetent and mediocre web builder. All you can see there is just a small picture of him…and some text
His personal website is even buried under a directory.
Undeniably, not by any ghost of common sense— a fitting tribute and lasting legacy to the one that: INVENTED the World Wide Web.
Mr. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the WWW. What’ta humble and unassuming guy!

john_constantine

He already is, judging by the accolades, awards and knighthood bestowed on him.
http://profile.yahoo.com/RFVD3CQ3BENWY7T2BTB7U5S25Q Teddy

you’re initial phrase seems to belittle the advent of WWW. You are very right though on your second phrase, it transformed the world and so is deserving of this very recognition of being one of the most important persons in history.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EAUFRN6E4JJ67TDR25KRGR3DFE Zen

the first phrase highlights the magnitude of his contribution, not belittle it. “just because” means “for that alone.” kahit dun pa lang sa pagimbento niya ng www isa na siyang napakaimportanteng tao.
http://profile.yahoo.com/RFVD3CQ3BENWY7T2BTB7U5S25Q Teddy

i don’t think it translates like that…it directly translates to “dahil lang” which is close to but not exactly “kahit dun pa lang”. “dahil lang” lessens the impact because www in itself is huge. Even the phrase “for that alone” falls short in encompassing this achievement as it is a whole in itself, not one in a many.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KF2TCBJ2AUC7VIPR3TACWUGITE Rednaxela VD

wtf? lol. take the statement as a whole. the world owes this guy big time

andresa igbac

humankind. don’t leave out the women.
bluestar777

Rednaxela VD. someone objected wtih your comments here.
Ok, I’ll copy that word for word here. Just don’t charge me with plagiarism ha? (^_^)

“Just because of the www invention, this guy could be considered one of the most important persons in the history of womankind”

I believe this settles the objection now (^_^)

Internet has no ‘off switch’, says web inventor

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