Let more of the World Access the Internet

LET MORE OF THE WORLD ACCESS THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Eric Schmidt, Google]
[Commentary] For centuries access to the world’s information ­ and the ability to communicate it ­ was controlled by the wealthy and the well educated. Today the Internet has broken down many of the barriers that exist between people and information: effectively democratizing access to human knowledge. The democratization of information has empowered us all as individuals. We no longer have to take what business, the media or indeed politicians say at face value. Where once people waited to be told what the news was, they can now decide what news matters to them, and increasing numbers are actually commenting on events themselves ­ creating blogs every second of every day. It is the first rule of the Internet: people have a lot to say. They no longer want to be passive recipients of information. People want control over their media -- not to be controlled by it. In just a few years the Internet has moved from the periphery to the center of our lives. We have not seen such a life-changing communications technology since the invention of television. As a result it is often easy to forget that the world wide web is still in its infancy: today just 10 per cent of the world’s information is available online. Like any child, the Internet is pushing at the perimeters of established systems ­ business models from the last century, traditional media, long-accepted notions of national jurisdiction, even old concepts of control. This is a challenge for everyone. Some of the “pushed”, most likely governments with the power to regulate and legislate, will inevitably feel the need to push back. But rather than focus on how to control the web, legislators should concentrate on how to give Internet access to more people in more countries. The prize is a world in which every human being starts life with the same access to information, the same opportunities to learn and the same power to communicate. I believe that is worth fighting for.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fbc969aa-e8f2-11da-b110-0000779e2340.html
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