Protecting the internet's purpose

[Commentary] To digital natives, the internet is a given. “There was a time when people felt the internet was another world,” noted Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, “but now people realize it’s a tool that we use in this world.” It’s helpful to think of the internet as earlier generations thought of automobiles and airplanes. In the first half of the 20th century, those were exciting if iffy technologies – unregulated, unreliable, and unsafe. Year after year, users demanded, and business and government provided, better quality and safety. Digital technology is on a similar curve. It is heartening that young hackers are uncovering internet vulnerabilities. It would be even better if they were to use their talents not just to make the Xbox and Minecraft more secure but to protect the internet’s original purpose: to connect people and ideas, to make all knowledge freely available.