Via Savetheinternet.org ...

Another Web Pioneer Speaks Out for Net Neutrality Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the Web, came out in support of Net Neutrality calling it fundamental to maintaining a fair and competitive market economy.

When, seventeen years ago, I designed the Web, I did not have to ask anyone’s permission. The new application rolled out over the existing Internet without modifying it. I tried then, and many people still work very hard still, to make the Web technology, in turn, a universal, neutral, platform. It must not discriminate against particular hardware, software, underlying network, language, culture, disability, or against particular types of data. The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy.

This tip came from Om Malik at GigaOm. Om adds: “I think it is time for start-ups and their backers to take stock of what the loss of network neutrality would mean to their business. Win or lose, this one has business implications, more so for many of the smaller corporate citizens.” The financial industry is beginning to make noise to that end. According to a story in The Hill, the financial-services industry is weighing coordinated opposition to the telco-friendly language in the House’s bill, “fearing a financial hit if lawmakers allow phone and cable companies to charge banks more for secure Web service.”

Berners-Lee joins fellow pioneer Vinton Cerf in support of a free and open Internet.

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