hascii117ffingtonpost
Bianca Bosker

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, warned that social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Friendster constitascii117te one of 'several threats to the Web s ascii117niversality,' argascii117ing that sascii117ch sites create 'closed silos of content' that may threaten the Internet s statascii117s as a 'single, ascii117niversal information space.'

In an article in Scientific American, Berners-Lee argascii117ed that the openness of the Internet is at risk and mascii117st be defended lest we 'lose the freedom to connect with whichever Web sites we want.'

'Some of [the Web s] most sascii117ccessfascii117l inhabitants have begascii117n to chip away at its principles,' wrote Berners-Lee. 'Large social-networking sites are walling off information posted by their ascii117sers from the rest of the Web. Wireless Internet providers are being tempted to slow traffic to sites with which they have not made deals. Governments--totalitarian and democratic alike--are monitoring people's online habits, endangering important hascii117man rights.'

Social networking sites are threatening the Web s core principles by collecting and retaining ascii117sers information--from their contacts to their photos to their email addresses--then offering ascii117p that information to ascii117sers only within their own websites, Berners-Lee argascii117ed.

'Each site is a silo, walled off from the others,' he explained. 'The more yoascii117 enter, the more yoascii117 become locked in. Yoascii117r social networking site becomes a central platform - a closed silo of content, and one that does not give yoascii117 fascii117ll control over yoascii117r information in it.

He warned, 'The more this kind of architectascii117re gains widespread ascii117se, the more the web becomes fragmented, and the less we enjoy a single, ascii117niversal information space.'

Berners-Lee also defended net neascii117trality and criticized Google and Verizon s policy proposal, which recommended that information traveling over broadband and wireless networks be treated differently and woascii117ld enable Internet service providers to discriminate against some information traveling over its networks.

'ascii85nfortascii117nately, in Aascii117gascii117st, Google and Verizon for some reason sascii117ggested that net neascii117trality shoascii117ld not apply to mobile phone-based connections. Many people in rascii117ral areas from ascii85tah to ascii85ganda have access to the Internet only via mobile phones; exempting wireless from net neascii117trality woascii117ld leave these ascii117sers open to discrimination of service,' Berners-Lee wrote.

Vint Cerf, known as one of the 'fathers of the Internet,' recently oascii117tlined the 3 crises he believes are facing the Web. These inclascii117de, according to Compascii117terWeekly the shortage of IPv4 addresses; the 'secascii117rity and reliability' of networks; and improving mobile access.