Re: Preparing to Publish HTTPS Finding

On 19 December 2014 at 21:07, Chris Palmer <palmer@google.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 3:12 AM, Melvin Carvalho
> <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > However the cost of a wildcard HTTPS certificate is still prohibitive, if
> > you consider the budget of world population, or the long tail of
> > development, both of which tend to be under represented in TAG
> discussions.
>
> Can you have some of those people subscribe to this list and post
> their stories? I'd be interested to see if we can help.
>

Perhaps what would help may be some research, and data points, regarding
the cost of switching from HTTP to HTTPS.

A useful exercise could be to imagine a world where, sometime in the
future, every person would become a stake holder in the web.

Let's take India, which is on target to be the most populous country of the
21st century.

"The annual median per capita [yearly] income in India stood at $616, the
99th position among 131 countries." [1] (Gallup Dec 2013)

So what's the cost of a wildcard SSL certificate (someone quoted $100 in a
previous)?  Is it affordable?

The finding says that HTTPS will only be needed for new features.  So, are
we moving to a two tier web, where some features are for everyone and and
some are for others?

If so, maybe we should try and make a list of the which features these are
likely to be.

During the Olympics timbl stated the web was "for everyone".  It would be
inspiring if some on this list echoed that vision.

[1]
http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-s-median-per-capita-income-lowest-among-brics-gallup-113121600968_1.html