Re: Corporations and the Internet: TED talk

On 17 Jul 2011, at 12:44 PM, Jonathan Chetwynd wrote:

> Ian,
> 
> Had you considered Rebecca MacKinnon's TEDGlobal 2011 talk: Consent of the Networked?
> she raises issues of corporate control of the internet,
> and John Naughton also covers similar ground in today's Observer.
> 
> These are similar to those I have previously bought to your attention as "On being humane" in 2009,
> regarding the W3C process, and the lack of accountability to the world's citizens;
> both in the failure to externally audit W3C progress in meeting its professed goals,
> and the reliance on corporations to define W3C standards and specifications.
> 
> Might News Corporation's belated response also help you consider whether a timely change in W3C process is due?
> 
> There can be little doubt that corporations are creating specifications and standards that suit there own purposes,
> rather than the common weal.

Hi Jonathan,

The W3C mission [1] is:

 "The W3C mission is to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term growth of the Web."

Members, staff, and the community at large participate in service of that mission. Of course, they also participate for their own reasons, but the organization as a whole acts in service of the Web.

We are developing new processes; check out my blog post on community groups:
 http://www.w3.org/QA/2011/06/beta_for_community_groups_unde.html

Ian


[1] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/mission

> 
> kind regards
> 
> Jonathan Chetwynd
> http://www.peepo.com
> 
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-archive/2009Mar/0064.html
> 
> http://blog.ted.com/2011/07/13/lets-take-back-the-internet-rebecca-mackinnon-on-ted-com/
> 
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/17/smartphones-internet-corporate-threat
> 
> 
> 

--
Ian Jacobs (ij@w3.org)    http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
Tel:                                      +1 718 260 9447

Received on Sunday, 17 July 2011 18:00:33 UTC