Tim Berners-Lee: internet freedom must be safeguarded

Web inventor warns against companies or governments 'trying to get total control' as his pioneering work is recognised with award.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said his invention of the world wide web should be safeguarded from being controlled by governments or large corporations.
The computer scientist's words of warning came as he and five colleagues were recognised by the Queen for their pioneering work in helping to create the internet.
Berners-Lee, Robert Kahn, Vint Cerf and Louis Pouzin were jointly awarded the inaugural £1m Queen Elizabeth prize for engineering during a glittering Buckingham Palace reception attended by David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband.
Their work in establishing first the internet, a network of interconnected computer systems, then interlinked web pages accessed via the internet has revolutionised communication.
The Queen described how their achievements had completely changed aspects of modern life and hailed engineering as the "noble profession".
Asked to comment on the claims made by fugitive American whistleblower Edward Snowden that his invention is being used by governments to access communications between individuals, Berners-Lee said: "The original design of the web of 24 years ago was for a universal space, we didn't have a particular computer in mind or browser, or language.

Source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/26/tim-berners-lee-internet-freedom