Magna Carta of the Internet

Magna Carta

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the world wide web, has taken a swipe at the UK's controversial Digital Economy Act calling its provisions "worrying" and adding that “disconnection from the Internet is a form of imprisonment”. Martyn Warwick of Telecom TV One reports.


Speaking in London at an event to mark the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Society, Sir Tim, a long-time and passionate advocate of net neutrality and freedom of speech on the Internet said governments all over the world are intent on imposing controls on the web and censoring its content.


Referring directly to the provisions of Britain's Digital Economy Act, the "three strikes and you're out" legislation in France and the draconian proposals contained in the "amalgamated" Cybersecurity Bill about to be voted on in the US, he said, “Governments are granting themselves the right to turn off the internet."
 
Delving back into medieval history Sir Tim added that an Englishman's right to freedom as enshrined in Magna Carta are as relevant and important today as they were back in 1215 when the barons forced King John to sign the document - or else!

Tim Berners-Lee

The late Lord Denning, sometime Master of the Rolls and one of the UK's most famous and influential judges described the Magna Carta as "The greatest constitutional document of all times - the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot."

The Magna Carta eventually led to to the rule of constitutional law in England, severely curtailed the power of the king and established that the monarch is bound by the law in exactly the same way as is any other Englishman regardless of his rank.

The Magna Carta was also a strong influence on the the early settlers in New England and its provisions inspired many later documents, including the Consititution of the United States itself.

At the heart of the matter is the expectation (The Digital Economy Act is so contentious that some of its provisions are being challenged in a court case) that ISPs and content providers/owners will be able to cut off subscribers from the Internet simply by claiming that individuals have been breaking the law by downloading content. The accusers would simply accuse but not be required to bring forward any proof or testable evidence that a crime had been committed.
Sir Tim Berners Lee says, “It is constitutionally very serious to deprive someone from the web – it requires consideration in the law and Magna Carta says that no free man shall be deprived of liberty without due process. When you commit a crime you lose rights. If you think about the class of crime for which you’d be imprisoned, stealing a DVD for the first time would certainly not be one. Yet we’re talking about potentially disconnecting a whole family because a child has downloaded something. It seems to me to be unreasonable and impractical. The things which are being proposed at the moment are dangerously crossing the boundaries of people’s net rights.”


..

Also posted at the Isoc India Chennai blog

..