- This document
expresses the Internet Society's ideology that the Internet really is for
everyone.
- [...]
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if it isn't affordable by all that wish
to partake of its services, so we must dedicate ourselves to making the
Internet as affordable as other infrastructures so critical to our well-being.
While we follow Moorès Law to reduce the cost of Internet-enabling
equipment, let us also seek to stimulate regulatory policies that take
advantage of the power of competition to reduce costs.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if Governments restrict access to it,
so we must dedicate ourselves to keeping the network unrestricted, unfettered
and unregulated. We must have the freedom to speak and the freedom to hear.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if it cannot keep up with the explosive
demand for its services, so we must dedicate ourselves to continuing its
technological evolution and development of the technical standards the
lie at the heart of the Internet revolution. Let us dedicate ourselves
to the support of the Internet Architecture Board, the Internet Engineering
Steering Group, the Internet Research Task Force, the Internet Engineering
Task Force and other organizations dedicated to developing Internet technology
as they drive us forward into an unbounded future. Let us also commit ourselves
to support the work of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers - a key function for the Internet's operation. Internet is for
everyone - but it won't be until in every home, in every business, in every
school, in every library, in every hospital in every town and in every
country on the Globe, the Internet can be accessed without limitation,
at any time and in every language.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if it is too complex to be used easily
by everyone. Let us dedicate ourselves to the task of simplifying the Internet's
interfaces and to educating all that are interested in its use.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if legislation around the world creates
a thicket of incompatible laws that hinder the growth of electronic commerce,
stymie the protection of intellectual property, and stifle freedom of expression
and the development of market economies. Let us dedicate ourselves to the
creation of a global legal framework in which laws work across national
boundaries to reinforce the upward spiral of value that the Internet is
capable of creating.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if its users cannot protect their privacy
and the confidentiality of transactions conducted on the network. Let us
dedicate ourselves to the proposition that cryptographic technology sufficient
to protect privacy from unauthorized disclosure should be freely available,
applicable and exportable. Moreover, as authenticity lies at the heart
of trust in networked environments, let us dedicate ourselves to work towards
the development of authentication methods and systems capable of supporting
electronic commerce through the Internet.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if parents and teachers cannot voluntarily
create protected spaces for our young people for whom the full range of
Internet content still may be inappropriate. Let us dedicate ourselves
to the development of technologies and practices that offer this protective
flexibility to those who accept responsibility for providing it.
- Internet
is for everyone - but it won't be if we are not responsible in its use
and mindful of the rights of others who share its wealth. Let us dedicate
ourselves to the responsible use of this new medium and to the proposition
that with the freedoms the Internet enables comes a commensurate responsibility
to use these powerful enablers with care and consideration. For those who
choose to abuse these privileges, let us dedicate ourselves to developing
the necessary tools to combat the abuse and punish the abuser.
- Internet
is for everyone - even Martians!
- I hope
Internauts everywhere will join with the Internet Society and like-minded
organizations to achieve this, easily stated but hard to attain goal. As
we pass the milestone of the beginning of the third millennium, what better
theme could we possibly ask for than making the Internet the medium of
this new millennium?
- Internet
IS for everyone - but it won't be unless WE make it so.
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