Dear MEP, Please Save Our Internet

Glyn Moody has confirmed that there is a real threat to the European Internet:

Glyn Moody says:

April 25, 2009 at 4:14 pm (Edit)

Yes, this is very serious. It’s threatening Net neutrality – which means that bits are passed end to end without caring what they are. Telecoms companies want to be able to block certain kinds of traffic, or charge more (for Skype, for example). This is likely to kill innovation.

Here’s my commentary from a few weeks back, together with the letter I wrote to my MEPs. There’s also a link to what Sir Tim Berners-Lee said on Net neutrality, and why it matters:

http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/03/save-european-internet-write-to-your_30.html

Feel free to contact me with questions.

I have therefore written to my member of European Parliament (MEP)

Dear Andrew Duff,

I am writing to urge you to vote to keep Europe’s Internet free when the issue is voted on May 5th.

I am sure you are aware of the issues, which are summarised on http://www.blackouteurope.eu/.

I am a chemist in the University of Cambridge, deeply involved with the Digital Information Environment and have been supported by grants from the UK’s eScience program (DTI/EPSRC)  and the JISC (www.jisc.ac.uk) to develop new radically new information systems for scientists. The Internet and the new generation of Web activity (Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web) are a revolution in human history and will bring major advances and be a major generator of wealth. This will be critical in pulling the world out of recession.

Cambridge and the East of England are leaders in this revolution, which depends on uncontrolled and ultra-rapid innovation. This innovation depends absolutely on the free flow of information, typified by TimBL’s “Linked Open Data” where different information sources are “mashed up”  through software. Often these systems are created by single, inspired, programmers with nothing more than a PC connected to the Internet. Any barriers, however small, destroy this innovation completely. That is why many of us campaign for the removal of barriers such as software patents, DRM and copyright that restrict the digital revolution. For example, the Open Knowledge Foundation (http://www.okfn.org), which started in Cambridge, works to create the instruments and the advocacy for unrestricted knowledge. Any control over the flow of digital information will have major adverse effects on the innovation we are now seeing.

Besides the economic argument, the proposed changes will have a very serious impact on digital democracy. Again Cambridge has been in the forefront of developing new web-based democracy such as seen in mySociety (http://www.mysociety.org) with products such as TheyWorkForYou (http://www.mysociety.org/projects/theyworkforyou/) which gives immediate and comprehensive digital access to information on Westminster MP’s records and activities. (Some of their work is supported by the Cabinet Office).

The future of our planet will also depend on access to data and its unrestricted use. A typical example is AMEE (http://www.amee.com/), again a single person initiative, which produces carbon and energy calculators which are now used by major multi-nationals to unify the reporting of carbon footprints.

The European debate is characterised by large multinationals with powerful lobbies arguing for wealth creation through restriction and monopolies. This is backwards looking and slow-moving and economies and governments who are governed by this will be rapidly overtaken by those, like the new US administration, who espouse Openness as a primary approach.

Yours

Peter Murray-Rust

This blogpost was prepared with ICE+OpenOffice.