http://www.newscientist.com/nl/0826/cailliau.html
The "co-inventor of the World Wide Web" expounds thusly:
Q: One of your ideas is that people--ordinary users--should need a
licence to use the Web. What sort of licence? And won't this restrict
the Web to an elite few?
A: It's all about education. If you don't know what to make of
information, you're lost. Do you have a licence to read books? Yes,
you do, because, depending on which country you live in, there is
compulsory education until you are 14 or 16. During that time you are
taught to read and write and to understand texts. You cannot get round
that. So when you come out of school, you have a sort of licence to
read books. Hopefully in the near future, schools will teach network
media, how to work with the Net, and that doesn't mean only the Web,
but also e-mail and all the other systems.
[...]
Q: How would your licence system work? Would I have to take a test to use
the Web?
A: Exactly like driving licences. They do not ensure that you will not
break the speed limit, but they can be taken away if you do. And
again: a traffic regulation only limits behaviour, not content. You
can drive where you want, when you want, provided you do it with safe
behaviour towards other traffic users. What I want is behaviour
regulation. We should all know what our rights and duties are. Teach
it in schools. Hand out a licence that shows one has passed a test of
minimal awareness.
--
http://dj.frogfarm.org/ ...for the best in unapproved information
On one hand I am you, but I don't like you | If you listen to fools
I guess that's the nature of the way things work. | the mob rules.
- Anthrax | - Black Sabbath
