Tim Berners-Lee (@timbl) explains why he gave away the #WWW for free.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/28/why-i-gave-the-world-wide-web-away-for-free

"For the web to have everything on it, everyone had to be able to use it, and want to do so. This was already asking a lot. I couldn’t also ask that they pay for each search or upload they made. In order to succeed, therefore, it would have to be free. That’s why, in 1993, I convinced my #CERN managers to donate the intellectual property of the world wide web, putting it into the public domain. We gave the web away to everyone."

But he adds:

"Today, I look at my invention and I am forced to ask: is the web still free today? No, not all of it. We see a handful of large platforms harvesting users’ private data to share with commercial brokers or even repressive governments…Trading personal data for use certainly does not fit with my vision for a free web."

#PublicDomain #OpenInfrastructure #Solid #Web

Why I gave the world wide web away for free

My vision was based on sharing, not exploitation – and here’s why it’s still worth fighting for

The Guardian

@petersuber @timbl

… but does not reflect on whether supporting Encrypted Media Extensions was actually the right decision, and in keeping with those principles, in hindsight

https://www.theregister.com/2017/03/06/berners_lee_web_drm_w3c/

smh

Sir Tim Berners-Lee refuses to be King Canute, approves DRM as Web standard

Will decision bring back need to use specific browsers?

The Register