SirTimBerners-Lee

= = toc =Sir Tim Berners-Lee=

Profile
Born on June 8, 1955 in London, England, Tim Berners-Lee was the son of a computer scientist and is best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He graduated from Oxford University in 1976 and spent years working with firms such as Plessey Telecommunications Ltd. and D.G Nash Ltd. He then began working as an independent consultant which included a six month job as a consultant software engineer at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1984, he accepted a fellowship at CERN to work on systems for data acquisition and system control. In 1989, he proposed a global hypertext project. His team worked together to create the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the World Wide Web (WWW). In 1991, the first web based text browser was released to the public. Tim Berners-Lee then founded the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1993 where he now holds the position of Director.

Berners-Lee co-wrote the book __Weaving the Web__ in 1999 which explains the past, present and future of the web. Time Magazine dubbed him as one of the greatest minds of the century in 1999 and he was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 for his outstanding contributions to the world.

His Goal for the Web
Tim Berners Lee wanted to make a communication tool that could be used freely by anyone and everyone worldwide; with no restrictions and no boundaries. He felt that information was something that should be shared by everyone and that everyone, no matter their race, status or culture, should have the same access to information. He understood that knowledge equals power, and that by hold information from people we would be limiting those people. Tim’s goal was to make it possible for everyone to receive information on an equal level, and this was his idea behind creating the World Wide Web.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is an application protocol that runs over the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). HTTP is the protocol used by the World Wide Web; it is a request/response protocol between a client and a server. It defines the steps needed to perform actions of transferring multimedia files such as text, music, videos, etc. on the web. For example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is used on a web browser (HTTP client) to access a web page. The request is sent to the Internet Protocol and the file(s) related to the request are sent back to the user on the web browser.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
Hypertext Markup Language is the most commonly used language that is used for the creation of web pages. Although new and updated markup languages have been introduced recently, HTML was the language that set the standard. It is used to create and format web pages on the WWW.

World Wide Web (WWW)
The World Wide Web (WWW) is a networked system of hypertext documents. A web browser is used to view web pages that contain multimedia files. Web pages are also linked to other pages through hyperlinks and thus, creates a system of interlinked hypertext documents. HTTP is the protocol that regulates and defines the WWW and how it is used.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The World Wide Web Consortium is the standards organization for the World Wide Web. Its mission is to work with its members to continually develop and improve the standards of the WWW. The W3C develops technologies to improve the web and use it to its full potential so that the web can continue to grow in the long term. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is the Consortium’s Directors and leads the organization. The W3C was created with the purpose of ensuring compatibility and the unity of standards on the WWW. The W3C is an international organization with its head office in MIT, and other branches all around the world such as Japan, Europe and Australia.

Net Neutrality
"It's better and more efficient for us all if we have a separate market where we get our connectivity, and a separate market where we get our content. Information is what I use to make all my decisions. Not just what to buy, but how to vote," (Bennett) In the recent years, Tim Berners-Lee has been fighting for net neutrality. It is "the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet." (Google) Broadband service providers are trying to get permission from the government to have controls on what their subscribers can see first and fastest. This is against Berners-Lee's idea of the Internet. He believes that everything on the Internet should be treated equally and without discrimination, regardless of their contents.

Although he is fighting for net neutrality, it does not mean he supports a unregulated Internet. He also believes that the Internet should be maintence by organizations -- such as the government.

"The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true. Let us protect the neutrality of the net." -- Tim Berners-Lee
 * This is a quote from Tim Berners-Lee on Net Neutrality:**

References:
__http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/Longer.html____ http://www.answers.com/topic/tim-berners-lee____ http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HTTP.html____ http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci214004,00.html____ http://www.w3.org/____ http://www.w3.org/Consortium/____ http://www.wikipedia.com/__

"A Guide to Net Neutrality for Google Users."__ Google__. 2006. 8 Dec. 2006 .

Bennett, Jonathan. "Berners-Lee Calls for Net Neutrality."__ ZDNET__. 23 May 2006. 8 Dec. 2006 .