CONTRACT FOR THE WEB

About: 

• Objective: The idea is to create a global plan of action for all stakeholders to together commit to building a “better” Web.
  
  
• Who has created this Contract? The World Wide Web Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Tim Berners-Lee worked on it with Representatives from over 80 organisations, including governments of France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Ghana; tech majors Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc, civil society activists, and academics.
  
  
• Principles in the Contract: The Contract consists of following 9 principles, three each for governments, private companies, and individuals and civil society to endorse
  • Governments will “Ensure everyone can connect to the Internet”, “Keep all of the Internet available, all of the time”, and “Respect and protect people’s fundamental online privacy and data rights”.
    
    
  • Companies will “Make the Internet affordable and accessible to everyone”, “Respect and protect people’s privacy and personal data to build online trust”, and “Develop technologies that support the best in humanity and challenge the worst”.
    
    
  • Citizens will “Be creators and collaborators on the Web”, “Build strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity”, and “Fight for the Web so that it “remains open and a global public resource for people everywhere”.
    
    
  
  
  
• Implementation:
  • The principles are lofty, and implementation will not be easy.
    
    
  • The ‘Contract for the Web’ is not a legal document, or a United Nations document — though the organisation is in talks with the UN. It cannot currently bend governments or companies — even those that are on board — to its will.