Internet is for everyone: the Mozilla Manifesto

“The Internet is for Everyone” is the title of a quite famous RFC written almost five years ago by Vint Cerf, one of the “founding fathers” of the Internet. RFC 3271 doesn’t specify any Internet standard, but is a sort of global memo to remember us that we need to demand Internet freedom. Cerf was in his closing saying:

Internet IS for everyone – but it won’t be unless WE make it so.

On the 13th of February Mitchell Baker , President of the Mozilla Corporation, announced on her blog the availability of the Mozilla manifesto, which led me somehow back to the forementioned Internet for Everyone RFC.

From her own post the Mozilla Manifesto’s goals:

  1. articulate a vision for the Internet that Mozilla participants want the Mozilla Foundation to pursue;
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  2. speak to people whether or not they have a technical background;
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  3. make Mozilla contributors proud of what we’re doing and motivate us to continue; and
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  4. provide a framework for other people to advance this vision of the Internet.

Here the Mozilla Manifesto’s principles:

  1. The Internet is an integral part of modern life – a key component in education, communication, collaboration, business, entertainment and society as a whole.
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  2. The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
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  3. The Internet should enrich the lives of individual human beings.
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  4. Individuals’ security on the Internet is fundamental and cannot be treated as optional.
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  5. Individuals must have the ability to shape their own experiences on the Internet.
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  6. The effectiveness of the Internet as a public resource depends upon interoperability (protocols, data formats, content), innovation and decentralized participation worldwide.
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  7. Free and open source software promotes the development of the Internet as a public resource.
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  8. Transparent community-based processes promote participation, accountability, and trust.
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  9. Commercial involvement in the development of the Internet brings many benefits; a balance between commercial goals and public benefit is critical.
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  10. Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the Internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.

I like the idea that the Mozilla project is more than simply releasing new versions of Firefox, and while I’m not involved in the Mozilla project I’m really willing to help.

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