26 October 2019 | New Scientist | 43get countries to collaborate with each other to
deal with some of the abuses that we’ve seen.
What we need is education. We need people
who can think critically about what they see
and do online, who are capable of analysing
and dissecting bad quality information.
And we need consequences for people who
are deliberately misleading others.You mentioned the importance of access.
Is that battle being won?
We’re only halfway there. About half of the
world is online, and much of the half that isn’t
is rural parts of countries where it’s expensive
to buy connectivity. You can see some of
the responses to that problem in the form
of large-scale satellite networks, as well as
cables, not only to connect major continents,
but even islands in the middle of the Pacific.What most excites you about how the
internet is evolving now?
Several things. First of all, that rapid increase inaccess to the network, the increasing amounts
of Wi-Fi, certainly 4G and maybe 5G. Similarly,
the internet of things, connecting all sorts
of devices to the internet, in the sense of
convenience and the possibilities, but also
in the sense of the dangers. Inadequately
protected devices, like webcams, become a
security risk. Our increasing dependence on
the internet may make things more brittle.Have we fully thought through those issues
with the internet of things – not just security,
but the bandwidth and energy implications?
I’m less worried about power requirements
and problems with carbon neutrality, because
we can work on all sources of energy coming
from green energy production. I’m much more
worried about the vulnerabilities that these
devices might have, especially if the people
who make them don’t supply a way to update
software or if they use outdated operating
systems.You’re a science fiction buff – with that hat on,
fast forward another 50 years, and how will the
internet have changed?
It might still be called the internet, but it may
look very different. I think there will be
widespread connectivity, and it will largely be
invisible, like you just plug into it anywhere.
It will be hard to escape access to the internet
anywhere in the world, possibly from large
satellite constellations. We already have
internet protocols that are on board the
International Space Station as well as those
on Mars rovers. Without any doubt, in 50 years
we will be running an interplanetary network,
linking Earth, Mars and some of the other
planets using protocols adapted to the variable
delay and disruption associated with
interplanetary communication.Will it still be the original internet you designed?
I wish I could say that, but I can’t because we
discovered that the TCP/IP didn’t hack it
between planets. So, we developed a new
protocol and called it the Bundle Protocol that
can do interplanetary communication.Any particular points of pride or regret looking
back over 50 years?
I regret the malicious behaviour, of course.
But that’s the human condition, and we have to
deal with it. We haven’t changed in 50 years.
But I’m very proud of the fact that what we did
has scaled up as well as it has, and of what it has
achieved. I would like to be remembered as
someone who tried very hard to develop a
better world. ❚“ Did you know that
people find things in
libraries about how
to build bombs? It’s
shocking, isn’t it?”
to organise it. I look at things from the Western
point of view, that connectivity and access
to information is extremely valuable and
should be encouraged. But it also leads to
the promulgation of misinformation and
disinformation. We have to figure out how to
handle that without turning the internet into
an authoritarian environment where people
don’t feel free to express themselves.Could companies such as Google be doing more?
Internet firms are working across financial and
legal boundaries. We have a lot of work to do to