In the 1970s, when Cerf designed the TCP/IP protocol - still the basic architecture of the Internet - he wanted to improve communications between researchers and perhaps also with his wife, who is deaf.
Now the Internet is used by over 1.5 billion people around the world, but Cerf, who is currently vice-president of Google and its 'chief Internet evangelist', still considers the glass half-empty. "That is only 23% of the people in the world. That means that the chief Internet evangelist has 77% of the world to convert," he pointed out.
He dismissed the suggestion that the spread of the Net might be hampered by security or financial collapses. "I have been hearing about the collapse of the Internet since 1993 or earlier, but so far we haven't had any general global collapse," he said.
The idea of a second dotcom crash following the burst of the Internet bubble in 2000 was also rejected by Cerf, although the value of many companies on the Internet is still over-estimated and many do not make any profit. Cerf simply advises investors to be more prudent. "Keep an eye on the business models of the companies in which you invest," he said.
While in Brussels for a number of meetings and conferences, Cerf outlined the goodwill of Google, which is increasingly under fire over copyright and privacy protection.
Regarding copyright, he spoke against the use of "traditional copyright regimes" over the Internet, but left the door open for "more options" for content producers to better protect their products online. Recently, Google reached important deals with content industry actors including book authors and video producers, but controversy still reigns over several issues, especially concerning news publishers (see EurActiv Links Dossier).
As for privacy, Cerf rejected the suggestions that Google might become the next 'Big Brother'. "It cannot be if it wants to be successful," he said. However, concerns about the protection of personal information remain regarding companies that make private data usage the core of their business models (EurActiv 01/04/09). Indeed, Cerf said the best way to ensure that privacy is respected online is for users to refrain from using their real names for email accounts. He suggested using a nickname instead.
