RFC 3271 (rfc3271) - Page 2 of 6

The Internet is for Everyone

RFC 3271              The Internet is for Everyone            April 2002


   The number of Internet users will likely reach over 1000 million by
   the end of the year 2005, but that is only about 16% of the world's
   population.  By 2047 the world's population may reach about 11
   billion.  If only 25% of the then world's population is on the
   Internet, that will be nearly 3 billion users.

   As high bandwidth access becomes the norm through digital subscriber
   loops, cable modems and digital terrestrial and satellite radio
   links, the convergence of media available on the Internet will become
   obvious.  Television, radio, telephony and the traditional print
   media will find counterparts on the Internet - and will be changed in
   profound ways by the presence of software that transforms the one-way
   media into interactive resources, shareable by many.

   The Internet is proving to be one of the most powerful amplifiers of
   speech ever invented.  It offers a global megaphone for voices that
   might otherwise be heard only feebly, if at all.  It invites and
   facilitates multiple points of view and dialog in ways
   unimplementable by the traditional, one-way, mass media.

   The Internet can facilitate democratic practices in unexpected ways.
   Did you know that proxy voting for stock shareholders is now commonly
   supported on the Internet?  Perhaps we can find additional ways in
   which to simplify and expand the voting franchise in other domains,
   including the political, as access to Internet increases.

   The Internet is becoming the repository of all we have accomplished
   as a society.  It has become a kind of disorganized "Boswell" of the
   human spirit.  Be thoughtful in what you commit to email, news
   groups, and other Internet communication channels - it may well turn
   up in a web search some day.  Thanks to online access to common
   repositories, shared databases on the Internet are acting to
   accelerate the pace of research progress.

   The Internet is moving off the planet!  Already, interplanetary
   Internet is part of the NASA Mars mission program now underway at the
   Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  By 2008 we should have a well-functioning
   Earth-Mars network that serves as a nascent backbone of an inter-
   planetary system of Internets - InterPlaNet is a network of
   Internets!  Ultimately, we will have interplanetary Internet relays
   in polar solar orbit so that they can see most of the planets and
   their associated interplanetary gateways for most, if not all of the
   time.

   The Internet Society is launching a new campaign to facilitate access
   to and use of Internet everywhere.  The campaign slogan is "Internet
   is for everyone," but there is much work needed to accomplish this
   objective.



Cerf                         Informational