Sir Tim Berners-Lee lecture to be live-streamed

Tomorrow evening, the inventor of the World Wide Web – Sir Tim Berners-Lee – will deliver a rare public lecture in Wellington exploring the benefits of an open and uncaptureable Internet. Due to an unprecedented level of public interest, a live-stream has been arranged for those who have missed out on tickets. 

Berners-Lee’s lecture is proudly hosted by InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc), with the support of a number of sponsors – the Department of Internal Affairs, Chorus, Catalyst IT and Google.

The sold-out lecture will take place at 5.30pm at Soundings Theatre, Te Papa on Wednesday 30 January.

InternetNZ Community and Collaboration Lead Ellen Strickland says the wider community has thrown its weight behind Sir Tim’s lecture, with Open New Zealand organising live streaming venues in Auckland and Wellington.

Details of the live stream are available at http://new.livestream.com/i-filmscience/tbl-internetnz. Those interested in attending the live stream gatherings are encouraged to signup at https://tbl-livestream.lilregie.com/step1.

InternetNZ is pleased to see this incredible community support and demand to participate in the public lecture, says Strickland. “The live Web stream is a fitting way for Sir Tim’s message to reach a broader audience, and we welcome Open New Zealand’s move to organise venues for people to come together and watch the lecture together.    

InternetNZ Policy Lead Susan Chalmers says Sir Tim’s message about Internet openness is critically important. Today’s Internet has openness at its core. The protocols that make up the fabric of the Internet allow anyone, anywhere to write new applications, develop new ideas and share them with the world.

“Sir Tim’s invention of the World Wide Web is a brilliant example of this. He did not need corporate approval to share the WWW with the world. He did not need to buy access to the technology. No government or regulator had to approve it before the public could use it.

“This openness is what makes the Internet so powerful. Innovation without permission, accessible to all, can change things for the better,” she says.