Zuckerberg, Schmidt at G-8: Leave the Internet Alone!

"Cherry-picking" elements of the Web to regulate will have nothing but detrimental affects to the growth of technology and communication, argued Web gurus Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and Google boss Eric Schmidt at the G-8 summit.

Zuckerberg told group leaders at the summit: "People tell me on the one hand ‘It’s great you played such a big role in the Arab spring, but it’s also kind of scary because you enable all this sharing and collect information on people."

"But," he added, "it’s hard to have one without the other. You can’t isolate some things you like about the Internet and control other things that you don’t."

His sentiments counter the introduction of the eG8 earlier this week, where Nicolas Sarkozy warned: "Total transparency has to be balanced by individual liberty. Do not forget that every anonymous Internet user comes from a society and has a life," further adding, "Governments are the legitimate guardians of our societies and do not forget this."

Essentially: government sees the need to step in and implement some control in the Web world, ensuring that it is not a "parallel universe outside of laws and morals."

Earlier reports show that much of the response on the Web by bloggers, tweeters and online user forums showed a great disdain for Sarkozy’s stance. (Makes sense, Web users want their freedom, right?)

But there are further economic implications that go both ways when it comes to Internet regulation. Without it, innovation can flourish and help companies like Google and Facebook that are leading this technology. Conversely, however, are those in areas in music, TV and film who may suffer from the lack of copyright enforcement on an unregulated Web.

James Gianopulos of Fox Filmed Entertainment said the current government regulation, like the French three-strikes law targeting illegal file sharing is an "imperfect" political process.

"Private entities, individuals and industries are more likely to come to an agreement if they know that the next step is the litigation or legislation process," said Gianopulos to theBBC.

As opinions move back and forth between what’s right and wrong when it comes to regulation, we here at Vernon Computer Source are in neutral territory. We do like technological innovation, and strive to offer the latest products on our shelves for businesses looking for IT rental—featuring many devices from laptops to tablets including Web browsing that is thus far, unregulated.

Google’s Schmidt reiterated Zuckerberg’s stance when it comes to government regulation on the Web, that essentially, it will do more harm than good. He warned: "Technology will move faster than governments, so don’t legislate before you understand the consequences."