“Later this fall, Berners-Lee plans to start looking for more venture funding and grow his team. The aim, for now, is not to make billions of dollars. The man who gave the web away for free has never been motivated by money. Still, his plans could impact billion-dollar business models that profit off of control over data. It’s not likely that the big powers of the web will give up control without a fight. When asked about this, Berners-Lee says flatly: “We are not talking to Facebook and Google about whether or not to introduce a complete change where all their business models are completely upended overnight. We are not asking their permission.”
Game on.
George Gilder recently published a book related to what Berners-Lee is doing: Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy. Gilder also talked about users regaining control of their data.
Interestingly, though, Gilder barely mentions Berners-Lee in his book. I'm guessing he had an agreement with BL not to steal his thunder. Gilder laid the foundation for BL's announcement, but did not give it away.
Personally, I like the spunk.