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Google's Schmidt Warns Against Creation of 'Digital Caste System'

Google's Eric Schmidt this week expressed concern over "worrying legislative efforts" to censor the Web, but said that technology will ultimately prevent the creation of a "digital caste system."

February 29, 2012

BARCELONA - Google's Eric Schmidt this week expressed concern over "worrying legislative efforts" to censor the Web, but said that technology will ultimately prevent the creation of a "digital caste system."

The Internet is "like water" - it will find a way to break through, Schmidt said during a keynote presentation here at Mobile World Congress. But "we need to act now to avoid the rise of this new digital caste system," the executive chairman said.

This has been evident throughout the Middle East in the last year, from Egypt to . Earlier this month, meanwhile, access to secure websites - including Google services - . During the Q&A portion of Schmidt's appearance here, a man from Iran asked about bringing Chrome to Iran, but Schmidt said Google was restricted by U.S. law and sanctions. Schmidt said he wants to bring the service to Iran, "but jail ... there's no bandwidth," he quipped.

Bringing the Internet to underserved portions of the world was the major theme of Schmidt's presentation on Tuesday night. "There will still be elites," he said, but "technology is the leveler [because] everyone is blessed with creativity," Schmidt said. "I believe this profoundly - in every person there is a company waiting to get out."

Technology, he continued, will enable a "global community of equals."

In addition to censorship efforts abroad, however, Schmidt also warned against burdensome legislation at home. "There's a tendency of regulators to regulate now as opposed to what will be," he said. "If you have to regulate, try to regulate the outcome, not the technology. If there's an outcome you don't like, don't specify in law a specific technology because the technology moves forward."

The unintented consequence of regulation is the loss of innovation in these markets, Schmidt said.

One such bill against which Google took a stand recently was the Stop Online Piracy Act and its Senate companion, the PROTECT IP Act. Google in protest of the bill last month by placing a black bar over its logo.

Also during his speech, meanwhile, Schmidt said he was efforts, but said those who join the full Android ecosystem often have a better experience.