Do we really have to encrypt the entire web?

That was actually a rhetorical question. Or was it? Dave Winer thinks not, and neither do we. Even if the search giant Google proclaims the contrary. Dave Winer is a legend on the web and particularly the social web. For some time now, Winer has been railing against Google’s efforts to replace the World Wide Web’s original protocol, HTTP. He has gathered together a whole raft of reasons, which have been listed for you to read here. Basically, Winer is mainly concerned about the web being and remaining open and not controlled by individual companies. And also that the internet will have a lot of its history taken from it if Google’s encryption mania triumphs. In addition to expressly stating the case for open standards, our founder and group CEO Martin Hager recently added a new aspect to the debate on LinkedIn: Encrypting the data transmitted from run-of-the-mill websites (i.e. those that don’t request any sensitive user details) by means of HTTPS, wastes a substantial amount of energy and resources for no reason at all. In the meanwhile, Dave Winer has already takne the discussion further on his main blog «Scripting.com» and is thinking about new browsers that don’t follow Google Chrome or Firefox’s strategy of simply issuing blanket warnings about unsafe websites, merely because they are delivered by means of HTTP without the S. He also writes about authentication using checksums and the feasibility of sending domains into early retirement. Isn’t it just great that things never get boring in our sector?