The first word is Openness.

As we pay tribute to everything the Internet represents in our lives, it’s worth remembering the work of those who, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, laid the foundation for the Web we know today.

In building the Web, they had to choose between a network that was open or one that was closed. The debate was settled in 1989 when Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the hypertext standard that opened the World Wide Web to everyone with an idea and a connection.

At that time, few could imagine that this open architecture would fuel such a powerful eruption of social, economic and political creativity. But it has sparked an information revolution that has transformed our generation. Communications are now more decentralized, transparent, participatory and personal than ever before. Users no longer simply consume content, they create it. Audience size depends more than ever before on the power of an idea, and not on the reach of the gatekeeper.

This decentralized wave of empowerment is the gathering force for a more engaged democracy, and it all relies upon a more open Internet for everyone. Whatever you’re doing when you go online, openness protections lock in the network's greatest strength: its ability to give everyone a chance to participate and be heard — from a little-known blogger or local environmental group, to a giant multinational corporation.

This is true regardless of your age, social status or location. Protecting everyone's fundamental right to an open Internet is about making it possible for one person's good idea to blossom into the next big business or, even, a movement of millions.

That’s why it would be absurd to let the handful of companies who connect us to the Internet determine what we can do online. On OneWebDay we need to stand together for basic ground rules that protect an open Internet.

The second word is Access.

In America, tens of millions of people are still trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide, deprived of opportunities for a better education, good jobs and full participation in our democracy because they lack a high-speed Internet connection.

Access to broadband today is held in the grip of the cable and phone cartel. This duopoly controls access for more than 95 percent of online American homes. And it's the main reason why Americans pay far more for much slower speeds than what's available in the rest of the developed world.

Such poor access has put us at a tremendous disadvantage. What's particularly alarming is new information about the demographics of access. According to Free Press, the organization I work for, only 35 % of U.S. homes with less than $50,000 in annual income have a high-speed Internet connection.

Equally alarming, only 40 % of racial and ethnic minority households in the United States have access to broadband, while 55 % of non-Hispanic white households are connected.

A 2007 study by the Brookings Institution and MIT estimated that a one-digit increase in U.S. per-capita broadband penetration equates to an additional 300,000 jobs. If our broadband penetration were as high as a country like Denmark’s, we could expect approximately 3.7 million additional U.S. jobs

On OneWebDay, if we pledge an allegiance to better access, we can turn our economic crisis into an opportunity by getting everyone connected to the Internet.

We need to start focusing on Internet buildouts, and not corporate bailouts, to put people back to work. It's not only about enrichment but engagement. Connecting everyone to the Internet is a down payment on a better world.

Fortunately the Federal Communications Commission in America is in the process of crafting a National Broadband Plan that will set the course for this country.

But ensuring that everyone has access to an open Internet, is something we must all commit to, especially on OneWebDay.