The Gathering Storm The time was 2045. Two decades had passed since Berners- Lee had delivered his last great speech at the United Nations about digital freedom. He'd been aged also, slower in his way, but the fire in his words had n't bedimmed. Now, though Tim himself was gone, the echoes of that fire dallied, shaping new generations who had grown up in a world where the Web was as essential as air and water.