In an exclusive interview with UK's the Guardian, Google co-founder Sergey Brin warned that the principles of openness and universal access that allowed the world of Internet to emerge three decades ago are under the greatest threat ever. According to him, the open Internet is now facing very powerful forces, including the so-called "walled gardens" such as Facebook and Apple.

There are "very powerful forces that have lined up against the open Internet on all sides and around the world," said Brin. "I am more worried than I have been in the past...it's scary."

Open Internet Threatened by Powerful Forces

According to the Google co-founder, the freedom of the Internet is now threatened by several forces: governments increasingly trying to control their citizens' access and communication, the entertainment industry lashing out on piracy, as well as the rise of "restrictive" walled gardens such as Facebook and Apple, which control what software can be released on their platforms.

Brin further told the Guardian that if the Internet was dominated by Facebook, it would not have been possible for him and co-founder Larry Page to create Google. "You have to play by their rules, which are really restrictive. The kind of environment that we developed Google in, the reason that we were able to develop a search engine is the Web was so open," said Brin. "Once you get too many rules that will stifle innovation."

The 38-year-old billionaire, who reportedly played a great part in confronting China over the Internet censorship in 2010, acknowledged that the Internet is now facing huge threats. Five years ago, Brin said he did not believe that China or other countries could effectively restrict the Internet for long. Now, the Google co-founder said he had been proven wrong. "I thought here was no way to put the genie back in the bottle, but now it seems in certain areas the genie has been put back in the bottle," Brin said.

Facebook and Apple are 'Balkanising the Web'

Brin said he was most concerned by increasing efforts of countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Iran to censor and intercept data and restrict citizens' use of the Internet. In addition, Brin warned that the rise of Facebook and Apple not only poses a risk to stifle innovation, but are Balkanising the Web.

"There's a lot to be lost," Brin said. "For example all the information in apps - that data is not crawlable by web crawlers. You can't search it." Furthermore, he criticized Facebook for not facilitating users' data transfers to other services, although "Facebook has been sucking down Gmail contacts for many years."

SOPA and PIPA: Huge Threats to Internet Freedom

Lastly, Brin lashed out at the entertainment industry as well, saying it was "shooting itself in the foot, or maybe worse than in the foot" by lobbying for legislation to combat piracy by blocking various Web sites.

According to Brin, the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT IP Act) bills rallied by Hollywood and the music industry would have urged the U.S. to use the same technology and approach it criticized China and Iran for using. People would keep downloading pirated material if it is easier to acquire and use than legitimately obtained material, added Brin, noting that the entertainment industry has failed to acknowledge this reality.

The SOPA and PIPA bills faced opposition from Internet industry heavyweights, including Google, Wikipedia and many other Web sites, and eventually stalled in Congress. Still, Brin accused the creators of such bills of trying to enact rules that would restrict Internet freedom. Such rules, he said, are similar to censorship imposed by the governments of China, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"I haven't tried it for many years but when you go on a pirate website, you choose what you like; it downloads to the device of your choice and it will just work-and then when you have to jump through all these hoops [to buy legitimate content], the walls created are disincentives for people to buy," Brin told The Guardian.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)