 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| Civil Right? Not yet... Civil right?
Well, I think access to decent Internet connection is certainly very useful, empowering, and convenient.... I'm still not there as in saying "It's a right."
Although I can clearly see how the lack of access to a decent Internet connection at home is a disadvantage, I'm not seeing it as yet so indispensable as to be included in the "Must have, it's a right" category....
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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 HarddriveProud American and Infidel since 1968.Premium
join:2000-09-20
Phone Room
kudos:2
 ·Comcast
| I agree with you. Internet access on any level isnt a right or a necessity. If you have the money, buy a computer and sign up for access somewhere. For instance, driving isnt a right(it can be revoked by the issuing State) or necessity. If you want to drive, you have to buy the car and the gas. Same for the internet.
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I have come to realize that God doesn't want to hear from me anymore. |
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 telcolackey5The Truth? You can't handle the truth
join:2007-04-06
Death Valley, CA | Are the computers needed to access the Internet a civil right? Is Microsoft Windows a civil right?
I can't wait until I don't have to pay for anything anymore and have the government take care of me. This model has worked out so well for other countries in the past.
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"Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear." - Dinah Craik |
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 N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | Ahh, hoping for change we can believe in I see  |
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I disagree. I think not having true broadband is limiting how much one can accomplish. I can see some folks not wanting it, but it should be available to everyone if they choose to use it. Imagine how much fuel could be saved if people could work from home a few weeks a year, or during severe weather when folks are stuck.... It shouldn't just be the rich who benefit from technology, but everyone.
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LETS GO METS! |
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Reviews:
·AT&T Southeast
1 edit | said by FastiBook:I disagree. I think not having true broadband is limiting how much one can accomplish. I can see some folks not wanting it, but it should be available to everyone if they choose to use it. Imagine how much fuel could be saved if people could work from home a few weeks a year, or during severe weather when folks are stuck.... It shouldn't just be the rich who benefit from technology, but everyone. Mankind has made 99.99999999% of its most important discoveries without broadband. Its not a right or a necessity but a luxury. If you can afford it great. If not and it's important, then time to evaluate your financial situation. |
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| reply to FastiBook
said by FastiBook: it should be available to everyone if they choose to use it. It shouldn't just be the rich who benefit from technology, but everyone. Number of household in the US : 77 million
Number of household with broadband : 44 million(57%)
I doubt 57% of households in the US are rich.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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| reply to Harddrive
I don't believe that rights language is the proper way to approach this.
I still believe that a wise just society makes sure that fundamental infrastructure is available to all citizens. It's also better for social stability and the economic success of the society.
"If you want to drive, you have to buy the car and the gas."
What if there were no roads where you live and people were telling you to quit bitching and build your own highway system if you want to travel by car?
And contrary to what many would have people believe, accessible roads, electricity available to everyone, education for all citizens has been a major foundation of the success and power of the american economy. |
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N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | said by asdfdfdfdfdfdf :
What if there were no roads where you live and people were telling you to quit bitching and build your own highway system if you want to travel by car? Um, no. I would just BUY A HORSE.
Or an all terrain vehicle....
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Petty people are disproportionably corrupted by petty power… |
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 AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ | reply to asdfdfdfdfdfdf
A free press is a civil right, it doesn't mean that the government has to give you a printing press.
But impediment of access to a press is a violation of your civil right and any impediment to internet access can likewise be construed as a civil right. |
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| reply to KrK
Broadband isn’t a civil right. Nor should it be classified as a must have utility. ISPs shouldn’t be forced to pay to run fiber, coax or twisted pair to “Mortimer” who lives in west bubble f***, population 3. But I do think all states should have some type of broadband policy in place. If a state has small towns and cities that are under served and the community does not have the funds to build out the network or an ISP won’t because of the profit margins, the state budget should pay for or help pay for one to be built. |
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approval from:
fAcEtIOUs 
| reply to FastiBook
said by FastiBook:I disagree. I think not having true broadband is limiting how much one can accomplish. I can see some folks not wanting it, but it should be available to everyone if they choose to use it. Imagine how much fuel could be saved if people could work from home a few weeks a year, or during severe weather when folks are stuck.... It shouldn't just be the rich who benefit from technology, but everyone. Ok, so we give you free Internet. I bet you now expect a free PC too? Oh, and you want your electricity reconnected for free too? |
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 funchordsHelloPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA
kudos:5 | reply to Harddrive
Internet is becoming a necessity these days to conduct business, basic research, apply for jobs, review medical benefits, and etc..
I don't know if I'm on board that a human right to free and individual Internet access is here.
I think that "Internet For Everyone" ought to be thought of in the same way as "Transit Access for Everyone" does. It doesn't mean a free ride, necessarily.
Sign on a Trimet Bus - Portland Oregon
You can get by if a) you have your own access to the Internet, b) you know someone who has access to the Internet who can do things for you, or c) you have public libraries with Internet access.
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Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
Comcast: We never did anything wrong, and we'll never do it again...
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| reply to N3OGH
"I would just BUY A HORSE"
You expect us to believe this? You would ride a horse to work every day and take a horse to the grocery store? Where are you going to keep it while you are at work or the store?
You think any business, store, etc. is going to let you tie your horse up outside the door and let it shit on the sidewalk?
Where are you going to keep it at home given that many residential areas would probably not allow you to keep farm animals on your property? This is against the law in many places.
And an all terrain vehicle? This isn't the 18th century where people often walked or rode over other people's fields. This is the 21st century, legal strictures are much more rigid than they used to be. You don't have any license to take all terrain vehicles over other people's land. So how do you get from your home to work without trespassing?
You have given a clever answer but it comes back to infrastructure and having the social structures in place to support particular behaviors. When horses were the mode of transport there were norms in place to support the use of them and a whole social ecosystem built up to facilitate their use in daily life. In other words there was infrastructure, however primitive it may seem by our standards. |
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1 edit | reply to FastiBook
I think your right, at some point, we could have a lot more people working from home that do not need to commute in. Sure there are engineers that need to be in the lab. But the technology is there for all those people that work in call centers to stay at home with a paperless office. A lot of computer administration can be done from home. It is good for families and well-being in general.
Of course it will not work for everyone in every industry, but with a solid broadband infrastructure, we could see all those software programmers that have to drive to work stay at home. All those call reps at Sprint work from home (you see it a lot with banks and insurance companies when calling on the weekend).
How much would it really yield in the long run after the investments is the question.
And as for it being a right...well, at the moment, no, but in 20 years, life could be so integrated with technology that we should start thinking about having a right to good internet service as being part of being a member of society. At least by thinking about it as a right now will help us figure in where it will fit in our culture a decade from now when our kids will truly not be able to live without it. |
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 PlaceboPremium
join:2005-12-14
Huntley, IL | reply to asdfdfdfdfdfdf
Yes, the infrastructure is important, but I shouldn't expect FIOS and city water and sewer if I move to the middle of the Mojave desert.
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"Just living the nightmare" - John Daly |
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decifal
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN
kudos:1 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Broadban..
| reply to fAcEtIOUs
No offense,, but I doubt those numbers are accurate.. Rich or not. Unless you count satellite.. Which I do NOT! |
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| reply to ender7074
said by ender7074:Mankind has made 99.99999999% of its most important discoveries without broadband. Its not a right or a necessity but a luxury. If you can afford it great. If not and it's important, then time to evaluate your financial situation. Mankind may have made 99% of the most imporant discoveries without broadband, but without communication 0% would have occured or mattered.
I believe that access to the primary methods of communication in any age is a fundamental right. From gestures and grunts, we moved to a spoken language. Then from a spoken language we invented cuneiform script. The alphabets followed and were followed by signaling techniques, then electromagnetic transmissions. Those EM signals are being improved through compression allowing even more data to be passed. At one time, letters were good enough for anyone, telephones were a luxury. Then, data service was a luxury for only the largest of companies and banks.
As you can see, the future technology is always the luxury, but the prevalent form of communication IS a necessity and access to it is a bona fide civil right.
The question shouldn't be if broadband should be a right or not, but rather, is broadband internet access now the predominant form of communication? Once that answer is 'yes' then the idea that it is a right should be automatic.
If it is not the 'standard' yet, it will be very very shortly. |
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approval from:
AVD
| reply to telcolackey5
No. Microsoft Windows is more like a punishment. |
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pbarrowPremium
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL
kudos:1 | reply to thevorpal
Nice reply!
Also consider the Middle Ages when the State and the Church tried to limit Books and The Bible to only the State and the Church thus keeping the people and peasants just that - people and peasants.
The world didn't begin to grow until everyone was being educated to read and write.
I suspect that you will find that in education today that the kids who do better are the one that have access to a computer and internet in the home. |
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