Re:Internet Access Is a Human Right, Says United Nations
by kkowalczyk on Friday July 06, 2012 @08:05PM
(#4210188)
First, this is a set not a list so it's nonsensical to rank those in importance.
More to the point, I don't read that proclamation as "everyone is entitled to internet access".
I read it as: no-one (specifically government) should be able to take away your access to internet.
The difference is not that subtle.
It's important because it counters a growing world-wide tendency to take away your access after some minor infractions like copyright infringement.
It rightly recognizes that access to internet is almost a necessity to conduct your daily business (in first world countries, at least) and denying that access creates incredible hardship and can ruin lives (ruin not at all rhetorically; if you, for example, make money via etsy or odesk, taking away this income might push you over the poverty line).
More to the point, I don't read that proclamation as "everyone is entitled to internet access".
I read it as: no-one (specifically government) should be able to take away your access to internet.
The difference is not that subtle.
It's important because it counters a growing world-wide tendency to take away your access after some minor infractions like copyright infringement.
It rightly recognizes that access to internet is almost a necessity to conduct your daily business (in first world countries, at least) and denying that access creates incredible hardship and can ruin lives (ruin not at all rhetorically; if you, for example, make money via etsy or odesk, taking away this income might push you over the poverty line).