Posted on 01/14/2012 6:05:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv
From the streets of Tunis to Tahrir Square and beyond, protests around the world last year were built on the Internet and the many devices that interact with it... It is no surprise, then, that the protests have raised questions about whether Internet access is or should be a civil or human right....
...technology is an enabler of rights, not a right itself. There is a high bar for something to be considered a human right. Loosely put, it must be among the things we as humans need in order to lead healthy, meaningful lives, like freedom from torture or freedom of conscience. It is a mistake to place any particular technology in this exalted category, since over time we will end up valuing the wrong things. For example, at one time if you didn't have a horse it was hard to make a living. But the important right in that case was the right to make a living, not the right to a horse. Today, if I were granted a right to have a horse, I'm not sure where I would put it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don’t think I want to live in a world where free internet access doesn’t exist.
United Nations Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2731661/posts
UN Internet agenda tied to George Soros
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2798622/posts
UN Declares Internet a “Fundamental Human Right”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2729979/posts
Should the Federal Gov’t Consider Internet Access a ‘Civil Right?’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2764061/posts
People deprived of the internet feel ‘upset and lonely’ ... {snip}
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2753609/posts
Karl Marx never counted on the Internet
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2780282/posts
Internet access is ‘a fundamental right’ (stupid world of liberals)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2466528/posts
Internet Access Is Not a ‘Civil Right’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2646204/posts
Having a satellite dish ‘is a human right,’ says EU
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2759923/posts
Comcast launching low-cost Internet [because it’s a “basic human right”]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2777634/posts
Freedom of the Press (and hopefully “the truth” somewhere within).
They fear what they can’t control
The left doesn’t like sunlight or competition. NY Times is dying a slow death.
Rights
Are they things which we can demand a government provide for us? Are they things which we can demand a government NOT block us from acquiring on our own? Does the right to bear arms mean the government gives us each a firearm and training? Or does it mean we are free to seek out our own firearms and training?
In america, we have rights spelled out in the constitution. These “inalienable” rights are not the full list. The list does not imply that anything not on the list is not a right.
Maybe internet really is a right. Maybe driving a car is a right. Maybe we have lots of rights we don’t know about and many of them are currently being violated.
“Today, if I were granted a right to have a horse, I’m not sure where I would put it”
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There are so many problems with this article I don’t know where to begin. Rights are not “granted”. Rights are INALIENABLE and we are endowed with them BY OUR CREATOR.
That said, yes ya dolt, you have a right to own a horse IF YOU WANT ONE AND HAVE THE MEANS TO BUY ONE. No one needs to grant it to you.
This of course will be their attempt to bring every American "in line". Because it is becomming more and more of a reality that we are indeed heading quickly to a time when we really will need the computer every bit as much as most of us need an automobile, or a credit card-if even just to make reservations for travel, etc.
I agree. The Internet is such a miracle. We live in an amazing age where something so important can be free and easily accessible. Having said that, I also don't want to live in a world where it is a human right paid for by the taxpayer. We have way too many creeping rights -- free cell phones paid for by Uncle Sam and free computers.
“I don’t think I want to live in a world where free internet access doesn’t exist.”
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Free? Do you mean free as in no pay?
I assume you mean freedom to subscribe and pay for internet service just as telephone and electricity, assuming it is available in your location.
This is so stupid. This is not technology. It is one aspect of human comunication. And that’s a right just as breathing is a human right. I agree with your comments.
This from a man who was one of those that truly DID invent the internet
*face palm*
Sorry, I didn’t think the sarc tag was necessary. Once again, I was wrong.
Free internet access as in free press, not as in free beer.
Freedom of the press does not entail the right to have one’s fellow citizens taxed to pay for paper and ink (or webhosting).
The right to keep and bear arms does not entail a right to have one’s fellow citizens taxed to pay for a rifle and ammunition.
Free internet access does not entail the right to have one’s fellow citizens taxed to pay for a web-enabled computer or an internet connection.
According to Ron Paul if it’s not in the Constitution it’s not allowed. He said that since the Border Patrol is not in the Constitution then it’s not allowed; although, he did join the Air Force which is not mentioned but just the Army and Navy.
:’) I like the Amish, but I don’t want ‘em running the gov’t.
“Sorry, I didn’t think the sarc tag was necessary. Once again, I was wrong.”
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Yes, I assumed you meant it as a freedom, but in today’s world
there are many that would expect it to be paid for by the govment (sic), as in free food stamps.
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