Re: Whacky Weekend: Is Internet Access a Human Right?

[William Herrin <bill () herrin us>]

Free Speech is a human right. It's still a human right when that
speech is conveyed over the Internet. To the extent that a government
obstructs Internet access by its citizens, it is obstructing a human
right.

In a capitalist society, human rights are about obstruction, not
compulsion. The right to life does not compel a government to provide
you with medical care; it merely prevents the government from
obstructing your ability to otherwise obtain treatment. Likewise, the
right to free speech does not compel a government to provide you with
an Internet account.

Socialist societies have a different point of view. A socialist
government has a compulsion to provide its citizens at least
minimalist and at most egalitarian facilities for the exercise of
their human rights.


On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 10:22 AM, Jay Ashworth <jra () baylink com> wrote:
> as a
> society, America's recognized for decades that you gotta have a telephone,
> and subsidized local/lifeline service to that extent; that sort of subsidy
> applies to cellular phones now as well.

Personally, I've always thought it a tragedy that the universal
service fund was diverted to provide laptops to kindergartners. I'd
love to see it collected from all network service and be applicable to
all unbundled rural basic network service.

Regards,
Bill Herrin


-- 
William D. Herrin ................ herrin () dirtside com  bill () herrin us
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