Finland Makes Broadband Access A 'Legal Right'

BBC News :

Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen.

Read the whole story: BBC News

Comments

[ie]

07:58 PM on 07/05/2010

Socialists! How dare they!?

[MagCynic]

06:57 PM on 07/05/2010

Governments can neither create nor destroy basic, fundamental rights. Rights either are or are not. What if I don't want HSIAA? Do I still have to pay taxes and contribute so others can have it?

[AtlOli]

11:00 AM on 07/06/2010

You're not living in Finland so why do you care ? It's not your taxes.

If as a society the people from Finland wants it, let them have it. They'd probably think it's a better investment for them than the trillion we spend on defense budget or on pork projects...

[SystemLink]

03:40 PM on 07/04/2010

How dare Finland try to better the lives of everyone in their country

Do they understand what we are trying to tell them? They need to understand that the government should be deadset on screwing anyone who can not pay for the best of the best. Let the weak die and the strong survive and thrive!

Come on, get with it!

[hulagirrrl]

01:32 PM on 07/06/2010

They also happen to have the best school system in the world, seem to be doing something right.

[NYC07]

08:01 PM on 07/03/2010

When we live in a country where privacy is not a legal right what chance has broadband got?

[BlackWidowPilot]

02:22 PM on 07/03/2010

Trust the Scandahooligans to come up with something so fundamentally civilized, sensible, and downright practical, and do so without fanfare of a big whoopla.

Bravo indeed.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Balloon-Boy]

10:39 PM on 07/02/2010

I can hear the teabaggers and repubs crying:

This is socialism. If you can't afford it, you shouldn't use it.

[vippy]

09:12 PM on 07/02/2010

Once again the USA slides further and further down the ladder to become a 3rd world nation!

[Peets101]

03:09 PM on 07/02/2010

This will be a great demonstration of the fact that in some cases, a "socialistic" solution brings more benefits to more people than a purely "capitalistic" system does. We invented the Internet in Silicone Valley, and still, some people in Silicone Valley have no access because it's not "profitable" to provide service where they live.

[emmeaki]

07:39 PM on 07/04/2010

Now, that's effed up!

[Peets101]

08:56 PM on 07/04/2010

I can only assume that your comment refers to the fact that capitalism has not done as good a job as has a more socialistic approach when it comes to keeping us ahead of the curve with providing good and useful services to the citizens. The examples are numerous and undeniable, including police, fire, highways, air traffic control, post office, military, education, highway safety, etc. etc.

Or did you not know that all those services are, by definition, "socialism"?

[blueskybigstar]

01:52 PM on 07/02/2010

This is what government can do.

[Albert Amato]

06:37 PM on 07/02/2010

People do the work, not governments.
Gulf oil spill....sometimes the "government' gets in the way....regulation was ok with laws and regs on the books .....but no enforcement though.....and government fails.
Making government work well calls for good people not drones and bureaucrats.

[Skepticat]

09:59 AM on 07/03/2010

The problem isn't the poor bureaucrats. They do what they're told. The problem is various monied interests "influencing" politicians with corporate coin to implement policies that benefit the very few at the expense of the many. These policies in simple but accurate terms removed regulations and enforcement that prevented the greedy from shafting the needy.

[blueskybigstar]

11:35 AM on 07/03/2010

"Government for the people by the people." The Constitution

Government is the people or is supposed to be in a democracy. It is about laws. Gov. should have each and every one of our backs. There has been a huge campaign to make gov. a bad word. We need such a policy here since our media has been taken over by the MIC. It has been important for the economic royalists to make gov look bad, so they can have more control by selling it off to their friends. Aren't you aware of energy talks that Cheney had with the industry that allowed them to write their own regulations and how he purposely hired people unqualified for their jobs to do the regulations. What we have is a mafia that has taken over our gov for their own benefit. Gov should not be a bad word.

[goodmarina]

12:37 PM on 07/02/2010

Sad ... here we are still struggling to convince folks here that health care is a Right.

[Y3rMawm]

11:29 PM on 07/02/2010

what gives anybody the right to somebody else's labor?

[earthboy]

01:10 PM on 07/03/2010

I bet you squeak when you walk.

[AtlOli]

11:02 AM on 07/06/2010

Are you telling yourself that everytime you ride a highway ?

[lj9283]

12:33 PM on 07/02/2010

Isn't that sort of what was done here in the U.S. for phone service when we were the industrial leader in the world?

[Albert Amato]

10:46 AM on 07/02/2010

When everyone has the right to have 'something' that other people have to produce....then I guess we will be invading China when we cannot pay them for all of those 'somethings' we have a right to have.

[DaneAZ]

12:13 PM on 07/02/2010

That reflects a very American way of thinking - wherein the purpose of society is to sell each other things for a profit.

[seachange525]

12:29 PM on 07/02/2010

No, actually this is not an American way of thinking because we are no longer a progressive country. Give the Finns full credit for thinking about what is best for their citizens. Wish the USA did that.

[Y3rMawm]

11:32 PM on 07/02/2010

i think you missed the sarcasm. You are right. In voluntary exchange lies the most equitable method of wealth distribution.

[JasonMcl]

01:43 PM on 07/02/2010

Nobody produces the internet, it is not a product or a special service. The internet is infrastructure just like electricity and roads. Everyone who is a taxpaying citizen of a country has their right to its access.

This is not something that falls under the public expense either, this actually gives those private corporations much more revenue since they are collecting the monthly fees for whoever they connect.

All this law does is force those corporations to connect every citizen, even the harder to reach ones. Yeah that will cost those internet providers some money, but they will gain that back in the long run.

Also Finland already has 96% internet penetration, so basically this law is forcing them to connect only 4,000 homes.

Also if you think that invading china is by any means a viable option for revenue in any way shape or form, I would encourage you to introduce yourself to china.

What you have here are 2 billion people, all very nationalistic and dedicated and hardworking, controlled by a totalitarian central government that regulates all information and allows no dissent. Which is also the worlds largest producer of material goods.

They have factory cities inhabited by up to a million people each which could be easily turned towards production of arms.

No, nobody will invade China for a long time.

[Albert Amato]

03:38 PM on 07/02/2010

Jason you need to grow up and learn sarcasm and hyperbole used to make a point.
FAIL.

[Albert Amato]

12:39 PM on 07/03/2010

BTW, you jumped in with your lecture because my ORIGINAL post had sarcasm that went OVER your head....I will not waste any more time on my computer as I am leaving for an extended holiday.........but feel free to bang on the keys if you wish.

[Jeremy Urbach]

10:28 AM on 07/02/2010

This opens up a pandoras box where people can use the excuse of a " right to a home"...a " right to a car"...etc if they come up with the excuse its needed to compete or create equal living conditions. Companies are now going to be charging higher rates to make up for the loss of revenue these actions generate. In the long run it could cost more..though I haven't studied the economics of it.

[DaneAZ]

12:17 PM on 07/02/2010

Again - that reflects American thinking.
Me me me, profit anywhere and everywhere....greed.
This is NOT a universal mindset shared around the world.

[Jeremy Urbach]

01:18 PM on 07/02/2010

So its not " me, me, me" when people DEMAND companies give them something as if its somehow a "Right" to have? Hate to break it to you, but greed is practiced all around the world....its not somehow an American way of thinking...of course you got other mindsets around the world as well.

[Albert Amato]

03:34 PM on 07/02/2010

Look up the definition of greed and profit is not in there.
You obviously live in a socialist or communist country......but do you work for no money?

[drumz]

07:50 PM on 07/02/2010

Yes, poor comcast and verizon, they would be in the poor house for sure. We must protect their profits at all costs because the hell with being the best in anything anymore especially if there's a buck to be made.

[Albert Amato]

10:18 PM on 07/02/2010

If you don't like Comcast, Verizon or AT&T, opt out...don't use them....it's a free country ....at least for some of us.

[Lordcron]

01:33 AM on 07/02/2010

Some countries get it. They understand what's needed to make the entire country stronger. We American's will be one of the last countries to learn this lesson. Mark my words.

[Unimatrix42]

12:35 AM on 07/02/2010

Once again, another country is leaving the United States in the discount record bin of the 20th Century.

[StansDad]

10:25 AM on 07/02/2010

defect hawks will argue that this is just a way to increase spending/construct a larger soviet empire. And since a huge chunk of Americans are country bumpkins, they'll have all the support they need.