[148221] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Whacky Weekend: Is Internet Access a Human Right?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Daniel Staal)
Thu Jan 5 16:44:48 2012
In-Reply-To: <CB2B0F47.2EF3D%zaid@zaidali.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 16:43:51 -0500
From: "Daniel Staal" <DStaal@usa.net>
To: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On Thu, January 5, 2012 11:37 am, Zaid Ali wrote:
>
> If I wrote a blog article that criticized the government and it was
> shutdown along with my Internet access I wouldn't say that my right to the
> Internet was violated. I would say that my right to free speech was
> violated. Regardless of one way or two way communication it is
> communication.
The Internet is quickly becoming more than just a medium for speech. It
is access to services, education, markets, and tools of analysis, among
*many* others. Many of the specifics are covered under other rights, so
the question is does the whole become more than the parts, and is *that* a
right?
I'm with the 'probably not quite yet, but soon' group. I don't think it
will be long before it is impossible to participate in modern society in
any meaningful way without access to the Internet.
Vint does have one other point: the tool is not the whole of the thing.
What we currently call 'the Internet' could be replaced by a different
network, if someone were to invent something that was a good enough
replacement. But at this point, I think *that* network would be called
'the Internet' then, and we don't *have* a separate name for the tool from
what it does. (With the possible exception of some terms in cyberpunk
novels...)
Daniel T. Staal
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