Shame on TechCrunch!
October 14, 2009
Robin Wauters wrote a post titled, “Applause for Finland: First Country to Make Broadband Access a Legal Right“. This is a good thing? The Finnish government is requiring that each person in Finland receive a 1 Mbps internet connection and boosting the right to 100 Mbps by 2015. Should this be applauded? This sort of government action infantilizes people – it is a slippery slope. These sort of ‘rights’ begin harmless enough – right to shelter, right to food, right to health insurance, right to health care, right to a job, right to a salary, right to vacation, right to television, right to radio, right to internet – where does it end?
I thought we settled this argument long ago. I seem to recall Thomas Paine wrote about the “Rights of Man” in 1791 where he explained that human rights originate in Nature, thus, rights cannot be granted via political charter, because that implies that rights are legally revocable, hence, would be privileges. Internet access is not a right, plain and simple. Robin, care to revoke your applause?
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Robin Wauters is a saint!
Comment by Helga — October 14, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
The same thing could be said about health care services.
Comment by Brian — October 14, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Hmmm, I’ve got a great suggestion for you. Don’t move to Finland.
Comment by nostrum — October 15, 2009 @ 7:55 pm