Tim Berners-Lee Believes Internet Access Is A Human Right

[Guest]

The World Wide Web Foundation released a report showing that today's Web is more restrictive and less private.

Tim Berners-Lee Believes Internet Access Is A Human Right : Read more

 

[ubercake]

Berners-Lee is ingenious.

Obama should have appointed him head of the FCC rather than the corporate lobbyist Wheeler.

 

[ubercake]

"...and using the Web to push for government transparency while also protecting freedom of speech...."

Two things that threaten a government with too much control:
1) Transparency
2) Freedom of Speech

 

[coolitic]

Lot's of people agree with the public when they start rioting (metaphorically speaking)

'Tis best to trust those who agree before it gets popular.

 

[bit_user]

A worthy ideal, yes. Human right? no.

I think human rights are timeless, and not tied to specific technologies. It bugs me when terms like "human rights" get thrown around too easily, as it erodes their traditional meanings and importance.

 

[kenjitamura]

Berners-Lee is ingenious.

Obama should have appointed him head of the FCC rather than the corporate lobbyist Wheeler.

Does Tim Berners-Lee have US citizenship? Since most federal positions require the applicant be a US citizen I don't think Tim Berners-Lee could qualify if he isn't one.

 

[BulkZerker]

kenjitamura.
*Natural born citizen.
It didn't stop our president from getting elected now did it? /s

 

[alidan]

@bit_user
basic human right... clean drinking water... we see that technology is required for that because look at the 3rd world countries who don't have it.

so because it requires technology should water no longer be a human right?

internet = information, news, almost everything required to have a decent life can be gotten from the internet cheaper than almost any other means... yes it is a basic human right and should be recognized as such.

 

[sportfreak23]

Still waiting for anything faster then standard 5/1 DSL garbage.

 

[ubercake]

Berners-Lee is ingenious.

Obama should have appointed him head of the FCC rather than the corporate lobbyist Wheeler.

Does Tim Berners-Lee have US citizenship? Since most federal positions require the applicant be a US citizen I don't think Tim Berners-Lee could qualify if he isn't one.

I doubt it's impossible for things like this to happen. I once heard a story about a man who was born in Austria and appointed to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition who also went on to become a governor of California.

Since Wheeler has stated "I am an independent agency" when referring to the FCC, I imagine it is not bound to rules of other government positions - particularly those requiring naturalization - other than being appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. Since there is a conflict of interest with Wheeler in that commissioners and chairpersons should never have a financial interest in FCC-related business, Wheeler should have never been appointed in the first place. Wheeler is 100% on the side of big business no matter what kind of posturing he exhibits.

 

[uk-thewall]

Food, water and shelter, those are human rights. Human rights should be those things we need to help us live a reasonable life away from persecution. I lost my broadband for a week last year, I didn't starve, probably got out and lived my life a little better, it's hardly a necessity and certainly not a right, let alone human right. Tim needs to get a life and get off his high horse.

Makes you wonder how we survived before 1989.

 

[Goal Man]

I have to agree that Human Rights has a very different meaning than Internet access. In short, I don't need the Internet for Free Speech and other fundamental human rights. The lines get blurred because the Internet can play an instrumental role in effecting change.

 

[SessouXFX]

Since when was technology a human right? You don't need Technology to exist day to day. You need food, water, and the right to breathe and exist as a human being. But you don't need an iPhone, a new laptop, and the internet. These things aren't necessities to live. These are conveniences and desires.

When it comes to the Net, access to information and accessibility to services online should be widely available to anyone that seeks it, as long as it doesn't violate anyone's rights as a human or cost said person's livelihood or privacy. But these things have nothing to do with human rights in the basic sense.

I understand what Berners-Lee is thinking here, and in the idea Utopia, it would be great. But as long as World Governments seek to control their respective populations, it's nothing more than a pipe dream.