Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Is online access a right or a privilege?

(1/3) > >>

zridling:
If online access is viewed as a right,
then it should be free to all. However, this would imply government/national control (which it does already to a large extent!) of the web. If the government bans your access to the web, then you're effectively crippled in this century with regard to information, all other sources being either under government or corporate control and serving their interests.

If online access is viewed as a privilege,
then it should remain as is, and suffer the arbitrary cost imposed on users by often very large corporations. Any online liberty is controlled by the market, which is controlled by one pure motive: profit.



This is not merely an economic issue. I'm wondering if it's time to start thinking that, in a world where we are already carrying devices (phones, blackberries, netbooks, etc.) that allow us to be more efficient, informed, and safe through communication and interaction, should a government or corporation be able to deny someone this right/privilege? By the way, it was this French story that got me thinking about this.

40hz:
As things currently stand, it is most definitely a privilege.

Whether or not some entity should be allowed (or trusted) to decide who gains access will always be a thorny issue.

But when it comes to governments, I don't think there's any question in their minds as to the extent of their authority. In theory, they have as much authority as the populace allows them to have. In practice, they have all the authority they need whenever they need it.

And in most countries, that authority is both broad and substantial. Especially when you consider that in most human societies, only the government retains the full legal authority to resort to violence (or take human life) in order to accomplish its mandate.

And in those situations where the legal authority to act is limited or absent, most governments will quickly grant themselves additional powers. The better ones do it through some semblance of a legal process. The rest do it through the expediency of a fiat. But all of them do it. Routinely.

So for me, it's less a question of "should they regulate" rather than "how much." Because they already have the effective power to regulate anything.

And if you don't believe me - just ask them! They'll be happy to clear up any doubts you may have... ;D

4wd:
If online access is viewed as a right,
then it should be free to all. However, this would imply government/national control (which it does already to a large extent!) of the web. If the government bans your access to the web, then you're effectively crippled in this century with regard to information, all other sources being either under government or corporate control and serving their interests.-zridling (July 09, 2009, 12:56 PM)
--- End quote ---

The web is that layer of hypertext that lives on the Internet and provides advertising to so many who need it.

If they ban web access, fine - there's still Usenet.

Pedantic?  Yes, but in cases like this I think it's important to get the terminology right.

zridling:
The web is that layer of hypertext that lives on the Internet and provides advertising to so many who need it.

If they ban web access, fine - there's still Usenet.

Pedantic?  Yes, but in cases like this I think it's important to get the terminology right.
-4wd (July 09, 2009, 07:30 PM)
--- End quote ---

I was using them interchangeably. But if you have no connection, how would you access Usenet?

4wd:
I was using them interchangeably. But if you have no connection, how would you access Usenet?-zridling (July 09, 2009, 09:11 PM)
--- End quote ---

That's the problem, they aren't interchangeable.

Unfortunately, you have to be pedantic when you're dealing with legal issues.

The "web" is a subset of the Internet as a whole, just as Usenet, ftp, email1 and Gopher are.

If the law is used against you and the PTB say, "Right, you are banned from the web.", then you would have a very good case to still have Internet access to Usenet and whatever else that isn't the "web".

1.  Yes I know email isn't actually part of the Internet but it does rely on it for more than intra-[office|region] communications.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page