Good grief: Broadband a constitutional right?

[CoolBreeze]

Today is a good day for making Internet history. Well done Finland!

What might seem as an old hat made broadband something you'll never have to worry about for the rest of your life. According to the daily press in Helsinki, the Finnish government just introduced laws in which every person living in Finland has a legitimate right to broadband access. This makes Finland the second country in the world that placed the right to Internet access in its constitution, but unlike Estonia [pronounced Internet access as constitutional right on April 7, 2004]- Finland warrants a right to broadband access.

Starting from July 2010, every person in living in Finland will have the right to at least 1Mbps [broadband] connection, but the legislation doesn't end there. If you live in United States, please try not to have a heart attack after you read the following information: by the end of 2015, the legal right will be extended to an impressive 100Mbps broadband connection for everyone. Yes, a 12MB/s connection is your right, not something you need to beg for and listen to telecoms who say "it can't be done".

Now, if you are by any chance a naysayer and stating that "Finland is a small country", "they don't have infrastructural challenges" and other typical excuses, bear in mind that Finland has over 100,000 lakes and the majority of the country relies on lakes for water and relies on potable loos [no pun intended]. But that isn't stopping this ridiculously beautiful country to give Internet access to everyone. No monthly subscription for speed [data packages are another thing], no nothing. You get Internet just like you can breathe fresh air [which is indeed fresh in Finland, Ed.].

So this is really something spectacular, especially when you know that USA is still trying to determine what broadband is ...and France is at the edge of bringing the law that will kick you off the Internet just for downloading some music and video. Now countries like Finland and Estonia are putting the right to access the Internet in their constitutions, so the question is - where would you like to live?

The invisible side of this law, especially in 2015 is the fact that you are going to have wired Internet access faster than most Wi-Fi networks can provide, meaning that your conventional laptop hard drive could choke at the amount of data coming through the pipe. Let's hope SSD technology gets affordable... then again, how much would you need to pay for 100Mbps in your own respective country and calculate the savings on annual basis.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/20 ... land!.aspx

[Jet Black]

Wow, European Socialists really are in the death throes of their collective fantasies, aren't they?

[CoolBreeze]

You bet!

[Bob Campbell]

And yet they have better internet and cell service. Damn their socialist hides.

[Jet Black]

And Mussolini made the railroads run on time. So what? Is that the kind of government you want, that is only too happy to use the unlimited power of unlimited tax funds to keep the bread and circuses fresh for The People? I'm happy to pay for my dialup and keep pressing for a return to a Constitutionally limited Republic, and great Finnish cell phone service be damned.

[genlock]

How much bigger is Finland than West Virginia?
Their women seem to be smaller than the Wayne county women here.

[Hoosier Daddy]

And Mussolini made the railroads run on time. So what? Is that the kind of government you want, that is only too happy to use the unlimited power of unlimited tax funds to keep the bread and circuses fresh for The People? I'm happy to pay for my dialup and keep pressing for a return to a Constitutionally limited Republic, and great Finnish cell phone service be damned.

While we're at it, we'll take away your highways, your drinking water, your phone service, your electricity, all the dams that control flooding along the Ohio River, the fire department, the police and sheriff, we'll close the prisons and turn the convicts loose to roam the streets. No more farm subsidies. No more FDA. If you're stupid enough to buy it, then it ought to kill you. Someone made a buck, you know. Close the schools from Kindergarten to College. Dumb people are easier to lead. We'll abolish FEMA and Homeland Security. If a catastrophe hits, I hope your savings account is good. And no more FDIC, either. Buyer beware. If your bank fails, you fail. Read the fine print. Every man for himself, like John Birch and Ronald Reagan wanted it. Except for the millionaires, who will quickly establish a game of Lords and Surfs, hiring their own armies and making their own rules.

I'm with you, Jet. I've seen the light. No more socialist government services.

[AmpedNow]

And Mussolini made the railroads run on time. So what? Is that the kind of government you want, that is only too happy to use the unlimited power of unlimited tax funds to keep the bread and circuses fresh for The People? I'm happy to pay for my dialup and keep pressing for a return to a Constitutionally limited Republic, and great Finnish cell phone service be damned.

There is little incentive for the private sector to bring technology to rural areas, compared to large cities, because the profit potential is far less.

We already see this divide in the wireless industry, for example... While they are just now getting around to providing 3G coverage to much of WV, Sprint and Verizon are in a race to bring 4G/LTE coverage to select markets, with a sizable national footprint by 2013. We are almost a full technology generation behind the rest of the country as it is -- a divide that is likely to grow in coming years.

4G is a huge solution to the lack of broadband/cable problem in rural areas. It's cheaper to put towers up every few miles than running miles of fiber optic cable up every little dirt road and hollow. It gives the option of high speed to people out of reach of cable and DSL. And, it provides more choices for people already on the grid.

I wouldn't have a problem if the government got into the broadband/4G game in rural areas. After all, they would likely beat the private sector to it. It's the 21st century equivalent of the water pipe and power/phone line build-outs of the last century.

If left completely up to the private sector, half of WV would still be drinking well water by candlelight... Paved, four-lane highways would still be an urban luxury -- with toll booths.

Government has its uses when it comes to public infrastructure.

[Bar Rat]

Isn't Nokia a Finnish company? They've already got a sizable footprint in our wireless market as is.

[AmpedNow]

While Nokia was popular during the "dumbphone" era, it has lost a tremendous amount of marketshare since advent of the iPhone and Blackberry.

They need a "killer app" like Palm has successfully done with the Pre.

On topic, these smartphones are only as good as the network coverage...

[Lester]

While we're at it, we'll take away your highways, your drinking water, your phone service, your electricity, all the dams that control flooding along the Ohio River, the fire department, the police and sheriff, we'll close the prisons and turn the convicts loose to roam the streets... We'll abolish FEMA and Homeland Security.

There are certain things the government should do... but you seem to advocate them doing EVERYTHING for you. Socialized ass-wiping... I can't wait. (And for the record, my water bill is a community well paid to a private utility, my electric bill is paid to a publicly held company, as is my phone bill. The fire department claims it can't save my house (see: well water), leaving me only a "private option" of fire extinguishers and a garden hose. And last time I checked, they ARE turning the prisoners loose... we have money for health care, but not incarceration.

Close the schools from Kindergarten to College.

Private options for this exist. I wonder how many people could afford charter schools it if their tax dollars weren't being burnt up schooling illegal aliens that don't pay taxes for the schools they use.

Dumb people are easier to lead.

See: The dems love of Welfare and hatred of charter schools.

If a catastrophe hits, I hope your savings account is good. And no more FDIC, either. Buyer beware. If your bank fails, you fail.

Funny, considering the failed banks aren't being rescued by the FDIC.

Except for the millionaires, who will quickly establish a game of Lords and Surfs, hiring their own armies and making their own rules.

Evil, mean people with money... THEY'VE RUINED THE WORLD! (Except for their taxes that everything I've just showed love on actually pays for.) Seriously, for your socialist utopia to work, you know the Soviet style "work camps" would have to return to get contribution from the 3rd and 4th generation welfare families you and your fellow Dems have created... you ready for that? Once all the evil rich people are gone, who's taxes do you plan on using for all this?

[Bob Campbell]

And still, all the so-called "socialist" countries have higher standards of living and less government intrusion into their private lives than we do. Hmmm.....

[fearpeddler]

And still, all the so-called "socialist" countries have higher standards of living and less government intrusion into their private lives than we do. Hmmm.....

so you think

[genlock]

"All the socialist countries?"
Every one of them?

DPRK?
Myanmar?
Tibet?
Zimbabwe?
Haiti?
Somalia?
East Timor?
El Salvador?
West Virginia?
Bangladesh?

[Bob Campbell]

Shh, don't tell anyone. "Dictatorships" and "Oligarchies" do not equate to "Socialist". And specifically I was speaking of develped nations. We do have a higher standard of living than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, but I don't know if they're socialist or not.
And just asking, are there any countries beside the US that elect their governments that the right doesn't call Socialist?

[fearpeddler]

We do have a higher standard of living than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe,

I dunno, theres some pretty run down places in this state alone, I bet I could find a few hundred places across this country if I had the time and cash to travel....

[CoolBreeze]

Must be! Local movie star Jennifer Garner just approached the governor for assistance for the "Save The Children" foundation. Which was set-up mostly to help kids in 3rd world countries.

[fearpeddler]

goes back to the fact we should solve the problems here at home before trying to save the world......

[AmpedNow]

This state has financially raped me this year.

I don't even want to think about where my money went to...

I would almost rather Joe gives it to Save The Children.

[Bob Campbell]

Must be! Local movie star Jennifer Garner just approached the governor for assistance for the "Save The Children" foundation. Which was set-up mostly to help kids in 3rd world countries.

Funny, I happen to know the guy who founded Save The Children. They're based in Oklahoma City. I interviewed him several times after the bombing. Save the Children works internationally but has always done a huge amount of work here in the US. Uh... does WV count as the US?