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I was browsing Ars Technica yesterday and I came upon this gem of an article, "Yet another report: Internet disconnections a "disproportionate" penalty". In the article the author summarizes a report on "Freedom of Expression on the Internet", written for The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor at Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey. The report states that the punishments levied by the popular “Three Strikes” laws are too harsh. These laws state that if you are caught downloading and sharing copy righted material three times you are prohibited from having an internet account.
While I am in agreement that having your internet turned off indefinitely is quite harsh, I disagree with Adeniz’s stance that internet is a universal human right. Human rights should be things like freedom of speech, basic health care such as vaccinations, and clean water to drink. The internet is a luxury and is not needed for one to survive.
As usual, the thing that really grinds my gears comes not from the article, but from the comments from other Ars readers. On person brought up the issue of internet disconnection is a First world problem. I can only assume they were referencing the MC Frontalot song “First World Problem” in which he lists a bunch of problems inherent to luxury items and makes fun of them. The other commenters go off on him saying that the internet is prevalent in many countries, not just First World countries. I think they are missing the point. While there are still starving children and people still contracting polio, it seems fairly petty complaining about your loss of internet.
Another aspect of these commenters that I find petty is their belief that the internet should be in every household and no company or government has the right to tell them no. I believe the internet is a privilege, not a right. You pay your ISP just like you pay your power company. It is their infrastructure and servers you are using, so they do have the right to turn it off. They do acknowledge this, mostly to complain about tyrannical business processes or how they feel like they are being treated unfairly. These people need to realize that nothing in life comes free, especially the internet.I was browsing Ars Technica yesterday and I came upon this gem of an article. In the article the author summarizes a report on "Freedom of Expression on the Internet", written for The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor at Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey. The report states that the punishments levied by the popular “Three Strikes” laws are too harsh. These laws state that if you are caught downloading and sharing copy righted material three times you are prohibited from having an internet account.
While I am in agreement that having your internet turned off indefinitely is quite harsh, I disagree with Adeniz’s stance that internet is a universal human right. Human rights should be things like freedom of speech, basic health care such as vaccinations, and clean water to drink. The internet is a luxury and is not needed for one to survive.
As usual, the thing that really grinds my gears comes not from the article, but from the comments from other Ars readers. On person brought up the issue of internet disconnection is a First world problem. I can only assume they were referencing the MC Frontalot song “First World Problem” in which he lists a bunch of problems inherent to luxury items and makes fun of them. The other commenters go off on him saying that the internet is prevalent in many countries, not just First World countries. I think they are missing the point. While there are still starving children and people still contracting polio, it seems fairly petty complaining about your loss of internet.
Another aspect of these commenters that I find petty is their belief that the internet should be in every household and no company or government has the right to tell them no. I believe the internet is a privilege, not a right. You pay your ISP just like you pay your power company. It is their infrastructure and servers you are using, so they do have the right to turn it off. They do acknowledge this, mostly to complain about tyrannical business processes or how they feel like they are being treated unfairly. These people need to realize that nothing in life comes free, especially the internet.
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