U.N. Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right

Let's think about this for a minute shall we?

We've now determined, or at least the UN ( which I'm the first to say is one of the worst organizations on the planet) that the Internet is a fundemental human right and removing somebody from the internet, violates internatinoal law.

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U.N. Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right
By David KravetsEmail Author06.03.11 2:47 PM
| Edit
A United Nations report said Friday that disconnecting people from the internet is a human rights violation and against international law.

The report railed against France and the United Kingdom, which have passed laws to remove accused copyright scofflaws from the internet. It also protested blocking internet access to quell political unrest (.pdf).

While blocking and filtering measures deny users access to specific content on the Internet, states have also taken measures to cut off access to the Internet entirely. The Special Rapporteur considers cutting off users from internet access, regardless of the justification provided, including on the grounds of violating intellectual property rights law, to be disproportionate and thus a violation of article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Source

In a ground-breaking new report, the United Nations has affirmed that all people should be allowed to express themselves freely and openly online, without fear of being disconnected.

All 47 members of the The United Nations' Human Rights council signed a resolution to this effect Thursday, unanimously backing the notion that freedom of expression online is a basic human right.

Source

This is a HUGE step for freedom on the internet, even though I believe it has been discussed on the boards before, I think it's important that we sit down and think to ourselves:

Having access to the internet, is no longer a first world problem in a sense. The information super highway, the last real bastion of anonymity and freedom within our confined oligarchy's is now, a human right.

That's a powerful statement that hardly any of use recognize. More so than ever, people are trying to define the internet and trying to define who can access it, what content is suitable for it, and what international powers can do to remove you from it, if they don't approve.

More than ever, it's appropriate to be vigilant in the support of an open and free internet. And remind those who wish to limit it's use and power that, according to their own laws, that's illegal.

Thoughts ATS?

~Tenth

I have to disagree that it is a human right. A human right is an individual endevour. The internet is an electronic library and communication tool that requires an infrastructure.

Do I believe that the internet should be under any type of control?

No.

But when a terrible organisation like the UN gets its grips on something like the internet, I don't see a rosy future.

African kids need a bite
not a bit.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Yet the UN has no problems allowing countries with horible human rights records onto humans right entities.

The UN has no credibility and appears to have not only lost its focus but has taken on an aura that it is a world government when in fact its not.

reply to post by Xcathdra


the UN is a sham, always will be.

In regards to the internet being a human right, I'll have to disagree. While it's a really good thing, it's not a right.

some areas of scotland cannot get a mobile/cell phone signal the internet is a bonus if you can get it

Only year old news.... someone is just a bit slow....

techland.time.com...

www.wired.com...

www.osnews.com...

www.digitaltrends.com...
etc etc

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

More than ever, it's appropriate to be vigilant in the support of an open and free internet. And remind those who wish to limit it's use and power that, according to their own laws, that's illegal.

You make a good point actually. First and foremost, the Internet should be free for all. We both know that the UN is a disaster, but making a proclamation like this, makes me think of the future, of the internet. Technology has always moved at lightning speeds, whos to say that the internet, couldnt become something more?

This should make you think of the implications....

Whole brain emulation or mind uploading (sometimes called mind transfer) is the hypothetical process of transferring or copying a conscious mind from a brain to a non-biological substrate by scanning and mapping a biological brain in detail and copying its state into a computer system or another computational device. The computer would have to run a simulation model so faithful to the original that it would behave in essentially the same way as the original brain, or for all practical purposes, indistinguishably.[1] The simulated mind is assumed to be part of a virtual reality simulated world, supported by an anatomic 3D body simulation model. Alternatively, the simulated mind could be assumed to reside in a computer inside (or connected to) a humanoid robot or a biological body, replacing its brain.

Mind uploading


It could evolve into a human right, in more ways then one......

Great thread!

S&F

reply to post by tothetenthpower


So if its a "Human Right" then what hell are we doing paying for it? It should be free to everyone also..

Access to the internet is good but many use it for deceit. Deceiving people is not a human right. Stalking people for ill intent is not a human right. The internet is not a human right, it is a tool to increase knowledge and awareness and to communicate with others in a more environmentally friendly way. It is nice getting knowledge from someone who actually does something instead of getting it from a book writer who just channels knowledge and can't answer the questions that arise. Other writers of books have limited perception which steers people into the wrong direction, the direction the author are looking at.

Anyone know the address to the UN that will accept the bill from my internet provider?

Nothing one has to pay for is a right - it’s a business transaction I pay they give me access. I don't pay they cut my access.

A human right is something I can do without depending on anything from anyone else. Like live or think.

I think the UN also declared clean water, food and housing human rights too...

The UN is a money pit of feel good policy that sucks down money quicker than strippers outside a military post on payday.

Can't we just get a divorce from the UN?

reply to post by DarknStormy

reply to post by Golf66


Umm, water is a human-right, and you pay for that to be piped into your home. Access to food is a human-right, and you still pay for that. Being a human-right doesnt mean it has to be free, it just needs to be accessible.

Originally posted by Kr0nZ
reply to post by DarknStormy

 

reply to post by Golf66

 

Umm, water is a human-right, and you pay for that to be piped into your home. Access to food is a human-right, and you still pay for that. Being a human-right doesnt mean it has to be free, it just needs to be accessible.

edit on 18/8/12 by Kr0nZ because: (no reason given)

You can get food and water by yourself. Purchasing it is just a convenience.

I think the Internet is a very important factor in our human evolution and a path to a better understanding of ethics and a greater conciseness.

The Internet provide us with limitless information, access to knowledge stored 1000 of kilometers away from our present location, it gives us communication with people from all over the world.

All these factors makes it a very important human right in my eyes.

Peace

reply to post by beezzer


I can go down to my local library, or my local coffee shop, hell even my local government bulidings have free WIFI. Having it intsalled in your home is also just a convenience.

Originally posted by Kr0nZ
reply to post by beezzer

 

I can go down to my local library, or my local coffee shop, hell even my local government bulidings have free WIFI. Having it intsalled in your home is also just a convenience.

The library has to pay. Someone has to pay.

reply to post by spoor


I wasn't stating this was new 'news' by any means, I was trying to explore the concept of the internet as a human right.

Please add something to the conversation next time

~Tenth

Originally posted by DarknStormy
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

So if its a "Human Right" then what hell are we doing paying for it? It should be free to everyone also..

Unfortuntely that's not the case. Essential services are still very expensive. Take food for example and shelter.

Both are considered human rights, but we have thousands of children dying of starvation and homelessness rates are through the roof.

~Tenth

Originally posted by Kr0nZ
Umm, water is a human-right, and you pay for that to be piped into your home. Access to food is a human-right, and you still pay for that. Being a human-right doesn’t mean it has to be free, it just needs to be accessible.

edit on 18/8/12 by Kr0nZ because: (no reason given)

Sure it is - go hunting without a permit (which costs something) go take something out of my garden or field of beans and I will shoot you guaranteed if I see you.... Come ask me and plead your case likely I'd sit you down to roast with the family. However taking # off my land makes you a thief regardless of how hungry you or your kids are.

I suppose you can drink from the local lake for free but I wouldn't recommend it. Then you can only have the right during daylight hours because its against the law to be at the lake after 2200 and before 0700.

No one has to provide you with access to water or food unless you have something of value to exchange for it.

If you can find an unclaimed wilderness and can live off the land then maybe - but there aren’t much wilderness areas left. Almost all of them belong to the government who regulates what you can cannot do there or a private person who does the same.

Originally posted by spoor
Only year old news.... someone is just a bit slow....

techland.time.com...

www.wired.com...

www.osnews.com...

www.digitaltrends.com...
etc etc

It may be old news but it does serve as a reminder that the UN seems to think they are something they are not. A weird action here or there is dismissible however when there seems to be a pattern, and there is one with the UN, it becomes a larger problem.

Whats the saying...
"So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause. "