Is the Internet a Right?

carlins bit:

Rights aren't rights if someone can take them away. They're privileges. That's all we've ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. You see all, sooner or later. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government does not give a f about them! The government doesn't care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare or your safety. It simply does not give a f about you! It's interested in its own power. That's the only thing. Keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.

in this carlin and i completely agree. i used the term 'right' above in this sense, that it is one of the enumerated priviledges allowed to us by almight uncle sam/auntie elizabeth. and they do get shorter every year. and i am not okay with that. people have to stop just rolling over to that 'fact' and start doing something, Anything, about it. because its a pretty obvious progression where all this goes.

'rights' are not 'rights' until someone fights for them and wins them.

@ Kohadre…
Sure, I can do that.

The right to bear arms. If you have a federal offense on your criminal background, can you buy or own a gun?

Can a minor buy a fire arm? They can own one, but can they buy it?

If you want to go drinking, which could be interpreted as a right (which in America’s past was abolished once) can anyone do it at any time?

Can a minor go into a store and buy pornography?


Regulation can be seen as a restriction, and some may see it as a form of censorship. So are laws I guess… and rules, and anything else that may not let us do what we want to do when we get the urge to do it.

So we should keep these things in mind when we exercise our right to vote. And, remember that all actions have consequences. And we are accountable for our actions and our choices.

Connor Lidell wrote: I'm sorry John. I don't see how that correlates.

FDR, via Br. John wrote: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

I work as an independent, self-published author and a freelance writer. All this is done online, and I would have no income without it. And, while I am capable of creating a multitude of handicrafts, I learned how to do each and every one of them--from embroidery to basketry to bookbinding--online, where I can also sell them to a larger market than I would be able to find in the tiny town where I live.

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

While I don't sell produce, my grandfather died before he could teach me the ins and outs of farming. Together with my father and brothers, we've used the Internet to gain access to information that has allowed us cut our grocery bill in half through small-farm homesteading practices we wouldn't have known about without it.

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

I can sell my books anywhere in the world. Since this is my sole income, that's a big deal to me.

The right of every family to a decent home;

The Internet has granted me access to the communities involved in the Tiny House Movement. I've been functionally homeless for over three years, and now I have the knowledge necessary to build my own home for less than $6,000 US. I am also crowdfunding said house to supplement my other online incomes in putting a roof over my head for good.

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

Because of the nature of my job, the nature of the free market, and the ability to bank online, I won't have to worry about any of these in the same way that I would if I were a writer solely dependent on pre-Internet technologies.

The right to a good education.

The repository of all digitized human knowledge counts as "a good education," doesn't it?

Connor Lidell wrote: Water, we pay for the convenience of making it safe and inhouse. That's also a privilege.

Safe water is a "convenience"? Tell that to the multitude dying each year because they have no access to clean drinking water, or the ability or knowledge to purify it themselves. Or, alternately, Google it and donate to one of the many charities raising funds online to fix the problem.

Desolous wrote: Rights aren't rights if someone can take them away. They're privileges.

I've always heard it said that "Rights cannot be granted; only recognized." By that, I mean that no one can tell you what your rights are--they can't say which ones you can and cannot have--they can only say which ones they recognize to be valid.

That's what the Bill of Rights in the US is. It's a declaration by the FF that "These things here, in particular, are things we know are out of our control as a government. We are putting them here so they cannot be legislated against, because we do not have the power to take away what the Creator/the Universe/etc. has granted unto Mankind."

Connor Lidell wrote: Water, we pay for the convenience of making it safe and inhouse. That's also a privilege.

Internet, we pay for the convenience of being able to use it at all. I remember the days when you needed a wired modem.

I'm missing your point.

Water, we pay for the convenience...

Internet, we pay for the convenience...

Neither one is a right. I think we are saying the same thing?

Desolous wrote: carlins bit:

Rights aren't rights if someone can take them away. They're privileges. That's all we've ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. You see all, sooner or later. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government does not give a f about them! The government doesn't care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare or your safety. It simply does not give a f about you! It's interested in its own power. That's the only thing. Keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.

in this carlin and i completely agree. i used the term 'right' above in this sense, that it is one of the enumerated priviledges allowed to us by almight uncle sam/auntie elizabeth. and they do get shorter every year. and i am not okay with that. people have to stop just rolling over to that 'fact' and start doing something, Anything, about it. because its a pretty obvious progression where all this goes.

'rights' are not 'rights' until someone fights for them and wins them.

Ok. I see what you're saying.

And, I agree with you. I am saying that the internet is given to us and we all have equal access to it now with wifi and free computer usage (in some places).

Rights are things that cannot be taken away from me. My freedom of speech is a privilege. I am ALLOWED by the government to profess free speech because it protects me when I engage it.

The only true RIGHTS that I have are the things within my body. It is my right to exist because nature deemed it so. Nothing has power over that right. They can destroy me, kill me, nature maims me in the end... but the right is mine.

The ability to drink water from a cup? That's a privilege that I earned by working for the money to pay for the water and the cup.

It's a right that if I HAVE the means to buy it, I can pay for it and receive it if they're offering.

Rickie The Grey wrote:
Neither one is a right. I think we are saying the same thing?

Yes, we were. I wasn't disagreeing with you.

steamboat28 wrote:

Connor Lidell wrote: Water, we pay for the convenience of making it safe and inhouse. That's also a privilege.

Safe water is a "convenience"? Tell that to the multitude dying each year because they have no access to clean drinking water, or the ability or knowledge to purify it themselves. Or, alternately, Google it and donate to one of the many charities raising funds online to fix the problem.

Living is a convenience.

Nothing is not a convenience, you're lucky you're even alive. I say embrace that with joy! Gratefulness doesn't equal entitlement.

Universal declaration of human rights:
Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

I would consider the internet to be a scientific advancement and so everyone has a right to participate...

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

I would consider the internet a public space where people assemble...

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

I would consider the internet a medium of expression and information...

Whyte Horse wrote: Universal declaration of human rights:
Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

I would consider the internet to be a scientific advancement and so everyone has a right to participate...

I would also consider it a medium through which art is shared and enjoyed, and a vital part of "cultural life" and "community" in the 21st century in the majority of "first world" nations.