"However, I agree with you that internet has enlightened individuals all over the world. It has equally enhanced and impacted businesses, education, healthcare industry and so on."
Try to think how to do business today without Internet access. Or how to access the many free online eduational resources or contact your school, university. How could the healthcare professionals check EMRs (Electronic Medical Records) and prescribe electronically without Internet access as they do today in an expanding eHealth system? What about quick money transfers through eBanking to countries that have been victims of natural disasters? That means quick food and medicine supplies as well. And so on.
The reason why Internet access has become a human right is because it assists the other human rights. Therefore, the Internet is necessary for the other rights to be carried on in today's world.
The Internet is not just a means of communication anymore. It's beyond that. You say:"computer is a mode of communication just as much as a telephone." I am not discussing a piece of hardward but the Internet. I say a computer without Internet access is useless today.
I see no point in comparing the Internet with the telephone. They are complete different stories for what I try to say.
Could you do all your business, studies and healthcare issues using only your phone and at a very low cost? Most likely not.
Welcome to EBN Online. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us and for posting this question:
"MY question is: how do realize our human rights assisted by another and new human rights called the Internet?"
Thinking about it and seeing how all the human rights are closely connected and assisted by the Internet in more than one way. Opening our mind to make it wider and be able to understand what we don't seem to understand at first sight or after just one moment of thinking about it.
Today more than ever the human rights are being assisted by the Internet. I believe I have said this before in this discussion. The Internet is assisting education, healhcare, the law that protects our rights. The Internet has helped nations that were victims of natural disasters in bringing quick help, food, medicine, medical assistance and communication with family as never before.
There is a great potential waiting. As many more global citizens are being helped to be connected to the Internet more benefits humanity will see.
And yes, there is cybercrime, too, as there is crime in everyday life. That is only an excuse for being blind to the good things the Internet brings.
And yes, people need to learn more about human rights and the new tools available assisting them.
Thanks for your work and dedication pro a better world. It's highly appreciated.
"I would not go that far and put internet as human rights, because simply the future may bring a better way to communicate than it is known now as internet."
That's a different story. We can't sit and wait until something else comes to replace the Internet. It's like the typical case of not buying an iPhone because another iPhone is coming out soon resulting in never buying an iPhone.
With that criteria we all should just sit and wait and nothing will ever happen. See the point? We need to live in the present moment with all what the present moment is giving us and make the most of it.
The future will bring different and new ways of communication than the ones we know and have today. We then will use those ways of communication in the future. Meanwhile, think of here and now.
However, i was more concerned about the government. A government that has not provided the basics for its citizens need not focus on providing internet access until food and shelter (even for those who still have the strenght to go on without it) have been provided.
I agree that some can still defy odds, but its not everyone.
You make vary good points. I suppose the term "human right" would depend upon the human one is talking to. I imagine if I asked my very elderly friend whether they would rather have access to TV or the Internet (as a basic right), they would say TV. Yet the opposite might be true if I were to ask a 15 year old kid. In my humble view "human rights" would be the common set that the majority of people agreed were human rights.
Good point, Anna. Any proposal has to include a consideration of feasibility that would include an assessment of the cost/benefit ratio. I wonder about the extent to which each individual is supposed to be granted access. Anyone can access the internet for free at public libraries; many schools also grant internet access to their students. There already are programs in place to provide money for technology in schools, but they do not extend to computer for every single student
.But would one have to go so far as to make Wi-Fi available to each home? In that case, each household, and possibly each individual, would have to be given a computer or at least a device if they have not or could not afford to buy one for themselves. T
It's not something that can simply be dismissed by saying the government will foot the bill. Saying that is tantamount to saying we will all foot the bill in the form of higher taxes because that is where the government gets its money from. And, I can assure you that a very good number of tax payers are far from rich and struggling already to cover daily living expenses. Adding on another tax burden during these difficult economic times when gas and food prices have already skyrocketed is not doing most people a favor.
Currently, the US government is very seriously in debt and the bonds are no longer considered the rock-solid investment they used to be. So adding to the debt would prove detrimental to both the citizens and the bond holders. In any case, it would raise questions about which government. If this is tied to schools, then the expenses would be considered local, the jurisdiction of the cities and towns -- not even the states, never mind the federal government.
I agree that perhaps saying the internet is a human right is going too far. However this is a great topic to be further discussed. In my opinion I think it would be very beneficial for people in developing countries to have access to the wealth of information on the internet. In countries that have vast access to the internet, it is very easy to look up information and share information between one another, meanwhile in developing countries they do not have easy access to this information that could be very beneficial to them for improving and advancing their lives.
Susan, I like this article. It’s obviously got everyone thinking. However, I agree with you that internet has enlightened individuals all over the world. It has equally enhanced and impacted businesses, education, healthcare industry and so on.
Like you said, broadband internet access will further enhance and impact the global and rapid expansion of electronics supply chain.
I understand why this may have been legalized in Finland and applaud other countries that have eversince joined
However, to go as far as declaring the internet access a legal human right, is going too far in my view.
I do agree that "human rights" are rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled, but I believe that types or form of communication should be determined by an individual - computer is a mode of communication just as much as a telephone. Should other forms of communication be legalized as well? Think about the cost, particularly in the developing countries.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
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Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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