Even though I spend my weekends writing ridiculous little articles like this, I am, technically, a lawyer, which means I have had my fair share of legal rights discourse. So I suppose it is quite natural for me to find a certain news article a few days ago on the internet rather interesting, considering it was one which reported that Finland has recognized a new legal right: broadband internet. Broadband is considered a legal right as of July 1 2010 in Finland. Consequently every Finnish citizen now has a guaranteed legal right to at least a 1Mbps broadband connection.
The Finnish right to the internet is on the same footing as other legal rights in the country, such as healthcare and education. While this is great news in terms of entertainment and communication for our friends in Finland, are we, as conscientious global citizens, required at this point, to emit a heavy sigh of despair?
Recognizing something as a legal right is no small feat. Do you know how long it took to recognize the legal right of a woman to vote, or inherit land? It took a US Supreme Court decision in 1967 to finally remove restrictions on interracial marriages in America. In my mind at least, the recognition of certain things as being ‘legal rights’ indicates the value system of a given society, or in this case, of the times in which we live. Today, access to the internet is as vital as the right to three square meals a day and a basic education.
We would be foolish to think the right to broadband will stop in Finland. Already Spain is said to be following suit. In Australia the issue of next-generation broadband played a big part in the recent election campaign. Furthermore, it is slowly creeping up the political agenda of the UK.
The BBC says that with a nationwide fibre network estimated to cost around £15bn, there is going to be a lot of talk about the wisdom of committing to such costs without being absolutely sure that there is a need for such an infrastructure. In other words, do people even need higher internet speeds? What do you suppose will be next on the list, once the developed world has spent billions
on making high speed internet accessible as a matter of right? Every child’s right to go to Disneyland? The right to have a Facebook account? To be quite honest, I am caught between two very uncomfortable positions on the matter: I am partially happy to see such strange developments crop up, and yet I find I am increasingly incapable of recognizing the world in which I live. Is this the same one I was born in to? |
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