Broadband…a human right? We told you so…

I recently read about Finland making broadband a legal right for every citizen. Whilst this might seem a bit unusual at first glance, it does follow on from the decision of a French court last year - see my earlier post.

The Finnish approach to internet access puts into stark contrast our own expectations for internet speed and access. The Finnish government has committed to providing every citizen with internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps (megabits per second) by 2015, compared to the UK government’s commitment to a minimum connection speed of 2mbps by 2012.

This issue of availability of internet access, and a citizen’s right to access the internet, raises further points of conflict. The UK passed the Digital Economy Act 2010 on 8 April of this year.  Amongst other things, this Act serves to protect against illegal downloading and online copyright infringement. As a consequence of such conduct, UK internet users could see their internet access being disconnected.  What is unclear is how much ‘infringing activity’ would be deemed necessary to cut off an internet user’s access.

Clearly there is a difference of opinion as to how essential it is for a country’s citizens to access the internet.  Perhaps we are also starting to see a distinction between human rights which are regarded as fundamental and those that are simply desirable?