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Finland Grants a 'Right' to National Broadband, Starting Today

by Terrence O'Brien on July 1, 2010 at 12:30 PM

Internet A Right in Finland
Starting today, July 1st, broadband Internet is the legal right of all Finnish citizens. Last October, Finland passed a law that guaranteed all citizens access to Internet connections of at least 1Mbps. Today, that law went into effect, requiring the nation's service providers to cover the few remaining Net-deficient households. With an estimated 96-percent of the population covered (in a country of about 5.3 million), there doesn't appear to be much work left to do. The greater challenge comes in the second phase of the bill, which requires all citizens be given access to 100Mbps connections by 2015.

Finland is the first country to declare Internet access a legal right, but it may not be the last. A survey performed last year by the BBC revealed that most of the globe's citizenry, even most Americans, considered access to the Web a right and not a privilege. But such a shift in how Internet service is regarded could have serious implications for providers, especially when it comes to prosecuting file-sharers. It's hard to take something away from a citizen when the law has enshrined it as a right afforded to all. [Ed. note: In the U.S., convicted felons are often stripped of their rights to vote and bear arms.] [From: BBC and The Next Web]

Tags: broadband, finland, government, internet, InternetAccess, law, nationalbroadbandplan, rights, top, web

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