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[lifa-cobex]

Have we reached the point where the Internet should be classed as a basic necessity akin to a water or power service?

Many people now solely rely on the internet as a means of communication, business or shopping needs.
However broadband company's can still choose to cut off your service as their is no legal protection to state it as a basic need.

 

[SidViscous]

as a lot of folk are having to work remotely, sure

 

[Pagusas]

Yes, we've reached a point where not having access to it would make it extremely hard to thrive in this society. At least in the US. People who are down on their luck should have a safety net to keep it from being shut off, just like water and power, as taking it away from them compounds their problems and makes it harder for them to recover.

That doesn't mean 1gb Fiber internet should be available to all. A basic 4mb down/1mb up connection should be standard to all homes though. Thats more than enough to read goverment sites and apply for jobs.

 

[nush]

Once governments require you to use apps and websites for their services, then yes it's a basic utility.

 

[Vestal]

It should have been classified as such years ago. The remote/wfh trend was already gaining steam prior to the pandemic. COVID put the move away from standard office work to remote work into over drive. Personally I went from mix of office and remote work prior to COVID to 100% remote with hardly any noticiable side effects in productivity(INFOSEC). Got a new job 3 months ago that is 100% from home permanently while my old job was looking at doing a 3/2 OR 4/1 mix. 4 or 3 days remote per week.

 

[BigBooper]

What do you see it changing if we do? I'd rather not go "sure, sounds good" without knowing what you think it means.

 

[dr_octagon]

you need the internet and an email address for work, school, signing documents, making payments, communication, paying bills, confirmation of your ID. many government services are online only. registering for medical and community services require online access.

people could get by without it, much like you could get water from a well or use candle to light your home.

it's a great shame the Verge didn't decide to shut down for a year, they had one of their staff suffer a hipster mid life crisis.

A year without the Internet

For 365 days, Paul Miller disconnected from the internet. We'd like to tell you it was an idyllic journey of self-discovery, but that isn't quite the truth. On the eve of Paul's return, we follow...

www.theverge.com

 

[20cent]

In France, and I guess among other countries, they can't cut your internet if you pirate stuff or even if you stop paying your network provider.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Nope.

Unless government wants to take over all the costs of building and maintaining it like your local water company. Or offer to buy out every internet service company and make it a government department.

A roof over people's heads isn't even considered a basic utility for survival as a landlord can eventually get you kicked out after going through the process.

 

[daveonezero]

No because the way utilities work now sucks ass for anyone consuming them.

And they basically already are as government grants only a few companies the ability to lay infrastructure.

 

[HoodWinked]

while it's probably closer to a utility at this point, it wouldn't result in a better outcome. with the complaints about current ISP providers it would somehow be worse and cost tax payers.

other countries can do this because they're either small or dense or small and dense.

 

[Great Hair]

Internet has ruined everything. Without it, the world would be in a much better place. I still remember reading that article about a young Korean couple going to the internet café to play WoW for hours ... once back home, their baby had died.

Couple: Internet gaming addiction led to baby's death - CNN.com

A South Korean couple whose three-month-old daughter died of malnutrition while they were raising a virtual child in an online game pleaded guilty to negligent homicide on Friday.

edition.cnn.com

Neglected child dies while parents play World of Warcraft. This isn’t gaming news.

Videogames are again the bad guy.

arstechnica.com

Internet ruined the experience going with your family, father to a Videothek to pick some movies and have a drink/meal. Now all you have to do is grab your remote control or talk to the TV and never leave the house anymore.

Except for LOTRO, i never really needed to play, to be online. No game gets better by having a multiplayer. No internet, no toxic, no aliases ...

 

[Ikutachi]

I'm helpless without it.

 

[TGO]

To even suggest it shows what's wrong with the world today.
You really need to unplug man.....get some R&R.

 

[lifa-cobex]

To even suggest it shows what's wrong with the world today.
You really need to unplug man.....get some R&R.

I need the internet to order a repeat prescription for medical needs. It's now impossible for me to do it any other way. I can't even make a phone call to order it.
I'm not talking about for basic entertainment. I'm more pointing out how society has now structured everything around the internet in our everyday life.

 

[bender]

Al Gore was a mistake.

 

[TDiddyLive]

They are already kind of treated like that, with a wrinkle. Everybody has access to the internet by way of the government through the library system.

 

[IDKFA]

I need the internet to order a repeat prescription for medical needs. It's now impossible for me to do it any other way. I can't even make a phone call to order it.
I'm not talking about for basic entertainment. I'm more pointing out how society has now structured everything around the internet in our everyday life.

Where do you live?

The fact you need an online connection to renew a medical prescription is really Orwellian to me.

In the UK, you can do it online, but you can also do it with a paper slip from your GP, hospital etc. I can't think of any life essential service that is online only here in the UK. Long may that continue as well!

Due to me living in the UK I voted no, but if I lived in a place where life essential services required an online connection then I would have voted yes.

 

[Mistake]

I’m not so sure. I think we need more laws to make it more competitive. The fact we only have 2-3 major companies giving service is a huge problem. If everything worked as intended, towns or states would have their own servers and give their own competitive rates, but last I read, they get strong armed from doing it.

 

[evolvaer]

Nope.

Unless government wants to take over all the costs of building and maintaining it like your local water company. Or offer to buy out every internet service company and make it a government department.

A roof over people's heads isn't even considered a basic utility for survival as a landlord can eventually get you kicked out after going through the process.

Not sure where you live, but didn't the US gov half pay or heavily incentivize private monopolies to build all the infrastructure for internet?

This is a good topic to bring up on what's considered basic utility in a modern age. I'm all for it, the advantages are too great. A society with the least amount of isolated people is the healthiest for everyone.

 

[T8SC]

No.

It's not even in the same realm as needing gas, electric & water.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Probably depending on usage it works as a communication device, paper killer no internet and you’re basically screwed.

 

[INC]

Everyone should have access to information yes, it should be free to view everywhere, just not for shit like downloading and online gaming

But free access to everything else, yes. Information is power, so to deny someone of that access, isn't a level playing field

 

[M1chl]

Yes

Also in Finland :

Finland makes broadband a 'legal right'

Finland has become the first country to make broadband with a speed of 1Mbps a legal right for every citizen.

www.bbc.com

 

[Star-Lord]

It pretty much already is considered a legal right.

Right to Internet access - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[West Texas CEO]

Yes.

Times change and access to fundamental human needs also changes. The internet has become one of the backbones of culture and commerce and those who don't have access to it do lose out in big ways. It's the equivalent of having access to newspapers in the 19th century or to television and radio in the early 20th century. Making it a "necessity" is simply a way of saying that people shouldn't be denied access to the means of participating in culture and commerce.

The internet is ubiquitous in modern life.
If we choose to make it a necessity, then it is.
But how would we enforce that?

 

[thief183]

It is already considered a basic utility.... socials on the other hand should be limited to under 50yo

 

[jason10mm]

Government run internet would have all the speed of a 56k modem and the reliability of a tremulous old man trying to hold two wires together.

Be grateful we have what we have as quickly and cheaply as we have it.

 

[Keihart]

Government run internet would have all the speed of a 56k modem and the reliability of a tremulous old man trying to hold two wires together.

Be grateful we have what we have as quickly and cheaply as we have it.

I don't think that basic utility equals to government run.
Not all basic utilities are run by governments, they are regulated by them tho.

 

[jason10mm]

I don't think that basic utility equals to government run.
Not all basic utilities are run by governments, they are regulated by them tho.

If government sets the standards for performance...trust me, those standards are gonna be LOW.

 

[Keihart]

If government sets the standards for performance...trust me, those standards are gonna be LOW.

Not lower than having no standards.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Not lower than having no standards.

What? That makes no sense. No government standards is where we pretty much are right now. Want faster service? Pay more money. That’s the way it should be. It’s not like water and electric where the amount is the same. Some people need/want faster internet. They should be allowed to pay more for it.

Giving government more control will almost certainly take that option away. I’m not even convinced we have it better with any utilities, but this one is a major stretch as far as necessity goes.

 

[Keihart]

What? That makes no sense. No government standards is where we pretty much are right now. Want faster service? Pay more money. That’s the way it should be. It’s not like water and electric where the amount is the same. Some people need/want faster internet. They should be allowed to pay more for it.

Giving government more control will almost certainly take that option away. I’m not even convinced we have it better with any utilities, but this one is a major stretch as far as necessity goes.

Yeah, that's not how it works.
There are several places in the world where ISPs have little competition and incentive to deliver some quality service. You could pay the same as somebody in a location with worse infrastructure and not get the same service, this is not some fringe situation but something way too common. Not to mention the places where because of low population there is no business to be made ISPs make little to no effort to accommodate some quality services if any at all.

There are some countries with such regulations making ISPs duty to serve even isolated population with some bare minimum, is not that different than regulating some water or electricity service company so they don't overcharge and deliver some minimum level of quality since more often than not there isn't enough competition.

 

[John Bilbo]

Yes

Also in Finland :

Finland makes broadband a 'legal right'

Finland has become the first country to make broadband with a speed of 1Mbps a legal right for every citizen.

www.bbc.com

As a Finnish person I'm pretty sure that article is not correct. There is no government funded internet here and you also cannot get social benefits for your internet bill.

 

[John Bilbo]

I don't think internet should be a basic utility as it would mean rasing taxes.

I also don't believe you can count internet as a human right as I see a human right as something inherent to a person and his abilities, not as a service someone else has to offer.

 

[BadBurger]

I don't think internet should be a basic utility as it would mean rasing taxes.

Don't we already subsidize ISP's a great deal as is?

 

[John Bilbo]

Don't we already subsidize ISP's a great deal as is?

It seems at least the EU grands subsidies for broadband networks here in Finland. It is possible the infrastructure is somewhat maintained via taxes, but I cannot confirm this.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Yeah, that's not how it works.
There are several places in the world where ISPs have little competition and incentive to deliver some quality service. You could pay the same as somebody in a location with worse infrastructure and not get the same service, this is not some fringe situation but something way too common. Not to mention the places where because of low population there is no business to be made ISPs make little to no effort to accommodate some quality services if any at all.

There are some countries with such regulations making ISPs duty to serve even isolated population with some bare minimum, is not that different than regulating some water or electricity service company so they don't overcharge and deliver some minimum level of quality since more often than not there isn't enough competition.

1) I don’t give a rip what goes on in the rest of the world. They don’t have built in infrastructure like my country (USA) does. I don’t live in other countries and therefore don’t know their laws or their situations.

2) ISPs can already piggy back onto phone utilities and satellites, making at least some access available and affordable. You might say “Well, why not go all the way and just make them a utility?” To which I reply, “Why?” They already have all the benefits that utilities have? Do you just want more government control for the sake of government control?”

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Don't we already subsidize ISP's a great deal as is?

YES.

 

[GardenOfAbbylon]

Yes. Most things are done online now.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I'd rather not blow away the tiny remaining hope of breaking internet monopolies by cementing them into law.

 

[Taxexemption]

I normally am not a huge fan of just giving things to people, but yes it should be a utility, and the government should make it as easy and cheap to access as possible. If you don't have internet access in a country like the US, you are living in an extreme poverty and we should be concerned about your ability to ever do anything productive in our society if you don't get access. Even if you are poor, if you have access to the internet you have access to a lot of free information that if you choose you can use it to better your situation. If somehow you actually don't have access, I have serious doubts about your ability to ever crawl out of that into a normal life situation even if you are a naturally smart person who is trying to live a good life.

 

[zeorhymer]

I'd say no. I don't want the gubment to give me trash internet and pay taxes for trash internet.

 

[ShadowLag]

It should be considered a basic utility only insofar as the government can help you obtain it cheaply. They need to stay the fuck away from running, maintaining, or otherwise having any control over it, though.

 

[BadBurger]

It should be considered a basic utility only insofar as the government can help you obtain it cheaply. They need to stay the fuck away from running, maintaining, or otherwise having any control over it, though.

People with municipal broadband seem to really like it in the 'States. As with most things of this nature in the US, a state or city government merely hires the best candidate from a number of companies to handle setting it up, possibly for long term maintenance, then inserts some kind of oversight over it in the public interest.

 

[UnNamed]

In many developed countries, internet already is a primary good, and the access to it is considered as fundamental by law.

 

[West Texas CEO]

It should be considered a basic utility only insofar as the government can help you obtain it cheaply. They need to stay the fuck away from running, maintaining, or otherwise having any control over it, though.

/thread