Finland the first country in the world to make broadband access a legal right
 

Finland the first country in the world to make broadband access a legal right -- Engadget

hahahahaha

I wish our government would step in and keep companies like Qwest from charging $50/month for a 1.5 Mbps connection.

Gov't needs to :gtfo2:

When companies are extorting people for services that essentially cost them nothing to provide other than paying for equipment and administrative overhead (like Internet access), government needs to step in.

Many people, like myself, NEED Internet access for work. When you're in that situation, the costs start to seem very ridiculous. I mean seriously, having to pay 1/4 of my car payment amount just to have a reliable Internet connection. That's absurd. Colocated hosting in a datacenter with unlimited, unthrottled bandwidth costs only slightly more! :rolleyes:

or when you have a service issue in your area, but its not a large enough problem, and they tell you they'll come by some time next week, even though you are trying to run a business, they don't care.

My friend is from Peru and he says that about 70% of the country has access to free WiFi. The service can be a little iffy in some areas, but hey...it's free.

Nothing is free, friend... you're either paying for it directly, or in this case, through taxation from the gov (and throw in their ineffieciency to boot). It pains me to hear people say something is "free". There was a cost paid by someone, somewhere.

I agree.

Our consumer/small business Internet access in the US should be heavily regulated by the government, but not subsidized. It should be purely illegal to charge more than $50/month for any kind of consumer access. $10/month for 1.0-1.5 Mbps, $20 for the next tier, $30 for the next, etc.

Same goes for cellular companies :shakes head:

Internet/network/voice access providers will definitely become the next oil companies here soon. When people really start to become more educated on networks and the modern Internet infrastructure, it will anger them just as it angers me how much companies charge for very basic access to such a vast and underutilized network.

Thank you.

Two kinds of people support an unregulated free market: Thieves who understand how things actually work and idealistic suckers who don't.

government is never the answer. look at the mess we are in now.

Grrr! Those slightly Socialist countries and their stuff and their things! Grrr!

Now there's a shocker.

Just for ***** and giggles... I looked up Qwests profit margin (in this case 2008 since it's what popped up). A whopping 5%. /shrug I wouldn't call that arse-rapage.

They can blame mismanagement and inefficiency for that. :ugh2: This is the case across the board.

edit: just for ***** and giggles, Google "quest sucks" and read what their customers have to say. Same with Comcast, AT&T, etc. The fact that these providers suck so bad is why they are not profitable. The service they provide is actually very, very cheap to make happen.

Oh, I've read some stuff about Qwest before, and I know ALL about ATT. But on the otherhand, you want an inefficient government (even moreso than an inept Qwest) to regulate (make more efficient) Qwest? Something doesn't seem right about that. Pot calling kettle black or something along those lines.... :eek:

I like it. I think it's a good idea.

:tup:

People need to live around the world* a bit and then feel free to comment on what works and what doesn't work. Not read about it on the internet. Not watch it on television. Live it, experience it. I know for a fact that the quality of life in Finland is above and beyond what passes for quality of life in America. And no, having a big screen TV, A car and a house that you pay for monthly, going out to chain restaurants at a f*cking strip mall to throw sh*t, mass produced, hormone laced food down your neck on a Friday night isn't quality of life. Neither is catching a game on teeee veeee. Neither is watching American Idle (SP!), getting drunk with your sh*t useless friends and whining about your miserable job which brings you money to pay off all the toys you think you own.

:tup:

I've got friends I work with in Finland and Sweden who are both multi-multi millionaires and they weren't stopped by any slight socialist leanings. I mean, true, the national average intelligence and intellect over there is a lot higher than here in the US of A so it takes a little more work than just spelling your name correctly to stick out and be brilliant.

People can truly thrive over there if they're good enough. Those who aren't good enough, don't. Just like here. Only difference in Finland is that they're just not chasing the dream of working a job they resent paying for toys they don't need. They're not unhealthy, obese and toothless, yet still somehow brainwashed into thinking that state supplied health care is Marxist (Most people can't even define what that means without consulting Wiki, or more likely Conservo first. Most didn't even know the name existed until Faux news started spewing it out), despite it helping them and being one less worry on their already full plate.

You shouldn't base your opinions on government in other countries on the incompetent sh*tstorm of idiocy in America. Some places are slightly more competent. Like I said, the national intelligence is higher and the people aren't as willfully ignorant.

:tup:

But, enough of my jaw balling. I've got an elitist fair trade latte to drink before it gets cold. After that, I'm not going to a bowling alley.

:tiphat: :roflpuke2:


*Living on a base doesn't qualify because they wipe your arse, feed you and do your thinking for you. And before anybody starts whoopin' and hollerin', I've been posted as an officer in various locations throughout the world, but I've also got out there and lived in and integrated with various countries and cultures for real.

I guess I'll go eat worms then.

They will only charge what people are willing to pay. If it's too much... cancel your service. If enough people do this, prices will go down. Now if you need internet for a business, the best you can do is deduct the cost from your taxes. But it does little good to complain and then fork over the money!

It's an across-the-board problem. Access fees for cellular, Internet, television, phone are ALL too expensive in this country. But I guess that's what cut-throat capitalism and local monopolization gets you :rolleyes:

If even 1 more cable company did business in my location (it's just Comcast for us), then I guarantee prices would drop 25% due to the competition. Same for phone companies. Legislation was passed quite a while back that made it illegal for a phone company to only offer 1 ISP through their central hub, if others wanted to provide service there. Doesn't matter, though. Our phone company here is Qwest, therefore your phone-line-based Internet will be Qwest as well, unless you go shop around yourself.

It's quite ridiculous. The only place where true competition is allowed is with satellite television access.

Shhh... let all the factory workers wave their fists in rage at unions while the elderly demand the gov't stay out of their medicare etc... -- many Americans think with their guts, which are considered by to be far superior at information processing than the gelatanous lumps inside their skulls :icon17: