Finland makes broadband a legal right

First for humanity

Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right. From next month every Finn can expect to have access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection.

The country has also promised to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015. Blighty has promised a minimum connection of at least 2Mbps to all homes by 2012 but has never made this the law.

Finland's communication minister Suvi Linden said that Internet services are no longer just for entertainment. It is believed up to 96 per cent of the Finish population are already online.

The reason countries do not make broadband a legal right is because politicians are terrified of the music and film industry. It is impossible to run a three strikes and you are out campaign against file sharers if it is a legal right to have a connection.

The Finnish government piracy laws see operators sending letters to illegal file-sharers but we are not planning on cutting off access.

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Good one Finland!

I wonder if any other countries will follow suit? Still debating this one a bit,

Of course, if you're looking for a job, 99% of the companies I've applied to only accept applications online. So maybe it should be a right.

There is no way the United States Government in it's current form would ever support this.
They still see the internet (and their citizens) as a threat.

So, I ask you this: Should broadband internet be a legal right?

This is great and a really bold move from the Finnish government, as they tend to be the ones not making any decisions by themselves, only following suit what other european and especially nordic countries decide to do.

Good one! And of course it is a human right. So should everything be. All restrictions are clear violations against human rights!

Yay Finland legalising everyones right to porn.

Originally posted by kommunist

There is no way the United States Government in it's current form would ever support this.
They still see the internet (and their citizens) as a threat.

There is no way the geographic make up and population dispersal of the United States allows this to be a remotely feasible option.

Who is going to pay for and maintain miles and miles of cable being dragged through mountains and forests for a town of 16 farmers can have their broadband?

If NYC wants to make broadband a "right" then let them do it and let them pay for it. Lord knows such simple things as the downtown wifi for everyone experiments have already failed miserably in small cities and towns across the country. Millions spent so some teenager can look at porn while siting on the sidewalk on main street.

reply to post by kommunist


I could be wrong but I thought the EU had made Internet access a basic human right whilst our politicians plan to cut you off for allegedly downloading copyright material.

I wish someone would do that here!

For an advanced country, our internet is painfully slow.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


The population density is much higher in the US then in Finland. This means it should be easier to do it there then in Finland.

Sorry, i forgot. Your US corporations are there to make a profit. In Finland the corporations want to provide a service

[edit on 7/2/2010 by above]