Life, Liberty & Broadband Access: Finland Makes Internet a Right

Never mind life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, if the U.S. were to follow in Finland’s footsteps, then “broadband” would be added to that list of inalienable human rights. Today, Finland became the world leader in Internet access by making broadband every Finnish citizen’s legal right and ensuring that every citizen will have access to a 1Mbps broadband connection.

The decision stands in stark opposition to the state of the Internet in the U.S., where, far from ensuring Internet access to every citizen, the battle over Net neutrality rages on.

According to the BBC report, Finland is nearly at its stated goal already, with up to 96% of the population already online and just about 4,000 homes left before Internet access is ubiquitous. Pushing the bar a little higher, the country has even guaranteed 100Mbs access to every citizen by 2015.

Full article