RE: [atlarge-discuss] Polling Commitee: your 50 chars texts

[<bruce@barelyadequate.info>]

This is a general response to this thread:

Hugh Blair wrote:

| Let's make sure the Internet is available for everyone.

While I agree with the general principle, others have brought up limiting
factors to consider.

As for the "should prison inmates have an Internet account,"  I think that
would have to be answered for each individual case.  Certianly, anyone whose
convicted rime involved manipulating data and systems with a computer should
be cut off, as should pedophiles and others convicted of sex crimes, who
could easily use the net to further the sickness that lead to their
incarceration!  This would have to be the presiding judge's call.

That said, I think Hugh's initial intent was to find a way to get Internet
access into as many hands as possible regardless of means.  To do that would
require the same kind of political will that set up the telephone system
rates here in the US, where the increased costs of supporting rural users is
paid for by all rate payers.  A similar idea to subsidize broadband is being
peddled to the US Congress right now by former FCC head Reed Hundt (see
http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,46180,00.html).  This is whjat
we should be pushing for both nationally, to deal with local "have nots",
and through international bodies, to tackle the harder task of connecting
less fortunate countries.


Bruce Young
Portland, Oregon
bruce@barelyadequate.info
http://www.barelyadequate.info
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