I Bought a Satellite and All I Got Was This Stupid News Post

[Double A]

This sounds good and all... until you realize we've already ran out of IP addresses...

And that the people who they're trying to give Internet access too also probably don't have computers. Or electricity. Or that the Internet isn't a human right.

 

[Baresark]

double post, lousy internet

 

[Baresark]

Huh, okay. I want to rebut this but could you elaborate a little more on what you mean? Especially that last bit. Are you implying that the internet is responsible for what's going on in Egypt?

Illegal and dangerous under whose terms? "I like democracy" is both in many places...like Egypt.

Ever heard of the anarchists cook book? The internet allows you to find out algebra just as easily as how to create Sarin gas. The 'net simply allowed mobilisation in Egybt very easily. Now imagine if it was for less noble reasons.

That's hardly a reason not to provide internet access where and when we can. That's like saying that we should close down all public libraries because they contain chemistry texts that could teach people how to make bombs and tear gas.

More on topic, this is a cause I can really get behind. /donate

Thanks to security in this country etc, we are able to have libraries and know we are relatively safe. The same cannot be said for some of the most violent and unstable countries in the world, and granting them unlimited access to the internet could cause a lot of problems.

This conversation is ridiculous. Some bad comes from free exchange of ideas, but far more good comes from it. It's when people are told what they are supposed to learn we all become dumber. Yes, the internet is responsible for people organizing like they have in Egypt. And I downloaded the "famed" anarchists cook book in high school and managed not to kill anyone, utterly amazing I know. More importantly, I can't stand the ignorant use of that word, "anarchy". No one should utter the word less they actually know the meaning of it.

I know how to kill people, but I don't. Like most people. You are advocating kindergarten politics, just because a few bad apples get their hands on something doesn't mean the rest of us won't/don't use it responsibly.

All you have just done is shown how little you know of the reality in many of these countries. Believe it or not, but the Western world is a far more pleasant, peaceful place than the likes of Somalia and Columbia.
Yes you didn't kill anyone because you didn't have any reason to and knew that you would probably be caught if you did. In these countries where violence is bad enough as it is, adding the internet could cause many more problems. You have no political agenda to go and blow someone up - can the same be said in places like Zimbabwe or Somalia? Of course not.
The only thing which is ridiculous is how you think you can compare yourself and what you didn't do to someone who is starving in a war torn country headed by a corrupt government.
Kindergarten politics? Here's a little education for you - where has more murders, the USA or South Africa? The USA or Columbia? The USA or Venezuela? Don't bash what I say because you don't know the figures.

I first must point out that you did not in fact give any figures. The reason we are so safe in this country is because we are given the free exchange of ideas that you think others should not have. I can learn how to defend myself (12 years of Jeet Kun Do), I can hone my skills further (amateur heavy weight boxer), and I can speak my mind without being shot for it. Other countries don't have that, and you would seem to be fit to not give them an opportunity to get them. Poverty, murder, and violent crime go hand in hand with little or no education. We are safe not because we have "security", but because we have the tools to make ourselves safe.

In Egypt they didn't use the internet to blow things up, they used it to organize protests. Case in point.


PS. The internet is still not a right.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

And I am sure it wil work as well as Hughes net insted of paying 150$ a month you just get the 5kbps dailup speed for free.

 

[Baresark]

I first must point out that you did not in fact give any figures. The reason we are so safe in this country is because we are given the free exchange of ideas that you think others should not have. I can learn how to defend myself (12 years of Jeet Kun Do), I can hone my skills further (amateur heavy weight boxer), and I can speak my mind without being shot for it. Other countries don't have that, and you would seem to be fit to not give them an opportunity to get them. Poverty, murder, and violent crime go hand in hand with little or no education. We are safe not because we have "security", but because we have the tools to make ourselves safe.

In Egypt they didn't use the internet to blow things up, they used it to organize protests. Case in point.


PS. The internet is still not a right.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
Do you really believe the violence in South Africa and Columbia would be solved through freedom of speech and that an effective judicial system doesn't at all act as a deterrent to crime? You are joking right?
I see fit not to give politically and criminally unstable countries more ideas of how to blow people up. Yeah pretty much summed my point up quite well.
The tool to being safe is an effective crime and law system. The internet will not make that happen. What it could do is encourage vigilantes and teach people how to make bombs.
Egypt shows how the internet can help provoke social unrest. In Egypt it's fine, but let's take a look at Rwanda if you want to see how mass communication can go horribly wrong.
Though yes, the internet is not a right. The idea of rights is dangerous.

This all comes back to your kindergarten politics, everyone suffers for the crazies. You call what is going on in Egypt, social unrest. For them it is unseating a dictator who has held power for 30 years. That isn't social unrest, it's a revolution. And a mostly peaceful one at that.

Also, prosecution for a crime is not, and has never been, a deterrent. We don't have chaos and bloody murder in the streets in the US because people don't want that. If even 1% of the population wanted that, there isn't enough police to stop it. They would be outnumbered 3.75 to 1. This is also amply demonstrated by the institution of a death penalty where they have them. People still commit crimes that warrant the death penalty, knowing full well that they could potentially be put to death for what they are doing.

They have an overly effective judicial system in dictatorships, guy. Warlords in Africa and Drug Lords in Columbia, they just kill ya for the tiniest insult. We don't kill each other because we know that there is better ways of doing things. They don't, a good education cuts violence down significantly, shows people there are better ways. But by keeping them ignorant, you ensure they will just keep killing each other. You see a way for them to learn to become better at violence, and some surely will learn that. But as a whole, they will learn there are better ways than killing each other by what they could learn.

 

[BabyRaptor]

I can already hear the big internet companies screaming. I bet money this will be legally cockblocked somehow...Companies don't like when somebody takes dosh out of their pockets.

 

[Screamarie]

While I appreciate the aspiration and effort...internet is not a human right....and beyond that I can see that if this DOES happen, something bad will come of it. I don't know what it is exactly but it just sets off alarm bells to me.

 

[Erana]

The internet isn't a human right, no, but in these days, its becoming a sort of hurtle that organizations and businesses would need to overcome, as education can be a financial boundary keeping the wealthy and the poor separated.
Education is also considered by many as a right, but if it weren't on its own, it is a manifestation of the concept of the "Pursuit of Happiness" being a human right.

Yes, it would likely throw the 'Net into a state of chaos for a while, but in the long run, it could be a beautiful thing. (well, as beautiful as the internet can get, anyway)

Really, though, with the internet being such a huge part of our society, for the sake of everyone, in the wealthy countries and the poor, I hope the internet becomes categorized as a human right.
I mean, remember what's happening in Canada? What happens when a handful of superpower companies dictate the sites and content of the internet as a whole?

You know that unless something seriously changes, it is going to happen.

 

[Racthoh]

Something tells me that $150,000 dollars alone that they need to raise just for the bid could feed a lot of people in those countries.

 

[Dooly95]

Something tells me that $150,000 dollars alone that they need to raise just for the bid could feed a lot of people in those countries.

Exactly what I was going to say.

That money, and the money needed to complete the bid for the satellite could be used more effectively on, oh I don't know, food and shelter, medicine, and then to a lesser extent, education.

Internet as a human right? How about we fix the problem of not fulfilling the current human rights we have first instead of trying to make new ones?

 

[Voodoomancer]

This is awesome and all, but can you really "park" a satelite? The things don't hold that much fuel...

 

[superbatranger]

This sounds good and all... until you realize we've already ran out of IP addresses...

We actually haven't. The new set of IP addresses they're rolling out soon will be enough for all time. It's like a million groups of 300 trillion addresses each.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Very noble, but really... Vodafone or something like it will easily bid more than people can scrounge up. Too bad, but a lot more realistic IMHO.

 

[wizard_joe88]

Wait, there's a cool T-shirt for all of this? Curse you school wi-fi for not loading the pictures on this site!
But honestly, even with my huge lack of knowledge on the subject, I think there's a slim chance this will work out 100% like it's supposed to. But anyways, kudos to the guys who are doing this, seems like a good thing to do with a satellite that's just sitting there

 

[Woem]

Did anyone listen to his TED talk? It goes a bit like this:

1. "there's people starving, there's people with no water, ..."
2. "people need to have the power to aid their own powers"
3. "let's give them internet"

...

That's not even counting on the fact that those people can't even READ.

 

[Antari]

Its a nice idea, but I'm concerned as to how long it will take to be totally commercialized. Sure you can have free internet, after you view 30 minutes of useless flotsom!