Should Internet access be free?

[yetgdhfgh]

A "reasonable speed setting" is pretty fast, and 2 minutes of adverts buys very little. Either way you're talking about stringing up a ton of cable, then maintaining it.

WIFI? Didnt we have radio access back in the 30s and tv access back in the 50s?

Is accessing internet any different?

[Acidbaron]

Making it free would not encourage companies to compete and provider better and quicker services leading to technological advancements.

Perhaps eventually some sort of 'slow' and restricted data usage for free eventually.

[yetgdhfgh]

Like i said dont we live in a age of WIFI? Did we charge people to listen to radio signals or TV signals? Should we charge people for WIFI coverage if the gov spent a bit of money to give everyone access?

Now sure companies could charge for super fast access but shouldnt a certain level of internet coverage be free like free access to radio or tv?

If my local starbucks can offer for it for free?

[announced]

it should be free, minimum of 25mb per sec and well maintained. id gladly pay some tax dollars for free internet.

[Elim Garak]

it should be free, minimum of 25mb per sec and well maintained. id gladly pay some tax dollars for free internet.

Would you pay $60 a year as an additional tax for free internet?

[Jtbrig7390]

Would you pay $60 a year as an additional tax for free internet?

Personally, I would because that's a hell of a slight cheaper then what I pay now.

[Louisa Bannon]

We're approaching a post-money world. People need to get used to basic things not only being free, but people will have to be given minimum living allowances.

I recognize that people always think money equates to gold, real estate, or some other commodity. Originally, money did specifically connect to real world things in a pointedly tangible way. But it's really been all imaginary numbers for quite some time. So just get used to the idea that we'll soon be giving out imaginary numbers to people that used to work in supermarkets, or drive a truck, or did some other menial task soon to be taken over by automatons.

As a literate person you may not realize this but there are actually a huge number of people out there that are so stupid you can't easily imagine how they even get along. Those people number in the hundreds of millions. What do you suppose should be done with them?

[Barnabas]

Should it? Yes but that will never ever happen because of how it works to even deploy internet. Public utilities and local governments want expensive fees. It's why we pay more than EU countries for slower speeds in the US. Too much corruption.

[callipygoustp]

According to one Republican out there, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., nobody has to use the internet, they have a choice.

Republican Lawmaker Calls Internet Optional As FCC Readies To Limit Broadband Options

How the fuck do people come to vote for politicians that give so little regard for individual rights. Lack of options more than anything I hope.

[Floopa]

no.

nothing in life is free, we certainly shouldn't start with the internet

[aeuhe4yxzhds]

It already is. You must be living in the woods where no store is offering wifi.

[Sevyvia]

In the same way that other basic necessities still have a cost associated with them getting to you, no, internet cannot be free. You can pretend it's "free" by paying for it via taxes, but that does not actually make it free.

Water, food, electricity, etc. all cost money, and so does the internet. I mean, it requires something that you presumably accept costs money, electricity, so how would you imagine the internet would be free?

[Louisa Bannon]

...nothing in life is free...

You know, technically everything in life is free. Money itself is a social construct.

You have to start to ask yourself what should be free. I mean, do you have a right to live? How about to clean air? Clean water? To eat? The right to be able to eliminate waste by some means? And I am sure you can probably think of a lot more.

Some places want to prevent people from collecting rain water. Should that be allowed? I sort of think that shit that falls from the sky ought to be free for the taking, like air. That's me. I guess I'm a communist, or perhaps just not a total fucking moron.

[Deleted]

What? Is non-regulated not the same thing as deregulated?

No, What i said was that some monopolies arise from the lack of regulation, and some arise because of regulation - And some just happen naturally with no regulatory input.
To suggest that all monopolies arise from deregulation is facile.

[ati87]

In the same way that other basic necessities still have a cost associated with them getting to you, no, internet cannot be free. You can pretend it's "free" by paying for it via taxes, but that does not actually make it free.

Water, food, electricity, etc. all cost money, and so does the internet. I mean, it requires something that you presumably accept costs money, electricity, so how would you imagine the internet would be free?

That;s not a yes or a no.

[Deleted]

I didn't suggest that, I suggested that deregulation causes monopolies more often than preventing them. The poster I was responding to seem to suggest deregulation would prevent monopolies. The only kind of "monopoly" regulation causes are when there are patents or copyrights involved.

No there are other insidious forms of regulatory malfeasance.
Business sometimes like onerous and complex regulations, because they can afford the HR and Legal departments to comply, whereas their small upstarts cant.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I agree with some of that. Again, you'd have to be more specific though. A lot of those legal hoops to jump through are expensive but are also meant to protector workers and consumer rights.

But some of it is just rent seeking by lawyers.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Yes - but I understand that this is a goal to work towards and not just a decision we can make today.

[NicoWolf]

For everyone who supports the idea of free/government internet, be ready to have your social security number handy, along with other identifying information available so that dissenters can be easily managed. Thanks!

[Spl4sh3r]

Browsing should be free, but that doesn't include videos and high quality pictures. Also no downloading.