Is internet service a basic human right?

Obama Gives Poor Free Internet After U.N. Says It's A Basic Human
Right

Following a laughable United Nations declaration that high-speed
internet access is a basic human right, the Obama Administration is
investing north of $400 million to expand broadband into poor, rural
areas of the U.S.

The president has long asserted that broadband access is essential for
communities to compete on a "level playing field" and he's included it
among the necessities to improve the lives of rural Americans. The
agency in charge of distributing the money—the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA)—took it a step further this week, asserting that
high speed internet connections will help low-income residents in a
variety of unimaginable areas.

For instance, it will "improve healthcare and educational
opportunities," according to Obama's Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack. Broadband will also help the poor "connect to global
markets," Vilsack said, and it will provide "much-needed services to
rural businesses and residents." The investment, presumably on the
part of the government, will also "increase jobs" in rural areas,
Vilsack assures.

Utility companies in 15 states will receive a combined $410.7 in
grants from Uncle Sam to install or upgrade connections in rural and
low-income areas that currently don't have internet access or only
have slow, dialup connections. Among them are companies in North
Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico and
Tennessee. It's all part of Obama's mission to improve the lives of
rural Americans, put people back to work and build thriving economies
in rural communities, according to the USDA. How exactly fast-speed
internet service will help accomplish this is not explained by the
agency.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Human Rights Council of the United
Nations General Assembly recently determined that, like healthcare,
shelter and food, broadband access is a basic human right that allows
people to "exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression."
In a lengthy report addressing obstacles that challenge the right of
all individuals to receive information through the internet, the U.N.
demands that governments worldwide make the internet "widely
available, accessible and affordable to all segments of the
population."

Here is the reasoning: "Given that the internet has become an
indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating
inequality and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring
universal access to the internet should be a priority for all states,"
the famously corrupt world body says in its report. The U.N. also
demands that governments offer special "internet literacy skills"
training to help the underserved with computer skills. This could very
well be the Obama Administration's next publicly-funded project.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/nov/poor-get-free-internet-after-u-n-says-it-s-basic-human-right

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