Internet for All

The Internet has only been around since 1969, and the first Web page only since 1989.

I’ve always thought it would be a good thing for all of us to have Internet access. That’s right: an entitlement. Maybe that’s what the broadband stimulus is all about. Giving everyone access.

According to a survey commissioned by the BBC, nearly 80% of the world see it as a fundamental right. 90% believe it is a good place to learn.

The survey – of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries – found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide.

Countries such as Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens.

International bodies such as the UN are also pushing for universal net access.

“The right to communicate cannot be ignored,” Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News.

“The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created.”

He said that governments must “regard the internet as basic infrastructure – just like roads, waste and water”.

“We have entered the knowledge society and everyone must have access to participate.”

Get a copy of the PDF here. Check the methodology for yourself.

We must find a way for everyone in the U.S. to have access to this essential resource.