The Internet Should Be a Right

This post is in response to an article I read in the New Times entitled Internet Access Is Not a Human Right.

The author, Vinton G. Serf, makes some excellent points. And I'm not in total disagreement. In fact, I would say I agree with almost all of his points.

For instance, he asserts that the creators of technology have an obligation to society. This is something I feel strongly about and have given considerable thought. But that topic warrants an exclusive post, so I'll save those ramblings for later.

I think where I most disagree with Mr. Serf is his assertion that the Internet is just a tool. It certainly is, as is my brain and my opposable thumb. But they are also much more than that. Try taking either one of those away from me and we've got a problem.

Like every other system ever created, the Internet, in the beginning, was small, unsophisticated and perhaps even unimportant. Over time, it has grown in size, sophistication... and importance.

It's perhaps hard to imagine, but we're just getting warmed up here. The accomplishments the Internet has enabled thus far, are nothing compared to what we will see over the next 50 to 100 years.

Take a moment to extrapolate from what you see and know today and imagine where we will be in just another 50 years. The Internet is everywhere already, imagine how tightly it will be integrated into our lives over the next 50 years. If we could survive without it now, we will not be able to in 50 years.

To me, the Internet is much more than a collection of computers, wires and transport protocols. The Internet is like an infant whose brain is growing and evolving over time.

And like a child, rogue neurons are firing, new neurons are born, new pathways are created. Some neurons and pathways will succeed, solidify and we will come to accept and rely upon them. Some will die, others will mutate to survive. But like a biological life form, it is becoming an increasingly sophisticated system that we are all a part of. To put it another way, the Internet is becoming an extension of our species.

The Internet is our collective brain and access to it is or will be a necessity. By viewing it as a right, we acknowledge and prepare for that inevitability.

Respectfully submitted,

sakamoto