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African ISPs Being Fleeced by the West
dipfan writes "African ISPs are forced to pay the full cost of their connections to western telcos and ISPs, rather than sharing the costs, as in the case of voice telephony: quote - "America Online doesn't spend one single cent in sending emails to Africa." The total cost of any email sent or received by an African internet user is borne entirely by the African ISPs, totaling $500m a year for the continent, according to this disturbing article by the BBC."
Yet another example of the developed world exploiting the developing.
Disgusting.
-Ciaran
If it isn't enough that the West has robbed Africans of their natural resources in the past!
No kidding. There is a damn good reason that "The Western World" Isn't paying for their net usage... they don't have the online population that we have. We have a real market. Plus, look at it this way: They pay for their bandwidth, we pay for ours... isn't that fair? It's not? But why? Oh yeah, because we are a 'developed' country. We have struggled through tyrrany, war and poverty and have come out on top. Our prize: we are expected to spoon feed the rest of the world until they can 1) bleed us dry or 2) kill us. Sound familiar?
We're going to be paying for emails soon - didn't you all get that email forward about the USPS claiming a 5 cent tax on every email we send??? Sounds like sharing to me..
Are you always a complete fucking idiot or did you receive a message through your post box this morning?
The west has been using and abusing Africa for centuries. Ever wonder why there's a race problem in America? Does the slave trade ring a bell?
If you got your head out of your fat sweaty twinky stuffed ARSE long enough to look around you'd realise that the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO are being heavily lobbied by the West in general (but the US in particular) and pushing third world nations into an even deeper hole. As are first world multinationals.
I suggest you read The Silent Takeover by Noreenha Hertz and Captive State by George Monbiot. In between the lengthy sessions of masturbating over pictures of George Bush squatting over Ronald Reagan to the latest Christina Aguilera album you might actually realise WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD.
Invoicing, Time Tracking, Reporting
I'm amazed that so many people's views aren't based on any sort of truth or reality, but the product of TV and an Ameri-centric attitude. Saying Africa is backwater is like seeing a trailer park in the US and saying America is just a bunch of rednecks. Africa is full of green hills, farmland, and industry, in addition to its famous deserts.
Get rid of corruption? Who, us? News flash, we're causing it. Did you know that Chevron loaned the government its own helicopters when they were the revolutionaries? That US oil presence in Nigeria is directly responsible for the public hanging of some protestors (protesting the ugly refineries) there? Next time learn a little about a place before you badmouth it.
c-hack.com |
Of course we all know that it's OUR fault. We used to use these people as slaves, etc. We divided the continent to our wishes creating unnatural countries and causing neverending conflicts. Then we kept these conflicts going by selling them our guns and we exploited the situation to steal their natural resources.
And we never paid for it.
Even now we still don't pay fair prices for minerals used for making silicon chips
Kennedy once said "If we cannot adress the needs of the many who are poor, we cannot save the few who are rich."