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Costa Rica May Criminalize VoIP
chia_monkey writes "Here's an interesting little tidbit about the 'free' Internet. Seems Costa Rica may make it a crime to make Internet-based phone calls. It would be a shame if this sets a precedent of setting legistlation that would seriously stunt the growth of these emerging technologies that should be making communication cheaper and easier, not harder and illegal."
So why would they consider making it a crime? Well look who VoIP's competitors are: all Western telco companies. Costa Rica going along with major Western economic players? This doesn't seem strange to me at all.
- A
The americans that live there are mostly retirees that go for the low cost of living and the tropical weather. Most of the americans that visit are male tourists or businessmen who stay in the tourist traps to see prostitutes. The young american women like to volunteer for environmental projects like saving sea turtles, in out of the way places. The American couples stay in the tourist traps, and since they're couples, they don't typically deal with prostitutes.
Most of the american visitors in Costa Rica are males travelling alone, who stay in San Jose, where the prostitutes are. In fact, Americans are pretty hard to find sometimes, until you walk near the bars and brothels. There's a place called Morazan Park that has a lot of "Gringo Bars" where the prostitutes hang out. I saw my first American there - dozens of them, actually - after dark, wooing prostitutes.
Costa Rica is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the world, but after spending a few hours hunting for americans, and only finding them at Morazan Park, it's clear what most of them are there for. During the day, I'm sure they're out seeing the other tourist attractions, but at night, they collect like bees on honey at the seedy parts of town. Some of my friends lament that Costa Rica is perceived as a "sexual paradise" by foreigners (not just americans), and all the other nice things about CR are completely forgotten.
When I left the cities, I didn't see very many americans. Most were european, with a few canadians, brazilians, israelis, and japanese mixed in. I'm sure Americans take offense to the idea that the best place to find other americans in Costa Rica is at the brothels, but from my own experience, I'm telling you, it's largely true. Tourism is Costa Rica's bread and butter, and prostitution is a large part of that, and it caters to americans, who are the ones who made Costa Rica's tourist economy possible.
I heard somewhere that Costa Rica is the #1 tourist destination for Americans, outside of the USA. Since it's so cheap to fly from the USA to CR, I believe it. I don't think travel agents pimp Costa Rica as a place to find prostitutes, but once you arrive in Costa Rica, the prostitutes will find you if you look "Gringoey" enough. Costa Rican girls are unusually beautiful as well, and that's probably the first thing every single male traveller notices.
Look, it's simple. There are businesses built around the traditional landline system. Businesses that make a lot of people a lot of money. And when those businesses make money, the shareholders make money. As soon as some hippies come around trying to steal business with a free and cheaper way of doing phones and long distance, they are doing serious damage to a vaunted infrastructure that has made many millionaires. This applies to open source too but that's another discussion.
What I've noticed is that there are tons of people who are looking to damage this system because they think that they are doing something noble or for the greater good. But they don't realize that by hurting businesses they are only hurting themselves. I can just hear the liberal weenies crying out now. How, you may ask, does taking down a big bad evil corporation hurt us? Open your mind and read on...
Let's say that telco X who sells local and long distance service in an unregulated market has achieved the largest market share because of their good services. Telco X is making a lot of money and the shareholders are makeing a lot of money. You win! It's simple really.
But, you whiny liberals always want to ask the question, "how does that help me"? Never satisfied by anything as a group, are you? Well, Telco X takes a good chunk of their profits and puts it into investments in private firms that and maybe some VC outings. Those companies benefit from the money that telco X has given them and they make tremendous profit. Let's say the CEO of one of the companies decides to buy a luxury yacht for his family. He pays maybe $500,000 for it. That money goes to a private compay that employs about 25 people. There you go! Indirectly, telco X has paid some of the wages for the employees of the boat company. You win!
Still not convinced? Well, let's focus on philanthropy because every major company gives to charity quite freely. Telco X takes another chunk of it's money and spends it on promoting and planning a race for disabled children. The money pays for hotdogs, signage, lemonade, bags of chips, and t-shirts with the corporate logo. The families get to see their kids compete in a race tht would have never happend if it were only based on donations from the public. That is because the individual is selfish and corporations are giving. Again, you win!
So it makes sense that Costa Rica would make this move. The reason that they are so well off compared to all the communist/socialist states in South America is because they have embraced the corporation in it's proper role: the benevolent provider. Treat the corporations right and they will treat you right. Never forget that and make it your life's mo[tt]o. If you oppose corporations, you are only hurting yourself, because no matter how much you may dream, the good intentions of individuals never amount to as much as the kindness and goodness of corporations. Because, after all, we are all part of the corporations. We work for them because we ARE them. Never let anyone tell you any different. Anyone who does is a filthy hippy liar.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Not sure what you're getting at here. First, you say that North and South America should be considered a single continent because they are physically linked. Then you insist that Asia, Europe, and Africa are separate continents? What the hell? Have you ever actually seen a world map?
If Africa gets to be a separate continent, then so does South America; the Suez Canal is longer than the Panama Canal. Europe and Asia have no excuse whatsoever and are the same continent by any reasonable definition other than snobbery.
A few years back, the US made a calculation and determined that it was cheaper to dig the Panama Canal than to re-print all those geography textbooks.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
If it makes you feel better, you can get 512/128 for $10/month in China. Even in some fairly remote areas.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS