Internet For All in Europe

evileyetmc writes "It seems that the EU has taken the next big step in promoting the concept of Internet for All, by attempting to 'ensure that the most Web-disadvantaged groups can get online.'" From the article: "The EC has now pledged to increase broadband coverage across the continent to 90 percent by 2010. Rural areas are still underserved, according to the Commission, with about 60 percent penetration. Urban areas fare better and are already at the 90 percent mark. The EC has also committed to putting new measures in place to halve exclusion rates in skills and digital literacy by 2010. "

Comments

I wonder how history will judge us

[oni]

It will be interesting to look back in a few decades and see how different the US and Europe will be because of their different approaches to the Internet. in the US, the Internet will be a place for businesses that can pay the carrier cartels. In Europe, the Internet will be a place (more like what we in the US have today) where ideas are exchanged freely.

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[sploxx]

In Europe, the Internet will be a place (more like what we in the US have today) where ideas are exchanged freely.

Haha. Two words: data retention

One of these idiotic, invasive things which got first thought out here in good old europe and then exported to the US (we have to 'catch up with the rest of the world' or what are they always telling you?)

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[G Morgan]

What do you mean by competitors. Britain (and most of Europe AFAIK) have a state sanctioned broadband setup that all the ISP's compete across. I'm with a company called Plusnet but there are a whole host of ISP's ready to take my custom should Plusnet annoy me too much and I'm in the darkest depths of the Welsh Valleys so I'm not near any large population center.

I don't think competition is an issue and as time is moving on broadband is getting much cheaper, much faster, more reliable and with greater penetration. I suppose it just goes to show the value of a mixed economy over a pure free market. Nobody is in danger of taking our internet bar the American companies since all net usage still requires the US for things like DNS (that will obviously start to change the day US telcos break net neutrality, the EU will get Galileo/GPS about it likely).

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[Heembo]

> where ideas are exchanged freely. What kind of world do you live in? Internet traffic is: (1) tracked and recorded and/or manipulated in some way by almost every government (2) mostly plain-text communication from the moment it leaves your home So if you meant to say, "Where ideas are exchanged via plaintext for all to see, tracked and recorded by most governments (by ip) for later analysis" I'm with you, bro!

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[Reality Master 101]

In Europe, the Internet will be a place (more like what we in the US have today) where ideas are exchanged freely.

Sheesh, what are you talking about? Are you talking about the same United States that guarantees free speech in the constitution (which is NOT typically guranteed in Europe) and has protected us many times from an overzealous government? And are you talking about the same Europe with France that tried to ban certain Yahoo auctions? And are you talking about the same Europe that put a man in jail for thinking the wrong thoughts?

History favors the stability of the United States. It wasn't THAT long ago that Europe dragged the world into a WW/II.

Mindless anti-Americanism really gets old somtimes.

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[arodland]

The U.S. will resemble Manhattan. The EU will resemble Woodstock.

Woodstock 1999, you mean?

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[AK Marc]

Sheesh, what are you talking about? Are you talking about the same United States that guarantees free speech in the constitution (which is NOT typically guranteed in Europe) and has protected us many times from an overzealous government?

No, I'm talking about the United States that guarantees "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." But yet the Supreme Court determined that it isn't an "unreasonable search" for the government to break down your door, rummage through your house, take what they want, and not bother to identify themeselves or why they are there. And it's the same United States that redefined "warrants" to include warrants after the fact. Even with the rights explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution, the government still takes them away. That's the United States I'm posting from. Where is your Unites States? I would like to visit there some day.

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[janet-on]

I thought too that the US were a long way ahead in technology. I came for a conference in Austin, TX last November, and on the way back I stayed for a week in NY. I was disappointed in some ways:
How comes that I can't bloody call Europe from a payphone in Chicago airport? And where are the credit-card phones? It's an international airport, not a café! It's not that I did not try, and I tried the week later too. Yes, I know you use 011 instead of 00. It finally worked on Broadway by the 50th street.
Why doesn't my damn GSM mobile work? What's the fuss with multiple standards over here? (Yes, my phone is a triple band and was supposed to work in NY and Chicago, though not Austin). Damn, these work in Thailand, why don't they work in the US?
The conference in Austin was AIChE [aiche.org] 2004. Number of participants: about 5,000. Number of complimentary internet connections: 0. Luckily there was a nice café at 6th/Congress with free access to Macs.
My Diners stopped working for a couple of days, and the Visa was dead. It would work early in the morning.
(This one is getting flamed)The statue of Liberty is small!!! I can't believe it's taller than the one in my town [antaresarona.com].
Why are still stuck in the stone, pound and foot age?
Times square: it's not square to begin with, and it's ludicrously small. It looks so big in the images from new year's eve...

Ok, ok, I have to compensate with some positive points...
Ok, there are people who speak other language than English. I expected worse, on the plane to New York I was sitting beside a girl who completely by chance spoke Italian (and not bad either!).
Ellis Island more than compensated for Liberty Island. The museum there was cool, even if I did not find my grandfather's brother in the archives.
Food is nowhere near terrible as in England, and because of Mexico food in Austin was actually quite good. Que vivan los migrantes!
I happened to hear the Veteran's Day speech at the Texas capitol. Sorry for the people governed by these beasts, but for me it was an experience to see the closest thing to a Nazi rally I will ever witness (I hope).
Prospect park in NY rules!
Now, when I see "Venner for livet" (Friends) or "Sex og singelliv" (Sex and the city) I actually recognize the places!

Anyway, back to the point: the US are not as advanced as many, Americans and not, think they are. At least not in the level of technology the citizens are exposed to, I have definitely seen enough to deem it unlikely that I was victim of a long series of unlucky coincidences.

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[ricky-road-flats]

Are you talking about the same United States that guarantees free speech in the constitution (which is NOT typically guranteed in Europe)

See articles 9 and 10 here, which applies everywhere in the EU. And we can all have a much better discussion about human rights and freedoms when you bastards have either released or properly trialled everyone at Guantanamo - I agree with you on the mindless anti-americanism, but Bush has made it so much easier to be insightfully anti-american.

Re:I wonder how history will judge us

[masklinn]

Oh yeah, because Iraq was clearly hostile to the USA, I mean it's well known that they had WMDs (except not), were dangerous extremists (except not) and hosted heaps of terrorists (except not).

Well, Fox News for the win I guess.

DL

[Wellington Grey]

The EC has also committed to putting new measures in place to halve exclusion rates in skills and digital literacy by 2010.

The only people I ever hear use words like 'digital literacy' are the people most clueless about computers.

-Grey

Hurm...

[Churla]

The more I look at Myspace and see what it's doing to a good segment of society the less and less I think "Internet for all" is such a great idea.

Call my crazy and all I'm ready for it.

Re:As long as U.S. citizens can afford it

[Chicken04GTO]

I'm confused how to came to the conclusion that only big business will be able to afford to access the internet. Please enlighten me. Your drawing huge conclusions based upon a few carriers like AT&T and whomever crying about not making enough money to OMGZERS only Bill Gates can afford to chat or post online anymore.

Re:Internet shouldn't be for all

[RobotRunAmok]

The Internet already is available to too many. It has become so affordable (sometimes even free to the end user) that we end up with the poor having the same access as other more financially responsible members of society.

Yeah, that's what I want to read: Just the literature produced by financially responsible members of society. How did you know? We must be soulmates.

Ideally, we could find a way to take the pencils and wordprocessors away from anyone who doesn't shower daily, too. Our campaign motto could be, "Clean, Fiscally Responsible Stories for Clean, Fiscally, Responsible People!"

Can you imagine the literary heights to which our well-to-do society could soar?! Wow.

And for an encore, we could go around to all the hotels nationwide and replace the Gideon Bibles with the latest issue of Golf Digest...

Re:As long as U.S. citizens can afford it

[Golias]

Besides, pretty much everybody in the US can already use the Internet for free. We have these things called public libraries. Most people live within walking distance of one, and most of them have computers available with Internet access, as well as a WiFi hub for anybody with a laptop and a card.

On top of that, a lot of places leave wide-open WiFi in every major city all over the world. I've found WEP-free connections in both Ely, Minnesota and Tokyo, Japan.

All this "Internet Disadvantaged" crap is nonsense.

Re:Let the phishing begin!

[pe1chl]

What makes you think that disabled persons must be poor, helpless and stupid? And why wouldn't that be the case for an average person?

Re:As long as U.S. citizens can afford it

[Gyga]

Thing is, in the rural areas (places that don't have DSL in many places) libraries are far from walking distance. If I want to go to a public library I have to drive several miles down a busy highway. School libraries are closed to the public. And once I get to the library I have to share one of two computers with everyone else. Also there is no wifi where I live.