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Satellite Glitch Leaves Northern Canada In the (Internet) Dark

Posted by timothy on from the back-to-gold-oil-and-moose dept.

zentigger writes "At approximately 06:36 EDT Thursday, October 6, 2011, the Anik F2 satellite experienced an attitude control issue and lost earth lock, affecting C, Ku and Ka services. The satellite went into safety mode and moved from pointing to the earth to pointing to the sun. This has put most of Northern Canada in the dark as all internet and phone services come in over F2."

3 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Get an academic on this pronto by Iamthecheese · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is the perfect chance to find out the real cost of a first world nation not having internet access. We need these numbers to make better laws about internet access restriction and even to decide whether it should be a right.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Get an academic on this pronto by roman_mir · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A right?

      I don't think you know what that word is.

      There are only individual rights. The 'civil or labor rights' are actually entitlements given by government decree to some, while imposing obligations on others. Same with anything else that you have to be provided by somebody. It's an entitlement, not a right.

      I had this same discussion a number of times, why do people never seem to understand basic concepts?

      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37575982
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37554214
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558726
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558814
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558814
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37556278
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37553622

      'Right' is a concept that is only meaningful to describe a relationship between an individual an government, because gov't is a system, not an individual.

      Relationships between private individuals and businesses are covered by criminal and contract law.

      Having a 'right' to Internet would require this to be an obligation upon businesses that would have to provide this entitlement, obviously this would make it into an 'essential' service and the prices, by the way, would immediately be much higher than what they are now.

      See health care, insurance, education and AT&T monopoly that was given to it by government, which destroyed 4000 competitors for a good example of how that shit works.

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
    2. Re:Get an academic on this pronto by geekoid · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You have no clue about 'freedom from want'. You also don't know what socialism is.

      Quite frankly, people like you are why we are in such a bad place politically.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect