We discussed this topic a little bit a few months ago in the
Is the Internet a Human Right thread. And we all had very similar ideas that it is not a right and in my opinion I think it has more in common with
a public utility. Not so much that it is a "natural monopoly" but in the way we think of "the Internet" as we do POTS (phone service), electricity, or natural gas. But what one of the founders of Skype is starting might change the way our grandchildren think of the Internet. If in 20 years access to the Internet via a collection of seamlessly integrated wireless technologies takes hold and everything, I mean everything (your phone, fridge, home, car, dog), are all connected at a minimal cost, our attitude might be more in line with thinking of it as air.
When you think of basic human rights, access to wireless broadband Internet probably isn't at the top of the list. But a new company backed by a Skype cofounder disagrees, and plans to bring free mobile broadband to the U.S. later this year under the slogan "The Internet is a right, not a privilege."
Free Wireless Broadband for the Masses - Technology Review
