BBC poll: the internet is a ‘right’
April 16, 2010 at 3:47 pm
The BBC recently launched its ‘Superpower’ season, which is dedicated to the power of the internet in our lives. As part of the season it carried out a huge global poll which discovered that of the 27,000 adults in 26 countries questioned, three-quarters believe that access to the internet is now a fundamental human right.
Nearly 79% of the respondents said that they ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘somewhat agreed’ with the internet being a fundamental right. When it came to internet users, 87% said it should be a right; 70% of non-users agreed with them.
The survey, carried out by GlobeScan for the BBC, paints a clear picture of the importance that the internet now has for us. Whereas just over a decade ago the revolution was only just picking up pace, now many people simply couldn’t survive without being connected.
Indeed, three-quarters of the people questioned in Mexico, Russia and Japan said that the internet was vital to their lives and that they couldn’t cope without being connected.
The highest support for the statement that the internet is now a fundamental right came from Turkey, Brazil and Mexico. In Turkey, 90% said that it was a fundamental right.
78% of those questioned around the world also agreed that the internet provided them with greater freedom.
Speaking to the BBC, the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, Hamadoun Toure, said that “the internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created”. The results of the survey would seem to agree with that statement.
Ofcom could deal with broadband complaints
April 1, 2010 at 2:36 pm
To whom do you currently complain when you experience a problem with your broadband connection? Your internet service provider? BT? BT’s wholesale division? Many people experience a lot of problems when they want to make a complaint about their broadband because they simply don’t know where to go. And even when they do submit a complaint, there is often a tendency for the companies involved to try and pass on the complaint to someone else.
This could all be about to change after the House of Lords recently requested changes to the Digital Economy Bill, as reported on Parliament.uk. The main change that the House wants to see introduced is for Ofcom to set up a division that deals exclusively with broadband complaints.
This would have a major advantage for consumers because it would provide them with a single point where they could go directly with their complaint. It would then become the duty of Ofcom to follow up the complaint with the providers involved, helping to get problems sorted out a lot more efficiently.
The House of Lords is also hoping to apply other changes to the Digital Economy Bill, one of which would apply to repair works. It would mean that repairs to broadband lines would not be permitted if they interfere with the quality of the lines by slowing the broadband speed for the user.
Another area that is being looked into is the issue of internet piracy and how it can be combated. This is a growing problem for the music and film industries as it becomes increasingly easy for broadband users to download whatever they want for free.
