And You Thought You Wanted Internet Access Badly

from the you-ain't-seen-nothing dept

Okay, it’s pretty well know at this point that, while some people can do just fine without the internet, others feel they can’t live without it. Just imagine being in the latter group and living somewhere where the internet was kept away from people, or heavily blocked, like Cuba. Years ago, we had a story about Cubans sneaking bootleg internet connections, but, more recently Cuba has been much more proactive in blocking the internet from many citizens. Apparently, that’s too much for one Cuban man, who has gone on a hunger strike to demand full, unfettered internet access. It’s already been 36 days, and he’s apparently not in good shape (and refusing medicine). It seems like an awfully big price to pay to surf the web.


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Comments on “And You Thought You Wanted Internet Access Badly”

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32 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

This is more than about internet...

This isnt just about this guy getting internet access. The first thing I thought about after reading the Techdirt summary was the way China treats the internet. He isnt fighting so much for reading his email and checking slashdot posts on world of warcraft – he’s fighting for freedom of speech and information in his country. Internet access for Cubans who are not allowed to have it by their government would give them a whole new way of seeing what’s really going on in the world – past and present…

dani says:

Re: This is more than about internet...

The article reads “They blame that on U.S. economic sanctions that bar Cuba from hooking up to submarine fiber optic cables and force the country to use satellite communications for Internet traffic.”

Yet the Cuban postal service offers email and some web surfing, but all attachments are deleted before delivery and all non-Cuban sites are blocked. How is that the fault of the US?

I commend this man! It’s sad that a country would restrict its own people from knowledge. And we bitch because we may not be able to be “anonymous” anymore…

Arnold Weissberg says:

Re: Re: This is more than about internet...

You are totally wrong about email and Internet access in Cuba. I lived there for quite a while, have been there often, and it’s 100 percent false to say “attachments are deleted or that “all non-Cuban sites are blocked.” Where do you get these totally wrong ideas? Why do you put them into print without the slightest effort to verify them? In fact, a huge percentage of the Cuban population has Internet access. Every university student has an email account and access to the university computer labs–and no sites are censored, I can promise you. Plus there are neighborhood groups and neighborhood computer centers. The fact is that their phone system simply can’t handle individual data traffic. Not everyone has a phone at home.

Patricio Texidor (user link) says:

Re: Re: Re: This is more than about internet...

randomboy,

Why do you and others like you on this discussion board demean a person whom they do not know or know anything about nor understand their motivation? Please read something about Mr. Fari?as before you try to make a not-so-“funny” comment about him. This is what a mature, well-balanced person would try to do. Perhaps you have some issues about your sexuality that you have not resolved? This would be better left for a private session with a professional who can counsel you and help you understand how a person sometimes projects psychological problems on others. Have a nice day!

Mario (user link) says:

Even exiles demand it...

Cuban exiles demand unrestricted access to Internet in Cuba. See these photos of Cuban exiles protesting outside the baseball stadium where team Cuba would play against Panama in the WBC.
http://www.therealcuba.com/Baseball%20Classic.htm
Click the upper right photo (http://www.therealcuba.com/Cuba0308e.JPG), the poster on the left says (translated from Spanish): “Unrestricted access to the Internet for Cubans”.

dani says:

Re: Re: Re: No Subject Given

AMEN A-man!

This man is not some poor idiot who has no food in the first place, he’s a psychologist, an educated individual, who I’m assuming is more well of than some. He is making a statement.
“This freedom for my country is important enough to me that I will die for it, just so I might create a small crack in this government that others can use as a fingerhold to climb out.”

He is very commendable.

Andrew Strasser (user link) says:

Re: Re: Re:2 No Subject Given

“This isnt just about this guy getting internet access. The first thing I thought about after reading the Techdirt summary was the way China treats the internet. He isnt fighting so much for reading his email and checking slashdot posts on world of warcraft – he’s fighting for freedom of speech and information in his country. Internet access for Cubans who are not allowed to have it by their government would give them a whole new way of seeing what’s really going on in the world – past and present…”

I must agree completely.

Anonymous Coward says:

Mr. Weissberg,

I am a Communist and I support the Communist party in the US, as well as the PLF in many other parts of the world. However, Cuba is not Communist. Castro is a dictator/king. It will be long past my time before the US is fully government run and these big corps are shut down. But at least we have no dictator forcing us to live one way or another. We have big corp leaders all controlling the government together. That is far better than a dictatorship.

From what the people in the US can tell there is no other explanation for why this man is starving himself. Can you give us a reason or has your dictator cut you off from us.

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