InvisibleBlack -> RE: Free Government Internet (2/14/2011 7:51:40 PM)
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ORIGINAL: Termyn8or Do we have the RIGHT to a dial tone ? Would that be one of them inalienable rights ? I don't believe that anyone, anywhere, said that people have a 'right' to a dial tone. In many areas, providing emergency 9-1-1 service wherever possible is viewed as a 'public good' but that doesn't mean it's an inalienable right. Many places also require that you be provided telephone service, at your request, for a reasonable fee, no matter how rural or inaccessible your home is. This doesn't mean that you have a 'right' to phone service. And yes ... there's a cost to these things. The other phone service subscribers pay slightly more to subsidize the emergency services or the cost of extreme rural phone service that's above and beyond the fees charged. quote:
ORIGINAL: Termyn8or Soooooo, if they provide it and you don't have to pay anything, they only have to provide what they deem appropriate. If you're getting it for free, you're not really in a position to complain about what they're giving you. If you don't want it, never turn on that old phone. quote:
ORIGINAL: Termyn8or You can call 911, but not sister Flo. You can call the fire dept but not your Mother. You can call the police but not your friend. They kinda slipped that control in on ya huh ? When you pay, you control. Control? If you want to call your relatives, buy phone service. I don't think that you (this is the generic you - any phone owner) is being "controlled" by being provided a free service that lets them get emergency services in the event they need them. You might bitch about unfairly having to pay for this service even if you don't want it - but in the grand scheme of taxes which you are forced to pay that provide you no benefit, the 9-1-1 service is nowhere near the top of the list, in my mind - and if you get hit by a bus or fall down a flight of stairs and someone else calls 9-1-1, those little fees would more than pay for themselves. Hell, two or three times I've called 9-1-1 to report auto accidents or request an ambulance when I've stopped to help someone. Now, I suppose the phone companies can complain that they're being "controlled" - forced to provide a free service regardless of whether they think it's a good business decision or not - but I don't have a lot of sympathy for Verizon to start with so and so I'm not weeping for them having to provide emergency services.
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