Re:Ask 733+d0+ (Score 1)

I think (or perhaps hope) that the reason 'earned' was in quotation marks in the first place was that the author understood this would be a cause of controversy and was hoping for some constructive ideas on the subject.

I'm not sure why Bitter assumed that technical competance was the implied criteria. He does, although perhaps not on purpose, put forward his own criteria: namely that the bandwidth should be given to people with enough money. Whether this would be a good criterion depends on your view of capitalism and consumer orientated societies in general. While it is true that price can limit use, I don't think it isn't '733+ist' as Bitter so eloquently puts it.

From a personal point of view, I would be wary of using my cable modem if I didn't have a clue about firewalls e.t.c. I don't mind non techies connecting but they oughtn't complain if they haven't bothered to learn some basic security precautions like (say firewalling) and find themselves cracked and vandalised.

I think a reasonable definition of someone who has 'earned' the privilege of broadband would be someone who was aware of how their actions online affect the society they find online. Someone who would guard against being part of a DDoS network for example. Maybe there should be penalties or enforced firewalls for people used in this way? (/me runs and ducks)