Open Spectrum? Bah, Who Needs It!
French Flip Flop Again On File Sharing

And You Thought You Wanted Internet Access Badly

Too Much Free Time

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

Thu, Mar 9th 2006 3:26am — Mike Masnick
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.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

32 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Mike, 9 Mar 2006 @ 5:06am

    No Subject Given

    Porn!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Spawn, 9 Mar 2006 @ 8:11am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Must Have Porn!! Yes!

      Not like there aren't enough hot cubans around.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Josh Palmer, 9 Mar 2006 @ 9:58am

        Re: No Subject Given

        I agree, they are missing out on tried and true revenue streams, I would pay for a pod cast donkey show..

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 9 Mar 2006 @ 11:04am

        Re: No Subject Given

        move to Miami. We've got hot cubans AND the internet!

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Patricio Texidor, 9 Mar 2006 @ 5:41pm

        Re: No Subject Given

        Hey Sperm..er,..I mean Spawn...sorry:

        You sound like a young white male who is academically-challenged, underemployed and sexually frustrated, but I would never use a stereotype like that. Do you even know any Cubans?

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Gelidus, 10 Mar 2006 @ 6:25am

        Re: No Subject Given

        ...Your alias is a comic book character...
        Please restrain yourself from posting about porn in a fairly serious subject.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Patty, 9 Mar 2006 @ 8:18am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Your Mother!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jii, 9 Mar 2006 @ 1:35pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      OUTRAGEOUS

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 9 Mar 2006 @ 2:18pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      where?

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    scotty, 9 Mar 2006 @ 5:53am

    No Subject Given

    "Dumbass" trumps "Asinine" and "Stupid"

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Robert, 9 Mar 2006 @ 1:48pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      Don't bring down other people for what they believe for. It may seem stupid to you but this isn't just about the internet, it's more than that, it's about the economic situation and oppression they have to go through. Some people are fed up with it and lash out in different ways.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Mar 2006 @ 5:54am

    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...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      dani, 9 Mar 2006 @ 6:28am

      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...

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Arnold Weissberg, 9 Mar 2006 @ 3:49pm

        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.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      parched, 9 Mar 2006 @ 6:35am

      Re: This is more than about internet...

      he's fighting for freedom of speech and information in his country.

      Well said!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        randomboy, 9 Mar 2006 @ 6:47am

        Re: This is more than about internet...

        "he's fighting for freedom of speech and information in his country."

        Is that how they describe porn addiction nowadays?

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Patricio Texidor, 9 Mar 2006 @ 5:23pm

          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. Fariñas 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!

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    randomboy, 9 Mar 2006 @ 6:43am

    In Soviet Cuba,

    The Internet finds YOU!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mario, 9 Mar 2006 @ 6:44am

    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".

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sea Man, 9 Mar 2006 @ 7:02am

    No Subject Given

    he's fighting for freedom of speech and information in his country.

    Oh yeah...that makes sense. Because that is a fight you can win in a communist country. He should hold his breath too.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Dave, 9 Mar 2006 @ 7:15am

      Re: No Subject Given

      It doesn't matter if he "wins"...it matters that he stood up for what he believes in. Not everything in this world has to be about winning and losing!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        A-Man, 9 Mar 2006 @ 7:20am

        Re: No Subject Given

        You have to give the man credit for the fact that he is willing to go the distance for something he believes in whatever that may be. Its more than can be said about most of you who are mocking him.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          dani, 9 Mar 2006 @ 7:34am

          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.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Andrew Strasser, 9 Mar 2006 @ 7:43am

            Re: 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.

            [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Jim W, 9 Mar 2006 @ 9:54am

        Full House

        This sounds like an episode of full house. "roll the slow piano playing"...you see D.J.; it doesn't matter what others think about you...it matters what you think of yourself *sniffle sniffle*

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    DuB, 9 Mar 2006 @ 1:32pm

    Alternative

    I'd rather try to assasinate the dictator than starve to death...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    happy, 10 Mar 2006 @ 11:51am

    i think

    someone should bring him a burrito.

    or he could just check out the menu online.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Bolacho, 11 Mar 2006 @ 8:28am

    Missinformation

    I haven't been in Cuba, but it wouldn't surprise me that Mr. Weissberg is right and this information is just American anti-comunist propaganda. Don't they say that the fist victim in any war is the truth?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2006 @ 9:54am

    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.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


Open Spectrum? Bah, Who Needs It!
French Flip Flop Again On File Sharing
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.