A Human Right

A Human Right is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free basic internet and phone access to developing countries, and to citizens of countries whose government has cut off or restricted internet access.[1]

A Human Right
Founded2010
FounderKosta Grammatis
TypeNon-profit Organization
Area served
World-wide
Key people
Nigel Seale, Noah Samara, Thomas Curran
Website

Buy This Satellite

In December 2010 they launched Buy This Satellite, a fundraising effort to purchase the TerreStar-1 communications satellite, after its owner, TerreStar Corporation, filed for bankruptcy. The idea to purchase the satellite developed out of a meeting in Berlin of thirty people under the age of thirty, described by A Human Right's founder, Kosta Grammatis, as a "do tank" (as opposed to a think tank). A Human Right hopes that providing internet access to impoverished regions of the world would help to solve many of their problems, such as shortages of food, potable water, and health care. Grammatis believes that, "People are ingenious. If you give people access to information, they can solve their own problems."[2]

Internet and phone access to citizens of countries whose government has shut down all communications is another benefit proposed by A Human Right. This was inspired by the 2011 Egyptian protests, where the government shut down internet and phone access to its citizens.[3][4]

The goal of A Human Right is to have a satellite in geo-synchronous orbit over Africa, which would provide free internet access to African nations.[3] A Human Right intends to pay for the operation of the satellite through buying and reselling high-speed bandwidth while providing low-bandwidth internet for free. They are also working on developing an open-source, low-cost modem as part of providing internet access to those who can't currently pay for it.[5]

Move This Cable

SAex (South Atlantic Express) is a proposed submarine communications cable that will link South Africa and Angola to Brazil, with onward connectivity to the United States. The cable route, as originally planned, was to narrowly miss the remote island of Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory.

The project was successful and in mid-2012 the cable's path was changed.

Notes
  1. Staedter, Tracy (2 September 2011). "Free Internet For All". Discovery News. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  2. Heussner, Ki Mae (12 March 2010). "Satellite for Sale: Buy It, Bring Web to Developing World". ABC News. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  3. Fields, Jim (31 January 2011). "As Egypt Shuts Down the Internet, One Group Wants Online Access for All". Time Magazine. Time, Inc. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  4. Fox, Zoe (2 February 2011). "Looking to Aid Egyptians? Perhaps You Want to "Buy This Satellite"". Time Magazine. Time, Inc. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  5. Hsu, Jeremy (22 December 2010). "One man's plan for free Internet for the world, via satellite". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
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