photodeus' Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Finland has just introduced laws that guarantee broadband Internet access to every resident, becoming the first country to make high-speed connection a legal right.  The plan is a remarkably progressive technological step and will create greater opportunities for education and community networking, not to mention more chances to send hilarious videos of dancing cats to coworkers.  According to TechCrunch:

Starting July 2010, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection as an intermediate step, says the Ministry of Transport and Communications. By the end of 2015, the legal right will be extended to an impressive 100 Mb broadband connection for everyone.

Hopefully Finland’s action will inspire other countries to improve access for their citizens. Considering how elemental the Internet has become to so many people’s daily lives both at home and work, it makes sense that broadband should be a common right.  Plans are underway here in the United States to establish universal broadband connections for everyone, an effort championed by President Obama, but the road to the Internet highway could be a long one.

Considering the stumbling blocks we’ve seen with the shift to digital television and discussions of net neutrality, we’ll probably (and hopefully) see a universal health care plan before universal broadband.  But it’s certainly an effort the U.S. should push for, particularly as Finland is now ranked second only to the U.S. in a list of the most competitive nations for information technology, which is largely attributed to the new broadband program.

Use the action link below to support the efforts of Global Education Partnership’s efforts to get free internet access to everyone.