German Judge Rules Internet Connectivity 'Essential' Right

And That ISPs Must Pay Compensation for Outages

by Karl Bode Friday 25-Jan-2013 DSLReports

Tipped by AndyDufresne

A German Judge has ruled that broadband subscribers have the right to receive compensation from their ISP for outages because Internet connectivity is an "essential" part of life. As Reuters notes, under German law the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated, though one German DSL subscriber was struggling to get compensation for a two month outage. The ruling comes a few years after both France and Finland declared broadband to be a right for every citizen. Here in the States (and in our comment section), we've been bickering over whether broadband should be classified an essential right, a luxury, or a utility for much of this decade.