There are a bunch of these in society that are interesting and very deserving of more public discussion, including that one (broadly communication access).
Given the importance to work and life of having access to the wireless networks today, owned by AT&T, Verizon etc., should they be allowed to blanket deny you access to them as a customer (assuming you can pay)? Especially given the wireless carriers are essentially a group monopoly (spectrum limitations).
Or how we take away voting rights for felons, until a certain amount of time after they've been released, or in some states permanently (unless altered by a court order or governor's action). Something like 1 in 40 American adults can't vote right now because of that. It revokes the ability to participate in a critical democratic function.
I'd expect an increasingly large societal debate about the context of the platforms and what their rights are when it comes to restricting access. Whether they increasingly get treated as public utilities and if the FCC sets down guidelines/rules for them to comply with on access restriction. That overall conversation probably accelerates the longer they're part of a big part of society. I'm not sure how far that debate will get in the US in regards to actions/regulations, I expect it'll get pretty far in some nations though.
"In the national elections in 2012, the various state felony disenfranchisement laws together blocked an estimated 5.85 million felons from voting, up from 1.2 million in 1976. This comprised 2.5% of the potential voters in general." (emphasis mine)
Given the importance to work and life of having access to the wireless networks today, owned by AT&T, Verizon etc., should they be allowed to blanket deny you access to them as a customer (assuming you can pay)? Especially given the wireless carriers are essentially a group monopoly (spectrum limitations).
Or how we take away voting rights for felons, until a certain amount of time after they've been released, or in some states permanently (unless altered by a court order or governor's action). Something like 1 in 40 American adults can't vote right now because of that. It revokes the ability to participate in a critical democratic function.
I'd expect an increasingly large societal debate about the context of the platforms and what their rights are when it comes to restricting access. Whether they increasingly get treated as public utilities and if the FCC sets down guidelines/rules for them to comply with on access restriction. That overall conversation probably accelerates the longer they're part of a big part of society. I'm not sure how far that debate will get in the US in regards to actions/regulations, I expect it'll get pretty far in some nations though.